There have been no goldfinches at our sunflower-seed feeders for a couple of weeks. Saturday I hung a new thistle-seed feeder. Sunday morning we had goldfinches, thistle-seed eaters. A coincidence? That thistle feeder, by the way, was more popular than expected. I hung it for use by finches, hoping we see redpolls and siskins this winter. The feeder got immediate attention from goldfinches, House Finches, chickadees, a nuthatch, and a Downy Woodpecker.
Sunday, in the front yard, our hackberry trees held at least a dozen robins feeding on the berries. Migrant Yellow-rumped Warblers were in the trees and on the driveway beneath, ignoring fallen berries, but finding something to eat, whatever it was too small for me to see. Yellow-rumps often are the first warbler species to arrive in the spring, and generally the last to leave in the fall.
Then, there is the White-breasted Nuthatch retrieving sunflower seeds it had hidden in the folds of our deck umbrella.
