Fall Flocking Begins

Well, I haven't posted here in over a month.  I've been extremely busy since mid-August, but have found the time to take some photos and have a few new stories to tell...


American and Lesser Goldfinches flock to the new high-capacity thistle feeder.


Bushtits flock to the suet feeder.

It's mid-September, and breeding season is over.  Species that are normally gregarious in the Fall and Winter have begun to flock in search of food.  This has been evidence in our yard, as numbers of American Goldfinches and Bushtits have increased substantially.  They're usually showing up now in double-digit numbers now.  American Goldfinches have even begun spilling onto the driveway to clean up spilled seed.  While they're not quite yet in the numbers that we saw last October, it's still early and very possible that we might match or even exceed those numbers this Fall.


A male American Goldfinch molting into its standard (non-breeding) plumage.


American Goldfinches are spilling onto the driveway again.

While the Goldfinches have been the big story here, there are a few minor subplots.  Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches have been extremely active over the past month.  The juvenile Dark-eyed Juncos highlighted in the previous post are growing up and have almost fully molted into their adult plumage.  They've also been scarfing down millet from the ground feeder on the back deck.  Young male House Finches are molting into their big-boy plumage and are eating quite a bit of black oil sunflower seed.  Downy Woodpeckers and Western-Scrub Jays have also been regulars.


Female Lesser Goldfinch


A Black-capped Chickadee pauses before going in for more food.


A female Red-breasted Nuthatch pauses briefly in the morning sun.


Western Scrub-Jay

Northern Flickers have been only showing up erratically since early August.  I'm not sure why that is, but I'm confident that we'll see plenty of them in October and November.  I only saw one Pine Siskin last month and have yet to see one in September, but I'm sure that'll change soon enough as well.  On a down note, most of the Rufous Hummingbirds have made their way South, with only an occasional traveler at the nectar feeders now (I've already gone ahead and taken down the second "migration" feeder).


The lone (August) Siskin


A female Rufous Hummingbird from mid-August.  It's sad to see them go, but we look forward to their return next March.

Well, that's about all for now.  Hopefully next time I'll get to post more pictures of flocks of 50+ Goldfinches, have more Siskin photos, and possibly our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet sighting of the Fall/Winter feeding season.

• Posted at Saturday, September 13, 2008 05:14 PM
• In General Category | Permalink