Another Species Return

Despite Liverpool's loss (Geordies should have left their beach balls at home), today was a another beautiful fall day.

I had mentioned the October return of a migrating bird on a recent posting and as on previous occasions, the male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was observed in the trees of the yard bordering the south side of our property.

This afternoon, a second species returned to the neighbourhood (their stay will be considerably longer). A small number of birds were flying back and forth in the trees surrounding our back yard. As some of them flew across our yard I noticed the conspicuous white outer tail feathers. Definitely not the House Sparrows huddled in the Rose of Sharon near the feeder. As some of you have already guessed, Dark-eyed Juncos have returned and will be here to stay until late April. White-crowned and Chipping Sparrows were also observed in the trees.

Another observation, some of those trees will require trimming. The cutting of branches will be limited to the ones touching the barn's roof. After all, this birder would like the majority of the tree to remain. In addition to releasing much needed O2, the trees are responsible for attracting birds to the neighbourhood. When the large maples (a total of three) on the city boulevard were cut down, we no longer observed White-breasted Nuthatch from the front porch. So as long as the neighbours keep their trees, we will continue to observe sparrows, kinglets, woodpeckers and the occasional warbler from our back yard.