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Project FeederWatch Week 3

Week 3 of Project FeederWatch was cool and overcast with occasional showers. It was a good weekend for staying in and staring out the windows.

A Black-crested Titmouse eyes the suet feeder
A Black-crested Titmouse eyes the suet feeder

The birds and the numbers:

  • House Finch (1)
  • House Sparrow (10)
  • Blue Jay (2)
  • Bewick’s Wren (1)
  • Carolina Wren (2)
  • White-winged Dove (17)
  • Black-crested Titmouse (1)
  • Chipping Sparrow (3)
  • Carolina Chickadee (1)

I didn’t see our cardinal this weekend, but all the others have made appearances in my previous counts.

What’s really interesting to me is how the birds’ behavior has changed slightly since the summer. The Blue Jays, for instance, are no longer interested in the suet feeder. They hogged it all summer and now they’ve all but surrendered it to the wrens and chickadees.

A Blue Jay watches the feeders
A Blue Jay watches the feeders

They have not lost their taste for peanuts, though, and they swoop in, grab a nut and are gone before I know it.

Unless this guy is in the way…

I’m pretty sure there were more Chipping Sparrows, but they like to poke around behind the sage bush.

The 3 Chipping Sparrows I counted
The 3 Chipping Sparrows I counted

Bewick’s Wrens come each summer to nest in our boxes, but this time of year, I see more of their larger cousins, the Carolina Wrens.

A Carolina Wren on the worm feeder
A Carolina Wren on the worm feeder
Published inBirdsNature

2 Comments

  1. […] One incredibly valuable birding skill I greatly envy in those who have it is the discipline of keeping meticulous records. There is no better tool for turning interesting insights into valuable, valid observations. James Brush makes it look fun and easy in Project FeederWatch Week 3. […]

  2. Awwwww. love the little Black-crested one; I’ve never seen a titmouse of any sort. [sigh]

    Here in Southern Colorado, I get many of the same birds you do, (well, Black-capped and Mtn. Chickadees) but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wren at my feeders.

    I wonder why that is. I get the Blue jays on a regular basis too, but mine are still interested in about a dozen sunflower seeds swallowed whole to take somewhere else, followed by several bites of suet maybe because it’s colder here.

    This is my first year with PFW. I’m having a blast! Looks like you are too. Cool!

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