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Getting Ready for Winter

© Terrie Murray

A month ago, I had no goldfinches, no juncos, no towhees, and few worries beyond those self- contained in my house. 30 days later I have 24 goldfinches and a dozen juncos coming to my feeders, and the U.S.A. (with Allied help) has just bombed Afghanistan. Things change in a hurry, don't they?

But global concerns aside for a moment, it's definitely true that the scene in my backyard has changed considerably over the past few weeks. The migrants have for the most part moved on, and with the exception of the pine siskins, which I don't expect before November, my winter birds have now all arrived. The juncos were the last. Although I have seen one or two off and on all summer, the winter flock arrived in force yesterday. And the goldfinches. My goodness, the goldfinches!! Last year the most I had at one time was twelve. Now I have at least 24, and more seem to be coming every day. It will be interesting to compare notes with other people over the winter to see if we're having an explosion in goldfinch numbers this year, or if they just like the new feeder I bought for them last Friday. The little yellow piggies have gone through 2-1/2 pounds of thistle in less than two days. If they keep this up all winter I may go broke feeding them. What's worse, they're messy eaters, spreading as much thistle on the deck as they manage to eat. Luckily, the juncos forage for spillage, so most of it ends up being eaten.

I also have been pleased to see the arrival of my friends the spotted towhees. Ground feeders, mostly, I worry about them constantly and how to protect them from the neighborhood cats. So far the towhees have survived, thanks in part to the resident squirrels who always sound an alarm as soon as a cat appears, sending birds flying to safety. Bless the squirrels, they're much more vigilant than I am.

The arrival of the winter migrants has spurred me to reconfigure my feeding area from summer configuration to winter configuration. I had two nectar feeders up all summer, and I've reduced that to one, for my over-wintering Anna's hummingbirds. I keep a spare feeder just inside the door, and nectar in the refrigerator, in the event the feeder outside should freeze overnight. Every morning during the cold spells I'm out on the deck at dawn, checking to make sure the feeder didn't freeze overnight.

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