Backyard Bird Watch: NAGS Prompt a "Moving Day"

Time: 6:30-6:50 a.m.

Weather Report: Partly Cloudy, 53°F, 77% Humidity, Winds: E @ 3 mph; feels like 53°F.

Location: The backyard of my home in the upstate New York city of Rochester. (See map at the bottom of the left column--Castaway's Backyard Birdwatch Layout--for spacial reference.)

Bird Species/Markings/Features:--2 Male American Goldfinch
(Carduelis tristis), 1 Male House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)

Sights/Sounds/Activities:As is uusually the case, given the cloudy sky, there is a heavy amount of white noise, primarily from the nearby expressway. Today is also "Garbage Day" in our neighborhood, so the sound of recyclable glass being dropped into the truck bins is ringing in the air. Not much in the way of bird chatter other than the (increasingly) familiar chirping of the Goldfinch.

Last week was a Moving Day of sorts in our yard. After watching the local cadre of North American Gray Squirrels (NAGS) continue to eat all the black oil sunflower seed from the Droll Yankee cylindrical bird feeder that was hanging in our front yard, Anne and I made the decision to move it into the backyard. The thought was that if we could hang it from the shed, it might be in an awkard enough position that the NAGS would be unable to reach it.

Well, it sort of worked... the NAGS continue to congregate around the feeder, both on the shed roof (If BLOGGER Worked you'd see a pic to right) and on the ground below. Anne has also seen one NAG precariously hagning from the shed roof lip and reaching into the feeder!

The move also meant that both the Nyjer and Sunflower feeders are now within 10 feet of one another, offering decidely diferent seeds for different types of birds.

Over the past week, the American Goldfinches have pretty much taken over the Nyjer feeder. I fully expect at some point to look out the window to the feeder, only to find a big, fat Goldfinch passed out on the ground from gorging itself...

Notes: Last week Anne saw a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) on the tree trunk above the Nyjer Feeder! When she attemtped to get a picture of the bird, it had flown away. A rare sighting such as this has prompted us to diligently try to make a second sighting to varify with a picture. Fingers crossed!

Breath in, Breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!