On Mon, 11 Dec 1995, Susan Collicott wrote:
> >Yesterday we were amazed that our yard seemed to be taken over by Juncos. We
> >have our usual group of about 10 juncos that feed at the seed and underneath
> >the suet feeder. But yesterday there were about 25 additional juncos and they
> >were feeding throughout our lawn where our "regular " juncos never feed.
>
> This is interesting - this is exactly what I saw in my backyard, in the
> Meadowbrook neighborhood of Seattle. I regularly have 5 or 6 juncos in the
> bark under my feeders, but yesterday there was a gang of at least 15, and
> they were in the small lawn I have. A friend said it reminded him of those
> "popcorn" toys that babies have, as their heads seemed to pop up in rotation
> as they moved across the lawn.
I too had an increase of juncos, especially on Saturday. The usual 5 or
6 doubled.

>
> Do Black-capped Chickadees eat thistle seeds? Yesterday, it seemed like they
> would all stop at the thistle feeder first, then bop on over to the sunflower
> seeds. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking on their part..."2 sunflower
> feeders! Oh boy!"
I've seen them at thistle only rarely. They seem to prefer sunflower
seeds, doing the grab-one-and eat-elsewhere routine. Then they come back
for more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ray Korpi "Under transient skies
Hm: Portland, OR I cannot hobble change,
Wk: Clark College Not now or ever."
Vancouver, WA --William Kloefkorn
rkorpi at clark.edu From _Alvin_Turner_as_Farmer_, #16