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January 12: Little birds
Jan. 12th, 2011 10:24 amThe snow has made birds easier to see, but I think it's made them bolder as well. Birds who don't usually come to feed have been crowding in the driveway where my dad spread some seeds. I even saw a brown thrasher, a handsome bird with a spotted-streaked breast, related to the cuckoos and mockingbirds.
The sparrows are as handsome and abundant as ever. But I think my favorites have been a few little yellowish pine warblers who have been quite tame and so cute with their feathers all fluffed up in the cold.
On Monday, I was watching the bird feeder and noticed one small gray bird that looked strangely mussed, and wasn't flying away. It didn't take too long to figure out that it had died. It looked like it was partially encased in snow, so I suppose the snow had blown up around its feet after it fell. It must have died of natural causes, perhaps age and cold. Many birds don't survive the winter, but we usually don't see them. This one was gone by the next day, efficiently cleaned up by one of the many other creatures that take care of those sorts of things. RIP, little bird.
The sparrows are as handsome and abundant as ever. But I think my favorites have been a few little yellowish pine warblers who have been quite tame and so cute with their feathers all fluffed up in the cold.
On Monday, I was watching the bird feeder and noticed one small gray bird that looked strangely mussed, and wasn't flying away. It didn't take too long to figure out that it had died. It looked like it was partially encased in snow, so I suppose the snow had blown up around its feet after it fell. It must have died of natural causes, perhaps age and cold. Many birds don't survive the winter, but we usually don't see them. This one was gone by the next day, efficiently cleaned up by one of the many other creatures that take care of those sorts of things. RIP, little bird.