Subject: [Tweeters] porch etiquette
Date: Mar 4 14:23:28 2007
From: carenp - carenp at totalise.co.uk


this morning, as usual, the pine siskins are in a feeding frenzy... this
time, though, i'm outside with them, attempting to clean the mess and refill
the feeders...

i've always thought them a very skittish bird, and some are. however, more
than a few continued feeding and preening while i swept the not-large porch,
and one flew into the bird waterer as i was adjusting it. he and i both
looked at each other, faces less than a foot apart, and it became obvious
perhaps a moment later this was HIS/HER territory, so i backed off and
continued cleaning AROUND him/her. of course, as i reach for the camera,
everyone scatters...

it's odd they tolerate me, for whatever reason, as do the chickadees.
however, if the camera shutter snickers within six feet of them, 90% take
off... eight feet, i can make all the noise i want, and i've taken to
talking to them quietly (yeah, so i'm nuts; sue me), but there seems to be
a magick distance at which the photo causes the model to flee the area
immediately, and even just mere inches past that distance, everyone is
feeding as if there were no tomorrow...

many of their beaks are tinged with an incredible magenta gradient, from a
light to a very deep purple-black... i wonder if their diet contributes to
the colouration as it does for house finches?

one siskin in particular is quite unusual: he's almost twice the girth of
the others. he holds his left wing a little askew, even when feeding, but
doesn't appear to be disabled "enough" not to fly or fend for himself. he's
quite feisty when someone feeds close-by...

a breeding-plumage red-winged blackbird showed up at the suet for just a few
seconds, then flew off... i wouldn't have thought this habitat to be a
place to find them, so perhaps the guess is he was just migrating through...
however, the nice surprise was incrediblely gorgeous, not a feather out of
place, and those epaulets stood out making one want to salute... sorry, no
photo of him, as he deigned to leave too quickly...

and, a small horde of crows, about 200 strong, were extra noisy this
morning, but i couldn't see the reason... most of the winter, the only
crows around were mostly flying through. now, they seem to be setting up
for local daily activities...

photos of the siskins can be found in the normal "photos of the month"
gallery... as well, the calendar gallery has been updated to the current
month, and max is enjoying some nice reviews... enjoy!

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org
george davis creek, north fork


--
No virus found in outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.6/709 - Release Date: 03.03.2007
08:12