Subject: [Tweeters] Bathing Birds in (very) Cold Weather
Date: Dec 21 12:14:10 2008
From: johntubbs at comcast.net - johntubbs at comcast.net
Hi Everyone,
Living on the ridge in Snoqualmie, we were one of those lucky families that had mega winds and drifting snow (our back door is drifted in completely, with the snow reaching within four inches of the top of the door, with the nearby yard blown almost completely free of snow!). We also lost power for about seven hours last night, so I got to experience the blizzard first hand trying to save the small bird-watering and bathing stream feature in our yard from totally freezing. The generator I had on hand for said purpose lasted all of twenty minutes in the minus-some-horrible-number-of-degrees temperature when it quickly drifted completely over with snow and died. At this point, we figured our pump was a goner and such was life. Amazingly, due probably to a snow and ice bridge which drifted and froze over the stream, when our power came back at 5:30 this morning the pump and sump water hadn't frozen yet and the stream was back to running. Hopefully our luck will continue th!
rough t
he remainder of the cold period.
Now for the birding part of this. As others have reported, we had an influx of new yard birds happy for the supplementary food during the cold snap. The visitors included a Fox Sparrow, two Varied Thrushes, two California Quail and increases in the number of Hairy Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers, plus assorted additional sparrows and juncos. And, for the first time ever directly in the back yard - a Red-breasted Sapsucker, probably driven down to lower elevations by the storm. And, unfortunately, a substantial number of European Starlings that I'm tolerating as well.
What has been amazing is the tendency of some of the birds - the starlings in particular - to take vigorous baths in the few little spots where the flowing water is accessible. At one point there were a dozen starlings crammed into the open water areas, happily splashing away. An avian Polar Bear Club, I guess! The Varied Thrushes seem quite at home in the water as well, with one taking a bath and both frequently standing in the water to drink. The sparrows and juncos go to the stream to drink, but they avoid actually entering the water to do so. Whatever makes your boat float (or is that feathers float?), I guess!
John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net