Been using "cornucopia" a bit much lately but it so fits the bird bounty that I am easily feasting on in the feeders and on the ground below just outside my office window. Today in about a 15 minute period I had a White-crowned Sparrow, a Lincoln's Sparrow, a White- throated Sparrow, a Chipping Sparrow, House Sparrows, a Swainson's Thrush, a Robin, Morning Doves, a Brown Thrasher, a Cardinal, Chickadees, House Finches, Downy Woodpeckers, and a Grackle - all within 6 feet of me on the other side of a mere window screen.
The interactions have been a blast on which ones don't seem to care who is there, which ones do and to whom, and which ones take action or are compliant or dominant simply by being present. Size doesn't always matter. The opportunity to compare size, markings and behavior of the sparrows has been tantalizing. For someone who has held that all sparrows are simply variations of the same brown dappled birds, I have seen the feathers! Hallelujah!! Awesome to be able to view the thrushes together. Some interactions are worth noting - most significant was my Brown Thrasher standing in the midst of the tangle of birds and having a male Robin try to assert aggressive dominance over some of the smaller feather-ites. The Brown Thrasher simply hopped over and plucked a single feather from the robin's back with much birdie shreeking and alarmed chirping from the fleeing robin. The thrasher then went about with the single feather, scrapping it on sticks and branches and the ground as if to wave an all clear to every one else. I felt a twinge of glee when I realized it was the same robin which has been emptying my meal worm feeder as of late. The robin only took a brief respite from the beaked gathering and rejoined the feeding without a bit of reaction from anyone. Then the steadfast Mourning Dove jabbed at the suddenly frisky thrasher and seemingly put it in its place of humble birdery. All in all a banner day up here in the middle of the blue collar burbs south of Blaine and just north of Fridley. (music fades in) Islands in the stream, that is what we are (music swells and the camera pulls away for a pull away shot showing the shrinking yard and rising into the sky to look down on an eagle soaring overhead) No one in between, how can we be wrong (music begins to fade ) Sail away with me to another world, and we rely on each other ah-ah. Thomas Maiello Spring Lake Park
