There’s been a lot of activity at my feeders this week.
Chickadees in two varieties — Black-capped and Chestnut-backed.
House Sparrows.
Pine Siskins.
Goldfinches.
And a couple of cool surprises.
Earlier in the week I thought I saw a bird actually feeding a gaping fledgling on my rail. Then this morning, I caught this guy:
I suspected he was a House Finch fledgling, and that guess was pretty well confirmed by these guys hanging out nearby.
Probably concerned parents.
The big surprise was still to come though. I saw a lot of yellow at the feeder. I’ve had Goldfinches around all week, as well as Pine Siskins, so I thought it was one of those. There was a flock of birds on the feeder, so I most suspected Siskins. When I looked at the pictures, though, I discovered I was wrong.
That’s not a Pine Siskin.
They fooled me because when I think Crossbill, in this region, I think Red. But these are female and/or juvenile male Crossbills.
Earlier, I saw a bird I thought was an immature House Finch, but didn’t get a good look at him. Now that I know these guys are around, he was probably the male Crossbill showing his reddish/orange plumage.
What a cool surprise.
