Week 6 of Project FeederWatch began warm, overcast and muggy. A gloomy day good for staying in, which is likely what the birds thought since I only saw 2 sparrows, a cardinal and a dove.
I was getting bored until evening when I saw a mockingbird check out the suet feeder. I hadn’t seen a mocker in a few weeks and never one at the suet feeder. He inspected it for a while and then seemed to be working out how to get the suet. He finally figured it out, though, and now I wonder if he will claim it as his considering how territorial they can be.
An Arctic front blew in Sunday morning and that brought the birds out. After filling the feeders, a cardinal was already on the platform feeder before I reached the door. A female cardinal also came by, giving me 2 cardinals in my weekly count for the first time. I pulled out the binoculars to watch them and saw that the male seemed to be standing on both feet so I don’t know if this is a new Mr. Cardinal or if the crippled one is now back to fighting form.
The mockingbird was back on Sunday working the suet feeder, and I saw a couple of wrens digging around in the piles of leaves by the fence posts.
Sunday turned into a great day for watching the feeder birds from inside the house.
Here’s the official count:
- Chipping Sparrow (5)
- House Sparrow (5)
- White-winged Dove (6)
- Northern Mockingbird (1)
- Northern Cardinal (2)
- Bewick’s Wren (1)
- Carolina Wren (2)
- Black-crested Titmouse (3)
- Carolina Chickadee (1)
I’ve also added a count to the left sidebar that shows all the birds I’ve counted during Project FeederWatch and the greatest number of individuals counted at one time. I’ll try to keep that updated through April.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
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