Song sparrow on the seed bell

[lblanchard]

I can add "song sparrow" to the list of birds that have visited Chez Blanchard for a winter snack.

We're almost out of birdseed and it's snowing. I found a seed bell that I never hung and hung it over the weekend. Today I saw a bird on it and crept toward the window so that I could look at it more closely. Woo. Stripey breast. Woo, black spot where the throat meets the breast. Woo, yellow beak.

So that makes four species of avian visitors who are not the Unholy Trinity (pigeons, starlings, and house sparrows). We've seen migratory robins, cardinals, juncos, and now a song sparrow.

The juncos have become regulars and a male cardinal puts in the occasional cameo appearance. The robins only show up coming and going. I doubt the song sparrow will take up residence although I'd love to hear him singing as a nice change to the monotone "chirp chirp chirp" of the house sparrows. Even the trill of a house finch would be a nice change.

I also found a suet cake but not the suet cage. I've hung it in a mesh bag from the last batch of onions but so far no one seems to be snacking on it. That may change if/when the snow covers the seed I put out today.

Comments

[pameladean]

Oo! I've had white-throated sparrows (just passing through), but not a song sparrow.

P.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Thee's transitional habitat (riverbank) just a few blocks away. In the summer we get the occasional dragonfly.

[pameladean]

Ah, yes. We have more green than you do, but the river is several miles away, and even the nearest lake is about two miles. Besides, it has a bird refuge, so who needs backyard feeders? We do get dragonflies, mostly darners, which are very strong fliers. And meadowhawks, but they breed mostly in temporary ponds and puddles.

P.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

When we get a dragonfly, it's a green darner.

I saw a red dragonfly at the Huntington when I was in California last summer. It made me think of you.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

During the coldest of the recent cold snap, I was outside and heard then saw a female downy woodpecker working away at the walnut tree. She had a nuthatch for company. How do they do it....