He's baaack! Okay, so it seemed like a good theory at the time. For whatever reason, the Warbler decided to grace my feeder with his presence today, not once, but three times at least. As did a Downy Woodpecker and a Red Breasted Nuthatch. None of the Warbler's visits was very long, no more than a minute at any visit. But he was here three times between 9:30 and 11:00 this morning. I got some mealworms for him last Friday, but that experiment is still just that, an experiment. His first visit this morning was before I restocked my feeder from the depredations of last night's deer (I chased off 4 of them around 11:00 last night), and his later visits were too short to find them. Will let you know if this turns out to be a popular alternative to the suet. I finally stopped by Richards' place today, I can see why the YTW's there more than here. I suspect he's roosting somewhere near there.

It's finally sunk in that a lot of you are interested in more than just the Warbler. Redpolls seem to be high on everyone's list. I have quite a few here on a regular basis. For those interested, here's a list of my regulars, more or less in order of numbers.

American Goldfinches
House Sparrow
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch (female for sure)
Common Redpoll
Blackcapped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
Junco
Redbreasted Nuthatch
Whitebreasted Nuthatch

These are fairly regular visitors. In addition, I've also had 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Varied Thrush, and 1 Evening Grosbeak. And of course, the Yellow Throated Warbler.

Two additional items, and I hope I'm not violating any protocols. First, I'm looking for a longer lens for my Nikon camera, say a 70-300mm. If you have some old Nikon equipment sitting in a closet somewhere that you'd like to find a new home for, drop me a line.

Second, I've had numerous comments on my feeder. Anyone interested in having one like it, let me know. I'd be more than happy to work up plans for those who feel comfortable putting one together. For those of you not sure which end of a hammer to hold on to (NO OFFENSE MEANT TO ANYONE!!!), let me know. I'm a builder by trade, and would love to be able to combine business with birding.

That's all for now, again, Happy New Year to all, and thank you for welcoming me into the Tweeters family.

Dave Dunn
Twisp WA
daved at methow.com