I enjoy watching the menagerie of birds that flock to my backyard bird feeders every winter, and this winter is no exception. I’m not sure exactly why, but I take great pleasure from watching nature’s avian version of a soap opera on a daily basis. At one point yesterday afternoon, there were five pairs of goldfinches feeding on the niger seed socks I set out at the same time. We’re lucky if we see any goldfinches around here from April to November, but once the weather turns cold they must return to this area in large numbers. The juncos are back en mass too. There’s always five or six of them on the ground snatching up leftovers. My wife recently discovered that a tufted titmouse - a tiny brown bird with a distinctive long beak and wings that trail off and resemble a mouse’s tail – had made its home in my small green birdhouse that warblers normally occupy. It’s been carrying twigs into the birdhouse all weekend. I hope that doesn’t mean we’re in for squabbling neighbors. I prefer a quiet neighborhood. Several cardinals dine at Chez Etienne’s (Steve’s home in French) on a regular basis along with the usual assortment of house sparrows and overly bossy wrens. Apparently, there’s a wren in every neighborhood! The birds I like watching most are the woodpeckers. A small downy woodpecker and a huge red-crested woodpecker are frequent visitors. They go for the suet. There’s also a pair of chicken hawks that like to hang out on the top of one of my backyard trees. Neither hawk goes to the feeders, but they do keep the squirrels at bay.
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