Snow again this morning, and things look like this:
When I went out to the Nyger seed feeder, a female House Finch and a female Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler piteously stayed hunkered down on the seed tray as I approached. The finch flew off as soon as I reached up to take the feeder down, but the warbler, her feathers all ruffled up, wouldn’t move. So I took the other mixed seed feeder down, giving her time to fly off, but she wouldn’t go. She clung to the feeder even as I took it down, and it took me gently trying to persuade her to hop onto my finger to get her to fly off.
I’m not sure if she’s sick or if she’s just at the borderline. She hasn’t come back to the feeder. She seemed to be a young bird as well, so that may be a factor.
It’s snowing intermittently right now. Looks like Addie-the-car will get her first icy commute trial today. Definitely a more sensitive car than her predecessor, as I discovered on the icy, hail-strewn drive home yesterday. Wish I had the snow tires on her but that will happen later in the week.
Meanwhile, I’m glad I’ve had the feeder up for the little twitterbirds. Seed and suet both. Hope the little one makes it, but I know the odds for a little one in migration phase (the Yellow-rumped Warblers don’t live down here, this is the typical migration time for these birdies) can be a challenge.
