On the bank of the Kennebunk River below the locks.
Bluebirds are nesting. Buffleheads still here today, Goldeneye and RB Merg last seen last Thursday. Juncos still here but seem fewer. Flicker and DC cormorants arrived last week. A Fox sparrow came two weeks ago, but only for 2 or 3 days. The pecking order around the suet center (there are now two large chunks about a foot apart) is quite fluid. The red-bellied WP seems slightly dominant over the Hairy and Downy, but waits until they are through before coming in on it. He is the only one (except maybe she also) I’ve seen actively shooing starlings away. Several birds will take droppings from others on suet – Carolina wren (previous years) and sparrows and starlings and Blue Jays. The mocking birds (no longer here, apparently, after about a three-week stay) have trouble getting their feet right to sup at the suet efficiently. At least one of them developed a habit of hanging out on a branch with good view , then following the RB WP when he left to whatever tree he went to. The RB usually has suet stuck to his bill, so maybe that’s what the mockers are after. I saw once a couple of Jays do this also.
These are low-grade and disorderly observations caught by chance at the window.
Lyman
0 comments:
Post a Comment