March 25: We got five inches of snow today, and our bird feeder once again was the avian place to be. We had six sparrow species at the feeder or on the ground below it at one time: Fox, Song, White-throated, Chipping, Dark-eyed Junco, and Eastern Towhee. I had seen a pair of Fox Sparrows there every day for the past week, but today there were three of them. One of the Fox Sparrows continued to harrass the other two, but not other species, and the Eastern Towhee was willing to fight with any of the birds for a seed that had fallen onto the snow.
Fox Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Fox Sparrows
Fox Sparrows
Fox Sparrows and Eastern Towhee
Snow birds: Dark-eyed Junco; White-throated Sparrow; Fox Sparrow
Snow birds: White-throated Sparrow; Fox Sparrow; Dark-eyed Junco; Eastern Towhee
Snow birds: two Dark-eyed Juncos; White-throated Sparrow; two Fox Sparrows
Snow birds: Northern Cardinal; Fox Sparrow; Dark-eyed Junco
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee and Fox Sparrow
Eastern Towhee and Fox Sparrow in a squabble
Eastern Towhee and Fox Sparrow in a squabble
March 26: It was cold and windy, but the sun was shining. The same birds were again at our feeder this morning, and not much had changed other than the sunshine.
Eastern Towhee and Song Sparrow in a squabble
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee
Snow birds: Northern Cardinal; Fox Sparrow
I went on a short hike to Lake Monocan. The brisk wind and cold were not pleasant, but it seemed balmy compared to the wind chill at the Indian River Inlet a month ago. There was a Yellow-rumped Warbler at Sawmill Creek pond #3, and two American Pipits - a new Wintergreen area bird for me (#180).
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Pipit
When I got back to our house, I heard a loud drumming on a dead tree - it was a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker