Date: 3/19/26 7:27 am From: Ann Wilken <abwilken0451...> Subject: Re: Project Feederwatch March 17-18
And I have been participating with Project Feederwatch about 20 years, here
at my home near Julian.
This year a sweet little brown creeper has replaced the red-breasted
nuthatch as my favorite. I find her picking up droppings off the ground
under the suet feeder, usually too timid to fight the woodpeckers at the
feeder itself.
Ann
On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 9:11 AM Grove, Deborah Shuey <dsg4...> wrote:
> For 36 years I have been using Project Feederwatch sponsored by Cornell
> Ornithology Lab to document birds at our feeders. Here at our house on the
> ridge near Huntingdon where we have been for 13 years, we have had an up
> and down winter. This PF entry is over 2 days and counts must have 5 days
> in between.
> This is the first year since we moved here that we have had Pileated
> Woodpeckers visit the suet feeders. They are no stranger to the yard as
> they have been busy on the trees, excavating several. And one day two were
> present although we did not see two during this two day period.
> Two counts in January had 55 and 65 Purple Finch. This plunged to 8 in
> February but American Goldfinch soared with about 100 and with this most
> recent count, I tried to count and 300 was my best estimate. I could hear
> the loud sound of their chirping inside even with the house closed up. Cars
> going by at 40 feet away caused them to lift off nearly every time.
> The Sapsucker has been present nearly every count. We rarely have
> Starlings but they started to visit at the end of February. Red-winged
> Blackbirds are on time too with the beginning of March and now Common
> Grackles and Brown-headed Cowbirds in mid-March. The Cowbirds hang around
> all year. However, the number of Common Grackles counted in previous
> Feederwatches has always been no more than 1! It seems as if a roving band
> has found us this time. There is a large number that nest about a mile
> away.
> Dark-eyed Juncos were higher in January peaking at 100 and 220. The number
> has fallen since then.
> Cooper’s Hawk has been only a few occasions.
> Some days Greg fills the 5 tube feeders and 2 platform feeders twice a day
> and I won’t even venture a number of how much we have spent on black oil
> sunflower seed and white millet.
>
> 21 species
>
> Mourning Dove 22
> Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
> Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
> Downy Woodpecker 2
> Hairy Woodpecker 1
> Pileated Woodpecker 1
> Blue Jay 2
> American Crow 2
> Black-capped Chickadee 2
> Tufted Titmouse 2
> White-breasted Nuthatch 1
> Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
> European Starling 8
> Purple Finch 6
> American Goldfinch 300 best estimate.
> Dark-eyed Junco 55
> White-throated Sparrow 1
> Red-winged Blackbird 15
> Brown-headed Cowbird 5
> Common Grackle 50
> Northern Cardinal 2
>
>
