Today, a male and a female Brown Cowbird appeared at the feeders here for
the first time ever. Actually, I saw the male briefly several days ago,
but pretended I didn?t in the hope that he was a mirage or would go away
if I ignored him! Although there were scads of them in NW Missouri when
I lived there, I did not expect to see them here, but consulting Sibley,
I see that they are regular residents in western Washington. I?m still
hoping that they are just migrating strays who will not stay here so
close to the mountains.

Also, today, there were 15 Band-tailed Pigeons at the feeders?aerial and
ground?at one time. (And yes, I walked to the window, so they would go
away; not only do they clean out the feeders within minutes, but also
they frighten away all the little birds. I don't mind a few, but 15 is
just too many.)

Among the ?little? birds again today for the first time all week were the
White-crowned sparrows and the pair of Purple Finch. Both of them had
disappeared since my supply of White Millet ran out mid-week, and I
feared they had moved on.

However, yesterday, I had a day off and drove to Wild Birds Unlimited in
Olympia (through that lovely rainstorm) to restock not only because I
like the store and the people there, but also because I cannot find any
place to buy White Millet in Lewis County. I came home with 20# each of
the Millet and Sunflower Seeds as well as two packages of WB?s nesting
mix and some safflower seeds. The latter was a suggestion to (possibly)
discourage the gray squirrel that is frequenting my feeders although I
was advised that the only dependable solution is a baffle. All the
feeders have them, but the squirrel jumps from the tree limbs to land
between the feeder and baffle. I put a baffle on the nearest branch
today, so perhaps that will work.

Note: The three pair of American goldfinch are still here, too, but
naturally the loss of the Millet did not affect them. They have their
own ample food supply in two finch feeders full of Nyger and sunflower
seed chips.


Darlene

A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong which is
but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was
yesterday. --Alexander Pope