Changing of the Birds

Flicker Samples This Year’s Vintage

Temperatures are dropping, leaves on the trees are turning yellow, and it’s time to dig the Jerusalem artichokes.  Last summer’s garden has, except for scattered hardy herbs, moved into the custody of memory.

However, this does not mean that the yard ceases to hold fascination for us.  One of the things Jim and I enjoy the most is the changing selection of birds that show up at our feeders.  The quail have gone wherever it is that quail go for the colder months.  (We’ve never figured out where, but we rarely see any after late summer until the next spring.)  However, new co-residents show up every year.

Among the most flamboyant are the flickers.  These birds are in the woodpecker family, but lack the crest usually associate with woodpeckers.  They’re good-sized birds, larger than the North American robin.

We usually have a pair who settle in, taking advantage of our bird bath and tiny pond more than the feeders, although I expect they’ll appreciate the new (as of last Christmas) suet feeder.

Other cold weather visitors include various juncos, a towhee or two, and always short-term visitors moving through on their way to warmer climates.

The year-round residents: doves, sparrows, finches, and, of course, our small clan of thrashers, headed by Skinny, don’t seem to mind the newcomers.

Who knows?  Maybe, like the humans, they enjoy having new people to talk with.

By the way, we wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!  May you enjoy the change of seasons.

Happy Thanksgiving!