PINE SISKIN...MAYBE TOMORROW!

copyright©MarjieGemmell


PINE SISKIN … MAYBE TOMORROW!

I continue to EXPECT, I continue to HOPE, and of course I continue to WATCH my feeders, but as November draws to a close, no sighting yet. Not one single Pine Siskin has come to call, at least not while I’ve been looking.

My backyard feeders are swamped by American Goldfinches. They come in by dawns first light, and linger until dusk, bringing with them an insatiable appetite for black niger thistle seed. I love to watch them as they jockey for position, eight or nine per thistle sock.

There seems to be no hierarchy, no one bird who is at the top of the pecking order. When the feeding socks are covered by clinging finches, other goldfinches perch in the nearby crabapple tree, waiting for a place at the table. The less patient ones, sit directly under the feeders on the rails of the deck, occasionally jumping up toward the sock as if to hurry the dining process. All in all, goldfinches seem quite mannerly and polite, for rarely do I see them going at each other or causing a disruption to the feeding ritual.

About the only time during the day that the finches disappear, is when a Cooper’s Hawk decides to perch in the yard, then disturbance and disorder reigns. Goldfinches explode from the feeders and are gone in an instant.

Now, I better get back to viewing my feeders. Who knows, this may be the day a Pine Siskin comes to call. Good birding!


Cheeps & Chirps!
Marjie Gemmell


To learn more about bird identification go to:
www.easybirdidentification.com
Posted by Marjie Gemmell