Bird Update

Next weekend is the Audubon Society's Great Backyard Bird Count, so I did a bit of a practice run today in anticipation.  I am happy to report that two mountain chickadees have been frequenting the shrubberies around the house.  They seem to be very appreciative of the sunflower seeds in the feeder, snagging one seed at a time and taking it back to the bushes to eat.  The birds hold it in one foot and peck it open in a very determined manner.  Every once in a while one will call, "chickadee-dee-dee" and make me smile.
 

The house sparrows have been visiting in large numbers, with a dozen or so at a time out front and as many as forty in the backyard at once.  I have been making an effort to photograph some of the females, since my previous pictures were very male biased.  These birds are the noisiest visitors at present.

House finches have been slightly more reticent to join the party.  I have seen two males occasionally visiting the feeder.  I even bought a finch sock to entice more visitors, but so far I have only had these two drop by once in a while.

The white-breasted nuthatch, however, has discovered the suet that I hung on a cottonwood out front.  He and his two brown creeper friends have been back numerous times, though the brown creepers ignore the suet and only feed from the cracks in the tree trunk.

American crows are roosting in large numbers in the neighborhood.  One juvenile in particular has been very eager to pick up any dropped suet (the squirrels are very messy eaters) or old bread that I occasionally throw onto the sidewalk.  I like the following photo in which junior is being sassy to one of his elders.

I also went for a walk today to see what birds were out and about town after the snowfall last night.  We had about three fresh inches on the ground.  The house sparrows and crows were the most noticeable (and noisiest) on my walk, but I also saw gangs of rock pigeons and a pair of Eurasian collared-doves.   The collared-doves are such a pretty gray.

Finally, I revisited Spring Creek to find at least three pairs of mallards in the fast-flowing water.  They are still very skittish, but I did manage to get a nice photo of a male before he and his friends got spooked and flew off.  

So, no new species today, but some reasonable photographs and good bird-spotting practice.  I should be able to submit some thorough checklists next weekend.  Don't forget to participate!