Oct. 25, 2020 - Birds in Snow

The snow that I mentioned last week hasn’t melted and, in fact, we’ve had two more snowfalls. It’s beginning to look like it’s here to stay for the winter. This is the view from our deck in northern Minnesota. The snow is wet and heavy and is putting extra stress on the branches of the evergreen trees.

SnowysceneDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023

Our year-round birds (Chickadees, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, and Blue Jays) are reacclimating themselves to a landscape covered in white. Much of their natural food is under the snow, so they are now more regular visitors to our bird feeders.

JayBlueDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023

Dark-eyed Juncos are still around, and their numbers have increased. This week we’ve had as many as 25 of them at a time.

JuncoDarkeyedDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023

White-throated Sparrows nest here, so we’ve had a couple of pairs in our yard all summer. Last week they were joined by some migrants; one day I counted 20 of them under our feeders. This week we are back to two White-throated Sparrows.

SparrowWhitethroatedDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023

New arrivals this week included two American Tree Sparrows. The rusty cap, bi-colored beak, and black spot on the breast, are good field marks for this species. They nest on the tundra in Canada and Alaska. In winter, they can be found all across the northern two-thirds of the lower 48 states.

SparrowAmericanTreeDunningLakeItascaCounty20201022

It’s always fun to have some Fox Sparrows stop by during migration. This year we have three of them. They make a hopping motion as they scratch the ground with both feet at the same time. They do that to clear away leaves and dead grass as they look for hidden seeds.

SparrowFoxDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023

This is a first-winter White-crowned Sparrow. By next summer it will have adult plumage with black and white stripes on its head.

SparrowWhitecrownedwithfoodDunningLakeItascaCounty20201022

This poor American Robin looks out of place with snow on the ground. We’re used to seeing it hopping around the lawn pulling worms out of the ground. It will probably migrate south, but for now, it’s most likely eating crab apples and other fruit.

RobinAmericanDunningLakeItascaCounty20201022

This is supposed to be a good year for seeing Pine Siskins. They arrived this week and we are now up to four of them. It’s a good thing we have a thistle feeder because that’s one of their favorite foods.

SiskinPineDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023

The award for “Best Bird of the Week” goes to this female Rusty Blackbird. They are not rare, but we seldom see them in our yard. She would normally be feeding at the edge of a swamp, but those areas are now covered with snow. That’s probably why she’s taking advantage of the seed dropped from our bird feeders.

BlackbirdRustyfemaleDunningLakeItascaCounty20201023