Tweets,

I've just got 3 or 4 R. sanguineum in my yard, all quite young - so have
few flowers as yet. However, we have a large flowering quince (Cydonia?)
which blooms with a multitude of red blossoms at least a week before the
currants. The rufous hummers work the quince to the exclusion of my
feeder. Our family 'farm' south of Salem has a huge flowering quince
outside the kitchen window which, again, blooms just before the currant
in the Willamette Valley below 45 degrees latitude (somewhat earlier than
here in the Puget trough). The hummingbirds use the quince there, too,
and I'll have to ask if he notes preference over the currant.

On the subject of birds using flowers, I watched a small group (5-6)
house finches in the tall, feral cherry trees in my Oly backyard this
a.m. The finches were pulling/pecking flowers from the branch,
manipulating them with their beaks and the petals would float down. I
did not see whether they were keeping the ovary end of the flowers and
eating them or just taking the nectar from them. Has anyone else seen
this with finches?

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov