While my neighbors and I were chatting on their porch here in Cinebar
yesterday, we were surprised by a flock of small, twittering
birds--flying through the tree tops in that way so characteristic of
BUSHTITS. And that's what they were (gray-caps) although we
double-checked with our binoculars, Sibley and my DIL bird-mentor before
we could really believe it. We glimpsed a flash of yellow and a
slightly larger bird amongst the flock, but were unable to identify them.

Walking back home down my long driveway (about a city block), I saw many
juvenile BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. I did not take time to count them
because my presence was so disturbing to the squawking STELLAR JAYS who
have nested unusually close to the driveway--no doubt fooled by my four
month absence into believing it was a quiet spot. However, I saw 8 of
the Grosbeak at my feeders at once a short time later--two in each of
the platform feeders and two in the tree as if waiting their turn. Any
of the feeders could have supported all of them and often have in the
past, so I have no idea why the separation.

Were they trying to keep the other birds away? Maybe. At least, the
tree that holds the feeders was full of EVENING GROSBEAK, CHICKADEES
(Black cap and chestnut backed), and WESTERN TANAGERS (well, 2 females).
Only one SPOTTED TOWHEE and one SONG SPARROW were so brave as to join
the grosbeak in the feeders. Meantime, the JAYS were screaming from the
nearby Hemlock, but the FOX SPARROWS in the ground feeders below them
and the two AMERICAN GOLDFINCH pairs at their finch feeder around the
corner of the house were undisturbed by what was happening in the tree.

I am delighted that the Goldfinch are still here and--by their
behavior--apparently nesting because I was afraid that would all be over
before I
returned home this month. That means the juveniles will be around until
October--or at least they were last year.

Darlene