Blogtrek

Snow, ice and birds

Yesterday we had a snowstorm, followed by an ice storm that produced a crusty snow surface on the ground. I went out early in the morning and restocked the bird feeder and scattered bird seed on the ground. This produced results fairly quickly. A whole bunch of birds came to our feeder, including seven blue jays. Snowbirds and several other species came as well, and it was interesting to see how these react to each other, or to squirrels. There were a dozen or more small birds there if there were no blue jays, but if there were blue jays there, there were no more than six small birds. These birds behaved in a domineering manner, as demonstrated when one blue jay arrived at the ground filled with small birds and squawked, "skaaaaa…". Half of the small birds left. There were five blue jays on the ground near the feeder when a red-headed woodpecker, considerably smaller than the jays, swooped down on the feeder area and caused all the blue jays to fly away. That is something to see a bird scare away five substantially larger, more aggressive birds. We saw eight species in our backyard today:

Blue jay
Tufted titmouse
Slate-colored junco (snowbird)
Carolina Chickadee
White-Throated Sparrow
Cardinal (female)
Song Sparrow
Red-headed woodpecker