Richard and others,

I think that the birds can tell "When winter is coming". They can
certainly sense the pressure changes that occur. Yesterday, we had low
pressure moving in a little, maybe that is what set them off. Birds need
to eat more to maintain their weight, during high pressure periods, their
bodies require far less.

This might help to explain the general surge of feeder activity right
before, and during winter storms. The rest of the year, less increase is
noticable because fewer birds are concentrated to the easy meal because
they can easily find food elswhere.


Michael Dossett
Shoreline, Washington
mpdossett at Juno.com