Flocking Together

I pulled out "Flock Together" and got busy stitching. Finished the border, two gulls, and started a flamingo.

Not any birds that I see around here!

Here's who has shown up lately.

The hawks have returned and are attempting to prey on the feeder birds.

This is a small Sharp-shinned Hawk, or a Sharpie as birders call them. This is a very fast hawk that goes after small songbirds like the Goldfinches.

Fortunately my Scrub Jays and Steller's Jays are pretty good about sounding the alarm when a hawk comes by. 

Though last evening a larger Cooper's Hawk made a grab for one of my Acorn Woodpeckers!  I was glad I was outside so yelled and clapped to startle and distract the hawk which allowed the woodpecker to escape.

I would have told you that all of my American Goldfinches are in their muted winter feathers...

...but then this guy showed up!

He was only around for a day, but he certainly stood out.

I show you this male House Finch in the interests of education.  I participate in bird counts and one of the things that I can track is whether I observe Mycoplasma gallisepticum (a bacterial pathogen) in House Finches.

The disease spread nationwide by 2003, and active feeders can contribute to the spread of the disease if they are not kept clean. As my House Finches have just returned to the feeders after a break of couple of months, I am confident that I am keeping my feeders clean and doing all I can to keep the birds healthy like this male House Finch. 

The American Robins sing to me in the morning.

And the other day I had three Evening Grosbeaks come by.

Here's a male. 

And here's a female.  They never came to the feeders, but I found them high atop a Douglas fir tree as their crystal-clear 'chirr' caught my attention.