Folks- I about sprayed my coffee on the kitchen window this morning when I glanced out to enjoy the snowy vista and saw the long-missing Ovenbird having a drink from the heated fountain on our back porch. I last saw the bird on 11 December, and certainly haven't missed it for lack of trying since. I can only interpret this to mean it has been nearby but rarely if ever coming into my yard during the fairly mild weather we've had since mid-December until today. We have about 6" of snow now and it's still coming down- I'm guessing it's preferred haunts got buried so it returned to my heated water source and protected feeding areas. I put out some dried mealworms and hulled sunflower chips on bare ground beneath a covered play dome and within minutes the Ovenbird had joined some juncos in the feast.
I've also enjoyed a mob of Bushtits (14 or so) raiding my suet and shelled peanut feeders along with hordes of other birds sensing the need for calories. When I shoveled my driveway I was delighted by a tolling Townsend's Solitaire and the tinkling trills of the Bushtits as they gleaned a neighbor's Aspen and Chokecherry tree branches. A few pics of the Ovenbird: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/11762270496/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/11761362165/ And a digiscoped video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/11762120066/ Enjoy- Bill Schmoker, Longmont -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ | Bill Schmoker | | [email protected] | | http://schmoker.org | | http://brdpics.blogspot.com | \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAL-wM9ZexrfWL_Q%2Bz5x31m0YZMD4OJM1RoxPsajjzTP9Pi3BRw%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
