Date: 11/14/24 2:53 pm From: Judy Griffith <9waterfall9...> Subject: Purple Finches and the Thrush family
November 14, 2024
Purple Finches! One male yesterday and one female this morning have returned to Ninestone.
The House Finches and Goldfinches returned in early November.
Downstream from our home there is a slough we call the Otter Pond. Decades ago beavers dammed up a creek scar against a steep forested hillside, creating a long slender pond that parallels the stream and offers views of Wood Ducks, muskrats, assorted water turtles, frogs, dragonflies, snakes, sometimes beaver and otter families, and small birds foraging near the edges.
As I turned down the narrow path to the slough I was surprised by a mature Bald Eagle that suddenly flew up not twenty feet in front of me as I headed to my sit spot. Seven white eagle down feathers floated on the surface where it must have been bathing, while Golden-crowned Kinglets, Eastern Phoebes, Carolina and Winter Wrens, a Kingfisher, Red-bellied, Hairy, and Downy Woodpeckers flew among the trees. Dozens of Robins were taking turns bathing at the shallow end, while Bluebirds and Hermit Thrushes chortled, chipped, and fluted all around the water, offering a hopeful Thrush family chorus.
