A Blizzard and a Buzz of Birds - UPDATE April 16, 2023
Purple Finch
In a sudden turn of events, summer weather turned into a blizzard that blew nearly horizontally. As it tailed off in the afternoon, birds found the food here and let me know who was new. Dark-eyed juncos were everywhere with first of the year birds being a fox sparrow, an American tree sparrow, a red-winged blackbird, a purple finch, and the couple individual common grackles of the last couple days turned into a flock. The fox sparrow and tree sparrow and the closely related juncos dug frantically into the snow on the ground for scattered seeds, using their feet to kick snow backwards; while the three members of the finch family (the goldfinches, the pine siskins, and the purple finch) pecked down through the snow at the regular feeding areas up on the second floor deck. Most of the yard was covered with over 40 crows digging into the snow for remains of deer food (raw peanuts out of the shell and sunflower seed hearts) by sweeping their bills sideways.
Fox sparrow
Fox sparrow
American tree sparrow
American tree sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Dark-eyed Junco
Shortly after I arrived at about 6:30 AM, I noticed the mature bald eagle sitting in his usual red pine, but before he made a move for the 3½-pound piece of suet that is just 8-9 feet from the window by my desk, I had to leave for church. I’d heard a saying one time that went something like “When the boss is away, eagles will play.” I’m not sure I got that just right, but when I came back after church, the suet was gone, which reminds me of the big bird action of a couple days ago.Bald eagle
Bald eagle
That day began with some 40 crows covering the bare yard, which might have been a signal that food was available. Soon, a juvenile bald eagle landed in a different red pine and was shortly joined by another juvenile bald eagle. Across Woods Lake in the top of a dead pine, was the usual adult bald eagle sitting for an hour or two standing out nicely against the blue sky. Bald eagle
Bald eagle
One of the juveniles flew down onto the ice of Woods Lake, landing about 20 feet from a crow that was checking something. The eagle walked over to the crow, which flew away, and checked what the crow had been checking, but the eagle didn’t stay to eat. Sometimes as the ice thins, dead fish that were caught in the ice become food. Maybe a fish was visible in the ice but not yet available. I don’t know. The two juveniles flew off but not together. Then I was watching a turkey vulture circle tree-high over the lake, making me hope he would circle the right place for a picture. He didn’t, but he finally swooped in and landed in the mature bald eagle's tree to perch very close to where the eagle was perched when it was attacked by the raven. Within a half hour, the eagle came swooping in being closely harassed by the raven and the vulture left in a hurry. Not to be deterred from his purpose by the raven, the eagle confidently landed on the same branch where he had been attacked, and the raven flew off. Bald Eagle Juveniles
Bald Eagle Juveniles
I got ready for a picture of the eagle swooping in for suet, but it didn’t go that way. The eagle flew to the ground (picture). I tried to sneak to the window downstairs, but the eagle fooled me. He wasn’t where I thought. He caught me at the window and flew off. That was the end of the story until he was back waiting and watching from his tree and is almost certainly the culprit that took the suet.
As an aside, an eastern chipmunk came up onto the second floor deck and found himself or herself in the middle of a sunflower seed bonanza. He or she was the first chipmunk I saw up here. Will it start caching seeds this soon? We’ll see what it does. This ID shot shows a notch in the tip of its right ear.
Chipmunk
Eastern Chipmunk
Work on the fence and bunkers starts soon at the Bear Center.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
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