Out of the Ordinary Visitors

Watching the feeders a little more closely this winter has shown me some unusual visitors that I haven't noticed before, although that's not to say they haven't been here previously.

This chubby white-throated sparrow has been coming regularly since mid-January.

That's him to the left of the photo, with a tree sparrow, cardinal and house sparrow (right) on the tray.

He often feeds on the tray by himself, as dark is descending.

That's when I first noticed him. All the other birds had gone to roost for the night, and there he was, pecking away in the semidarkness. He's easily distinguished by his white throat and the stripes on his head, with dabs of yellow (called lores) near his beak.

He's quite social and doesn't startle as easily as some of the other birds.

Here he's hanging out with the goldfinches, and a couple of tree sparrows.

And here he's sharing the tray with tree sparrows (front left), goldfinches (right) and a house sparrow (rear).

These pine siskins are also new-to-me guests. The two birds on the right are our friendly chickadees.

At first I didn't realize these fellows were not goldfinches, as they almost always show up with a group of them. When I looked closely I realized they were quite different than the little yellow finches.

Now I see that they're easily distinguished by their brown streaks and there's a touch of yellow in the wings and at the base of the tail. The latter is not very noticeable in any of these photos.

(click pictures to enlarge for detail)

This little chap was visiting just after New Year when the Christmas lights were still up.

Recently I was rummaging around in the deep snow below the front porch looking for a suet cage that had been blown down by strong winds, when 3 little siskins came to sit on the line directly above me. They chatted and seemed very interested in my activity. I laughed and chatted back to them, delighted by their friendliness.

These sweet little birds show up quite often but never stay long.

I wonder if they were around last year but I failed to notice.

Best buddies - goldfinch and pine siskin.

This little guy is a common redpoll. Initially I thought I was looking at a house finch, but then I realized that this bird is smaller, has a black chin and a red cap.

He hangs out with the goldfinches too. I haven't seen the redpolls since early January. Hopefully they'll come back one of these days.

The female's breast lacks the red. Cute, isn't she, with her little red cap?

Remember, this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), from February 13th through 16th.

If you are counting for Project FeederWatch your counts can do double duty if you enter the same tallies into the web site for GBBC.

Find out more here:

http://www.birdcount.org

Count for Fun, Count for the Future!

And enjoy nature while you're at it.

It's good therapy for the winter blahs :)