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The Golden Days of October

© Terrie Murray

It's now mid-October, and the temperatures have cooled considerably. A couple of weeks ago we were still seeing temperatures well into the 70's, but now we're in the mid-60's and the nights are cold. In some parts of Oregon the first frosts have long since come and gone. Here in Portland we're expecting that to happen any day now. As much as I love the changing seasons, I'll be sorry when the frost puts an end to the beautiful vine-ripened tomatoes we've been buying at the farmer's market each week. On the other hand, winter squash, pumpkins, apples and pears, and beautiful chanterelle mushrooms are all abundant.

And speaking of abundant, did I tell you about the goldfinches in our yard? I suspect you're going to be hearing a lot about them this winter! Last year my records show that the most goldfinches I had at any one time was 12. This year I have at least 40, and there may be more. And it isn't like I'm out in the country, I live in urban Portland with a standard urban lot! A week ago we bought five pounds of thistle. Within three days they had gone through that and I had to buy more. Bu the end of the week we were out again, so we visited the Backyard Bird Shop and bought a 22-pound bag. At $1.36 a pound, thistle is the most expensive seed I buy, and it appears that this year it may also be the one I buy the most of. I'll be investigating other sources to see if there might be one cheaper, but I really like our locally-owned Backyard Bird Shop, especially since they donate a portion of every pound of seed bought to the Audubon Society of Portland.

We've had a red-breasted nuthatch visiting the feeders. I love hearing his soft "yank- yank-yank" calls as he moves through the neighborhood. I suspect he roosts in the evergreens up the street, and just visits my feeders for energy boosts. So far he's only eaten sunflower seeds, but I suspect that when he discovers the fresh cake of suet I put out over the weekend he'll be a regular at the suet feeder. I've also seen a pair of downy woodpeckers working over the trunks of the old apple trees. They, too, enjoy nips of suet, along with the bushtit flocks and the chickadee family.

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