So I know it's not a great -- not even an adequate -- shot but it was all they would let me get, skittish flock that they are.
These are the same guys I saw the other morning, making an afternoon visit. I have not seen them ON the feeder. I took one that we had brought in, on its stick, as it was leaning badly in the soft soil (pre-freeze and snow that was) and stuck it in the plow guy's snowbank just off the porch, near where I had scattered the seed on the snow and ground and where I throw the bread.
I had thrown bread that this morning... just after seeing a crow casing the joint, and before we headed out for our early morning trip to Milo to the doc and following errands in town, and noted that it seemed to have all been eaten by our return around two.
Sitting her at the computer, my eyes were attracted to flighty movement at the top of the window and when I looked I saw small bird motion flying back up over the roof. Looking out the front door, I spotted the flock on the ground just past the porch, but apparently even my slow motion as I reached for the camera that was sitting on a box nearby and tried to position myself for a shot spooked them. This shot was taken out the office window, as they had regrouped about 25 feet away in the field. But, here again, apparently my movement in the window spooked them as they took off almost instantly. I got off just the one shot, and all are in the air save the single bird far left, which I have enlarged in the oval top right.
If these are your Juncos, (not that anyone can tell from the pic! LOL) are they always that skittish? and are they mostly ground feeders or will they eventually land on the perch area on the feeders?
4 comments:
http://seasonseatingsfarm.com/cd/finch.jpg Is this it?
They're not juncos. If they're the bird I linked to they're redpolls.
I stomp the snow down or put a piece of cardboard down to keep the seeds from being lost. I have more ground feeders than feeder eaters.
In case you haven't come across this yet, whatbird.com might be helpful.
http://whatbird.com/
they could be... next time they show I will try to grab the binoculars instead of the camera. They are such skittish little things, very unlike all the birds that came in NC. But maybe there, we were not so obvious in the windows, as there were bushes in front and below the windows and a covered porch over the double glass front doors we watched them from.
Good idea on the cardboard, IF I can get it to not blow away. Maybe just tromping around a lot with snowshoes can pack down the snow enough to help them out, now that the bit of bare ground over there, that the plow guy made (it was lawn last fall < g >) has snow on it again.
I am so glad they are finally coming around, though... I'll work hard to make it easy for them and to encourage them to continue to visit and bring their feathered buddies. It it very strange to me, to not even see sparrows at the feeders or in the yard! It was the same in Milo, too.. they only just started coming around when we moved (I didn't put the feeders out there, but always threw out breadcrumbs.)
Thanks for that link! I have bookmarked it and also forwarded it to K.
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