All the ways Maine is wicked good
I noticed that finches were trying out the two finch feeders, filled with Niger seed, and then rapidly abandoning them for the black oil sun flower. It may be that they just prefer the sun flower, but I suspect the Niger seed has gone bad. I’ve dumped both feeders, washed them in the dishwasher after a Clorox solution rinse and refilled them with a finch mix
The finches seem happier. Here’s a male House finch:
I’ve seen the Cardinals twice more now, though the squirrels have rendered the Cardinals’ favorite feeder non-viable for the time being still. The Goldfinches, whom I’ve not seen since January, have returned, or at least two of them have. They tried the Niger seed in the Finch feeder briefly, but then abandoned it for the black oil sunflowers. Both the finches below are still in Winter plumage (or possibly immature), but here’s a female (on the left and more subdued in coloring) and a male American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis).
The brighter-colored male is on the right. I heard them before I saw them, and have heard them several times since I took these pictures yesterday. Goldfinches like to sing as they fly, and they have a characteristic zig-zag up-and-down flight pattern.
Since taking down the feeder that the squirrels loved (a small open platform style feeder that attaches to the window with suction cups), I’ve not seen the cardinals.
I’ve heard the male; he tends to chirp regularly while moving towards food.
Today I looked up and saw the female on the ground, fossicking for seeds. A few seconds later, I saw the male.
But still, Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), male (bright red) and female. If you listen to the audio on this page, you’ll first hear the two primary Cardinal songs, followed by the much quieter and simply single repeated chirp. That’s their “I’m approaching food,” and sometimes “I see food and am eating!” song.
At 10:00 this morning, I noticed the wind had kicked up a bit, enough to cause the trees to sway, and that the temperature was dropping.
At 10:05 I noticed that it was snowing, pretty noticeably snowing, enough that I checked several windows and doors to make sure that I wasn’t just seeing older snow blowing from the roof.
It was definitely new snow, though it started as lots of tight little frozen pellets that looked like old style road salt, but falling steadily and evenly.
Now, as I write this post, it’s a steady snowfall and it’s sticking, with a good stiff breeze.
I saw the weather report change on a couple of sites as I refreshed, from “Overcast with a high of 40,” shortly before the snow started to “Wind warnings” to this from NWS:
A 50 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 1pm. The snow could be heavy at times. Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Breezy, with a west wind 20 to 25 mph.
Still snowing. The image below is from 10:21 AM
The next image is from 10:22 AM
It’s 10:35 AM now and I’m seeing “Expect occasional snow to end at 10:45am,” and it’s 32° F. Currently the snow is in large chumps of flakes, some the size of nickels, or maybe quarters.
At 10:41 AM, the snow has stopped, though I see occasional drifting flakes, and the sun is out. I’d guess there are three inches of new fallen snow.
At 10:49 AM, the snow is absolutely stopped, and the sun is bright; the sky is blue. The weather report currently says “Expect occasional snow to end at 11:15 AM.”
By 11:30 AM, you wouldn’t know at first glance that we’d had three inches of snow. Unless you’re looking at a sheltered tree or fence post, it’s mostly gone.