OK, be honest, how many of you remember when you first started to get serious about bird watching? Do you remember your first fall bird migration? Do you remember trying desperately to ID those “little brown birds”? You were just getting your confidence up and not heading for the bird book every time you saw a sparrow. And then the plumage changed. Not only did you have “little brown birds,” but all of the warblers became female!
Well, it’s that time of year down here. As we sipped from our bird coffee mug, the fall sparrow migration hit our bird feeders. We had had a few Lark Sparrows into the recycled platform bird feeder last week. Today the flock arrived! We had them enjoying our bath bath and then using both platform feeders. While we were watching them the Chipping Sparrows started filtering in. Shortly we also had Savannah Sparrows, Lincoln Sparrows, Black Headed Grosbeaks, Blue Grosbeaks and a Green-tailed Towhee. Most of these species seemed to prefer the platform bird feeders, but many used the varioustube feeders we have scattered around the yard, especially the shy species. Many of these species will stay with us for the winter. Some will get their field marks back after this molt, making the ID so much easier.
We were surprised that so many species arrived at the same time, perhaps it is because we put up a new novelty crossing sign - ”Wild Bird Crossing!”
