Took a walk. The goldfinches are in summer coat now, and Christ A’mighty, they’re spectacular. The gold! The black! I need to do a goldfinch gnomebird. The big bluejay, who is also spectacular, has decided that my suet feeder is an acceptable offering for his gloriousness and has been coming back to munch. Lots of northern mockingbirds out, the usual robins–I have never much liked robins, I think it’s the streaky eye-ring, makes ’em look like they have an encrustation of eye pus. Plus they’re jerks–and a positive horde of myrtle warblers. My feeder is like myrtle warbler central. And they’re feisty little buggers.
So far today, the backyard has seen three cardinals (two male, one female), at least four myrtle warblers (I’ve seen a dozen, but only four at any given time, so I’m assuming there’s some repeat sightings) the elusive brown-capped nuthatch, two white-breasted nuthatches (who are the boldest of the lot and tend to bitch at me when I come out on the deck) a downy woodpecker, male and female red-bellied woodpeckers, a pine warbler, the bluejay, a cavalcade of Carolina chickadees, two Carolina wrens, a coupla pine siskins, three mourning doves, two dark-eyed juncoes and I’m keeping an eye out for a partridge in a pear tree. It has been a busy day in the yard, and those are just the ones that sat still long enough for me to spot.
Not having much luck attracting the finchy types. I’ve put out a finch sock of thistleseed, but nobody’s found it yet. I’ll give it a few days, I suppose. Everbody else, however, is in fine style. When the migrants start coming through…well, the heart quails. I’m excited.
