Fall At The Feeder

Fall is moving along here in northeastern Pennsylvania, and that means colder temperatures and shorter days. The leaves are past their peak now but in my yard many of the oaks still have some color. The robins and song birds have headed south weeks ago but the year long residents are still visiting my feeders. 

The most common winter visitors are the black capped chickadees, one of which is pictured above. They make a quick visit to the feeder,  grab some seeds,  sunflowers seem to be their favorite,  and fly  off again. They make many visits from dawn to dusk. 

There are also a lot of house finches at the feeder. The male has the reddish color, while the female is brown and striped.

They stay at the feeder longer and enjoy the smaller seeds. 

There  were also a few nuthatches. They, too, enjoy sunflower seeds, and have the unique way of descending a tree or feeders to grab their meals. 

Today only one titmouse  visited the feeder but there should be more as the weather turns colder and they leave the surrounding woods to find food. 

I was surprised that there were no sparrows or juncos at the feeders. I believe the sparrows are still finding plenty of seeds and i don’t think the juncos have got here. They migrate from more northern areas and Winter here in Northeast Pennsylvania. And of course there were the turkeys, feeding off the seeds that fall from the feeder or on the leftovers from the corn that I feed to the deer. 

I don’t spend as much time watching my feathered friends in the Summer since there are so many other things to do, but, as the Winter approaches they will keep me occupied on many a cold and snowy Winter day. I will enjoy their company but look forward to the return of their smarter relatives who flew south. Here is a link to some more photographs I took this afternoon.https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-5/nggallery/blog-photos/backyard-birds-october-30-2015

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”
― Robert Lynd