October Birds

October has been relatively light on birding as busy schedules and a mediocre fall migration have not provided a lot of exciting birding opportunities.  To drive this point home, the best birding moment was getting a county Snow Goose.

Snow Goose

October’s saving grace, though, is that the yard activity picks up tremendously.  With winter approaching, some of the more reclusive birds and even a couple of the northern birds are being drawn out of the woodwork. The window-birding at home has been quite entertaining lately.  Everyone in this house has been caught looking at some bird or another at least once in the last week. So here’s a photo-tour of some of our frequent visitors.

We’ve had a few Blue Jays show up regularly this past month.  The way these birds fly, show off their beauty, bully the others, and swallow sunflower seeds whole make this the bird to watch.

Blue Jay

Blue Jay

Though not as pretty as the Blue Jay, especially during the winter months, the American Goldfinch is always a fun bird to see.

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

I begrudgingly post this next photo of a northern visitor.  The first Dark-eyed Junco showed up in late September.  It is always symbolic of the cold winter months to follow. They spend a good half year with us, so their arrival is not always a welcome sight. Still, they are a constant part of the winter birding scene, and they come in fun, different flavors.

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

On the other hand, this friendly resident and its songs never, ever get old.  In fact, I even have it on my license plate.  Kudos to you, Maine and Massachusetts, for choosing it as your state bird.

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee

Something about the colder months brings out the woodpeckers.  The Downy is a common sight, but it sure is dapper.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

You can’t quite fully appreciate this bird’s nape and awkward perching ability unless you view it from behind.

Downy Woodpecker

Though the Downy’s bigger cousin, the Hairy Woodpecker, wasn’t up for a photo shoot, the much-cooler, poorly named Red-bellied Woodpecker has been bellying up to the feeder quite regularly this fall.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker – if you look real close you can see just a hint of red on his belly right between his two legs.

This has to be one of my favorite yard-birds.  It is a real stunning bird. Marin has even taken notice and is quite proud of herself for getting the name right.  The only reason this bird isn’t called a Red-headed Woodpecker is that a much more deserving species has already claimed that name.  Regardless, because it is so good-looking in its own right, it does deserve more than just one obligatory photo in this blog post.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

One of the more exciting yard birds – exciting because of its rarity and not because of its beauty, is the Purple Finch.  The females are not so purply, but given this was only their second appearance here ever, I was pretty thrilled to see these two girls from the north.

Purple Finch females and House Sparrow male

Purple Finch females and House Sparrow male

On par with the Purple Finch both for its geographical origins and its infrequency at our house is the Pine Siskin.

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin

Prior to this fall we’d only ever had them here once before.  In fact, we’ve never seen a Pine Siskin anywhere outside of our yard.  This fall we’ve had 3-4 of them that have been showing up for a few days in a row now.  I hope they stick around.

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin

We are burning through lots of seed right now, but it’s worth it.  They provide lots of entertainment.  The best part is that these birds are the birds that will be with us for the duration of the winter season.  Regular visitors that are not pictured include White-breasted Nuthatch, Eurasian-Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Hairy Woodpecker, and our delightful pair of Northern Cardinals.  The cardinals tend to feed right at dawn and dusk which doesn’t allow for good photography.  They, too, are a family favorite.  Not only are all these birds around for the season, but we have more northern birds to look forward to! Though the Canadian winter finch forecast is a mixed bag, we are expected to get some Common Redpolls.  And if there’s enough of them, there’ll be a Hoary mixed in.  We certainly won’t have the Redpoll Mania like we had two years ago, but any day now they should show up.  I also am hoping that we will have a Northern Shrike in the yard for the third winter in a row.

Though the yard-birding has been pretty good, the itch to explore new turf and tally new birds is growing.  This weekend Evan and I will be gone on a two-night trip to check out the birds of Lake Superior’s north shore.  Double-digit life birds is a very real possibility. Stick around.

8 thoughts on “October Birds

  1. I have never spotted Cardinals in our yard (a farm just West of Rosendale). We did have a nesting pair of Bluejays this year, as well as Indigo Buntings and a couple Orchard Orioles. Is there a way to attract Cardinals? I link to your blog when Mellisa comments on it via Facebook.

    • Hey Julie, it’s great to hear from a regular reader!

      Those are some fantastic yard birds you have. Cardinals are easy when it comes to food as black-oiled sunflower seeds are their favorite. But they are finicky with habitat — they love the dense cover of lots of mature evergreens. I have a long hedge of tall cedars on my property, so maybe that’s why they stick around?

  2. Awesome birds Mr. Josh!!!

    A lot of your yard birds would be life birds for me! If only we could swich yards for a week, that would be awesome!

    Exploring new turf is always great! Maybe you will find some mega rarity?!

    • Haha, fun idea Caleb!

      Though not a mega rarity, a King Eider was just found where I’m going. It’s some of the regulars and semi-rarities that I’m after, but I’m going to grab all I can!

  3. A fun read, Josh! I love the Red-bellied Woodpecker photos, that is a bird I would certainly love to see. You have a fun yard for birding, and a lot of goodies. Congrats too on the Snow Goose. I hope you and Evan get a load of lifers on your upcoming trip. I look forward to reading about it!

    • Thanks Tommy! I really enjoy RBWO. Hopefully some day you can see one and the REAL Red-headed Woodpecker. The yard is quite diverse and it is changing constantly with the seasons. I loosely keep track of the yard birds, and I think it’s nearing the century mark.

      I honestly don’t know how I’m going to make it until Saturday morning – there is too much birding excitement on the horizon! Read the upcoming post with satisfaction because your duck post pushed me over the edge to go on this trip!

  4. Josh, You are getting some of the same birds as I am but I do not get the Eurasian collared dove and I have only had a red-bellied woodpecker pass through on migration, as well as the siskins. I will be interested to see if I get siskins again this winter, and i would love to see some redpolls, but I may be too far out on the coast for them. Nice post!

    • Maine and Minnesota are very similar in many ways with bird species being just one of those ways. Give those Collared Doves enough time, and you’ll be tallying them there too at the rate they’re expanding! Hopefully some good Canadian birds make it down to you this winter!

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