Fall Migration

Day 317: Fall migration is under way, so if you're of a birding bent, be on the alert for migratory species, including an influx of some species you may see throughout the summer. Black-headed Grosbeaks (Pheucticus melanocephalus) are a common sight at my feeders from May to September with a few outliers at the extremes, but currently, they're here in droves, parents with youngsters in tow, the juveniles still at the begging stage. The young are fed by both parents, and indicate their desire for food by trembling their wings, raising their open beaks and slightly lowering their shoulders. It's fun to watch mom or dad trying to educate them into finding food for themselves by refusing the first few pleas while eating a little, as if to say, "Look, here it is. Just bend over and pick up a seed. I'm not going to do this forever." My yard has been full of young birds for several weeks now, from Mourning Doves to Goldfinches, Grosbeaks (both Black-headed and Evening), even the young Steller's Jays who will remain here through the winter. Yesterday, the family of Grey Jays stopped by for a snack. They'll be headed UP, not south, going back to the snowy alpine areas where they've cached food to carry them through the cold months.

Where Have All The Berries Gone?

Day 14: And just that quick, there they were! Had I not looked up at the precise moment I did, I would have assumed that the robins had cleaned the tree, but when I raised my eyes from my needlework, I saw the distinctive Zorro mask. "THEY'RE HERE!!!" I shouted exultantly. "THE WAXWINGS ARE HERE!!!" Quite literally, within five minutes, they had stripped the tree of every berry they deemed ripe enough to consume, leaving roughly 10% for the robins who accordingly polished off most of the remainder as well as those on the ground. And then, the Waxwings simply disappeared, their work here done for the season. That said, the robins had gobbled all of the berries from the smaller tree prior to the occasion and quite a few from the larger one (a nursery cultivar which ripens a week or so later), leaving some of the Waxwings wondering where their food source had gone. I can only hope they found enough to carry them through the next leg of their journey.