Let me first exclaim that today I saw my first verified male goldfinch in the backyard, feeding on the thistle sock! That just blesses me to my core (to know me is to love me).
So in last episode there was proposal to switch feeders around to test hypothesis that proximity to home was issue. Feeders switched.
No difference.
It's the week before Christmas, 55 deg.F, little wind and sunny.
The most utilized feeder in my back yard is:
The square, multi-port feeder with spring squirrel-guard.
Most every bird will use it, but the house-sparrows mob it like boys at an available X-box controller at a video store demo.
The second-most used feeder is the large cylindrical feeder
w/squirrel-deterrent portals.
The Carolina chickadees and red-bellied woodpecker love this one,
plus an unidentified/ grey mystery warbler w/ double wing bands that looks similar to young yellow-rumped
warbler..?
The orange limb-spike is a near-third.
I am impressed with the diversity of
birds that enjoy eating oranges, cut in half and impaled on a nail.
The most common visitor is the red-bellied woodpecker, followed by the mystery-warbler.
The least used feeder is the small tube feeder near the tree. Initially I put thistles in it t
hinking a goldfinch may show up, but was sitting unused for weeks so I rotated the ports to open feeding and started refilling with birdseed mix. Initially the whitewings were using it, but perhaps it's proximity to the tree puts them off, or the thistle sock which hangs 8 inches away (my idea was that perhaps a bird feeding at the tube may realize there are thistles in the sock and maybe learn to feed there-- that was before the goldfinch showed up today: obviously needs no lessons on how to feed on the sock!)
It's a very good day.
Christmas activities are stirring, including dusting off seasonal props.
God Bless and Merry Christmas to all.
Jim
1 comment:
BTW, last week I bought another thistle sock and now have at least 5 goldfinches feasting in the backyard buffet.. so cool to me!
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