I would guess that we’ve fed five or six times our normal amounts, yesterday
and today. The total number of birds and species diversity is amazing. Today
we counted 28 species from the breakfast nook window - link to checklist
follows.
Most notable was a Rusty Blackbird that has been around the feeders, yesterday
and today. The checklist includes a photo of the Rusty (and some others). I
also Flickr posted a photo and linked it below.
Extreme weather causes extraordinary behavior. We watched a large male Grackle
eat an unfortunate Goldfinch that it grabbed from the wild feeder-scrum, this
afternoon. I looked back and found photos of a similar incident under our
feeders, from January 2016, taken during a snowstorm.
During a break between meetings, I hurried out to fill the feeders. I filled
the large hopper feeder first, then forgot and left the lid stand open while I
scattered more sunflower seed and cracked corn. The birds reluctantly
scattered and Goldfinches continued to scurry and feed, just a few feet away,
as I hurried about. I turned back to the hopper feeder, to fill the tubes that
hang there, and realized that I had left the lid open. As I approached it I
realized that, just that fast, there was a Goldfinch inside the half-filled
hopper, calmly working on a sunflower seed! I tapped the plastic window, to
flush it out, but it ignored me. Guessing that it couldn’t see me, I slowly
moved my hand over the opening above...and still it ignored me. So, I reached
in, gently scooped it up and placed it in the tray, where it continued to work
it’s seed. It acted as though I didn’t exist and continued to feed, while I
closed the cover and filled the two tubes that hang from that pole. It was
utterly bizarre! It seemed perfectly healthy, but I washed my hands carefully
when I got inside. The hoard of blackbirds returned and chased it off the
feeder, soon after I stepped back inside.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S81774192
https://flic.kr/p/2kCpoFL
Stephen Tyson, Schochoh, Logan Co.
