More Lessers

Feeder activity in late April and early May has been dominated by the Lesser Goldfinch.  Or, more specifically, a male/female couple who have shown up almost every day for the past two weeks.  The two of them alone have eaten about half of a tube feeder of thistle.  No matter how many times people come in and out of the front door, they come right back to eat.  They've been a treat and will hopefully continue to stck around for a while.  Strangely, American Goldfinches have been MIA for the past couple of weeks.


Male Lesser Goldfinch dining on a warm April evening

As was the case in the last installment, Rufous and Anna's Hummingbirds have been seen frequently (especially in the mornings and evenings).  Spotted Towhees are also still around and are actually beginning to wake me up in the mornings now.  House Finches and Downy Woodpeckers are still stopping by in large numbers.  After returning from Seattle yesterday, I saw a male Black-throated Gray Warbler foraging through the tree in our front yard.  I had never seen one before, much less in my own yard!

The White-crowned Sparrows seen last week were only briefly seen this weekend.  I have no idea where they flew off to.  Also absent recently have been Chestnut-backed Chickadees (heard on one Tuesday, but that's it) and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  The latter have most likely moved across the Cascades to breed.

The oriole feeder is back up on the north side of the house.  Hopefully I'll see a Bullock's Oriole sometime soon, but I'm not holding my breath.  The wren house put up almost exactly a month ago is still unoccupied and it's possible that it's too close to the ground/suet feeder/cats.  We'll see what happens.

• Posted at Thursday, May 3, 2007 10:10 PM
• In General Category | Permalink