All quiet on the western front....

It has been a very quiet week in the yard. Prior to our trip to B.C., the feeders were quite busy. In addition to the usual visitors, on the 2nd we had an Eastern Phoebe in the front yard, along with a Northern Flicker and a Red-tailed Hawk. On the 14th we had more than 35 Gold Finch!



We also had two Catbirds right on the back deck, hiding in the roses and hibiscus plants. We also observed the Catbirds and Robins eating the blackberries. The next day, we had three Catbirds up close again.







Then things started to get quiet. On the 15th we had a lone Grackle int eh yard- the first we had in awhile. On the 20th, we had two White-breasted Nuthatch, which was our first sighting of any Nuthatch in a few weeks.

Here's our official count for Saturday, September 25th

Blue Jay-5
Black-capped Chickadee (heard only- we haven't seen a Chickadee in ages!)
Mourning Dove- 20
Canada Goose- +20
Rock Pigeon- 2
American Crow
Cooper's Hawk (juv)
Gold Finch- 2
Turkey Vulture- 3
Hairy Woodpecker M
Down Woodpecker M
White-breasted Nuthatch- 2
Great-horned Owl- we heard two calling back and forth around 8 p.m. We did not see any GHOs last year at all, so it would be great to get another sighting soon.

On Sunday there were a few variations to the list with a Red-bellied male, a Grackle, over 20 Blue Jays, 2 male House Finch and a male and female Hairy Woodpecker together in the yard.