Frank, Harry, Owen and others: I'll see your few dozen Pine Siskins and raise
you at least 150 . . .
On November 4 I watched a flock of very small birds swirl over the small
wetland near my house in Canby, then they flew away. I guessed there were
about 100 birds and that they were Pine Siskins, but both of those were no more
than guesses.
This last Wednesday, the 11th, I found a huge flock of siskins feeding in a
tree at the edge of that wetland. At first I guessed there must be 200 birds,
but then they flushed and I decided that number could easily be low by 200 or
more. They returned to the same tree and flushed several times. Though I was
taking a lot of video, I always seemed to have the camera off when they
flushed, so I don't have any really good shots of that, but it was quite a
spectacle.
The creek that drains the wetland drops under Territorial road at that spot,
and there's a small, new beaver dam there. You can hear the water in the
video. I eventually noticed that the siskins found the sticks of that dam to
be perfect perches for drinking and bathing.
I'm no videographer, but for those interested here's a link to selected clips
from that amazing experience:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/187848843@N05/50602083578/in/album-72157716891646767/
Kay Carter
Canby
