Snow...Round 2

Well, it snowed again here in Portland. About 2 inches fell last night, and boy, did it bring the birds in! We woke up this morning to a yard overflowing with birdies. The Lincoln's Sparrow was back (he hasn't been here since the last snow) and the Warblers were back in force. It's over half melted now but it was sure pretty while it lasted. Here are some photos from the yard. Hope you enjoy.

For the last week or so, we have only been seeing about 5-10 Juncos in the yard. Today, we easily had 40. We just need to snow to come in and fill the yard back up.


2 of the 5 or 6 Yellow-Rumped Warblers that are in the yard full time.


A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet was nice enough to pose for a close-up.


We are now getting 4-5 Townsend's Warblers in the yard during the day, too.


Such gorgeous birds.


The Yellow-Rumped Warblers feed more on the ground than they do on the suet.


The House Finches seem to be getting their breeding plumage.


A Chestnut-Backed Chickadee and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch sharing some suet.


We have been seeing more of the Bushtits recently. They weren't coming around very much in the last month or so.


This morning, there were dozens and dozens of Pine Siskins and Lesser and American Goldfinches on the thistle feeders. I know the thistle sacks look dirty, but I assure you that they are washed regularly.


A Song Sparrow, 2 House Sparrows, Golden-Crowned Sparrow and a White-Crowned Sparrow.


This morning, Michelle heard a loud crash against our living room window. A Pine Siskin had struck the window pretty hard. When I went out to get him, we were both sure that he wasn't going to make it. He was on his side and his legs looked mangled. We picked him up, put him in a box and gave him some food and water. After about 20 minutes, I opened the box to see if he was still alive and, WHOOSH, he flew out of it and into the garage. It took us about 10 minutes to catch him and release him in the backyard. He flew off and seemed to be completely recovered.


A Towhee, Golden-Crowned Sparrow and a House Sparrow.


As we were in the office watching birds through the window, we heard another crash against the window, but this time, the crash came from the inside. Apparently, our cat Gem didn't like the idea of a squirrel on our window ledge. So she threw herself against the window got tangled in the blinds and made one heck of a racket while doing it.


Then, one of our dogs, Black Top, got in on the action. At first, he didn't seem to know what it was or what to do.

Then, he threw himself against the window. The squirrel shot of the ledge and ran into a nearby tree, thankful to have made it out alive!