This has been my experience, also. I have a front-yard BW and a backyard
one. They bicker vigorously to keep their turf. One has a pale wing
feather so I can usually tell them apart. They take fussy, noisy turns
at my suet feeder in the front yard.
WCS and GCS have been very sparse this fall and winter. Fewer Juncos
have appeared, too, although they showed up earlier than usual this fall.
The Robins have been surprisingly abundant. They cleared off the berries
on my Mt. Ash tree, and on both my Beautyberry bushes. Usually they
don't hit the Beautyberries until after a hard frost. Not this year -
they were hungry early and often. There were a couple of Cedar Waxwings
in their company, as well.
The only 2 species that seem more abundant in my yard and at my feeders
are Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees.
Anne D.
directly north of Powell Butte in east Portland
Msg: #2 in digest
From: J Hayes<balgryph@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2019 07:06:04 -0800
Subject: [obol] Re: Common birds: Bewick's Wrens and Golden-crowned sparrows
Here in the Portland area, I am finding Bewick's Wrens in roughly normal
numbers. Golden-crowned Sparrows seem to be markedly reduced in number. I
covered a 3.2 mile stretch of the Springwater Trail and found ONE
Golden-crowned and ONE White-crowned Sparrow vs. 22 Song Sparrows and six
Bewick's Wrens, in habitat that typically harbors lots of Zonos and
Juncos. Juncos also seem down somewhat. I think the hot, dry summer and
early fall weather wreaked havoc on the weed seed crop these birds depend
upon. Even the blackberry crop was affected, with blackened, shriveled
fruits on the vines by mid September. Robins, however, are abundant - we
haven't had a strong freeze yet and the grass is still green. Overall, we
haven't had winter yet. Yesterday, I saw a rosebush with several fresh
blossoms.
Jeff Hayes
Portland
