Learning Curve

Although we did not get as much snow as the coast, Saturday was still a very blustery and snowy day.  Usually our feeders get chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and the occasional goldfinch and woodpecker.  Juncos prefer picking seed off the ground rather than eating from the feeders.  Not the case on Saturday - they spent the day mobbing the feeders.

The suet feeder was a first.  The juncos spent most of the morning hovering around it, as if trying to figure out how to land on it.  One of them managed it in the early afternoon.  After that, they all tried to get in on the action.

Chickadees and nuthatches simply fly up to the cage, grab the wire and start pecking away.  I've never given much thought to the process of landing, bracing, and pulling off chunks of suet.  It was clear that the juncos were newbies at this.  Some tried to hover without landing, then had trouble pulling off any suet.  Some managed to hook a foot or two on the wire but had to spread their tail out wide to brace themselves and still fluttered their wings to keep stable all for one single bite before flitting away.  It was exhausting watching all the effort

I was fascinated watching the striking difference between the chickadee and the junco's landing and eating.  Chickadees makes it look so easy!

Soon after I finished filming the video, a gust of wind skewed the top of the feeder.  One enterprising junco noticed and landed at the top.  He had a much easier time staying in one place (although he slowly slid down the wire) and being able to focus on eating rather than simply remaining upright.

I liked the blur of the chickadee coming in for a landing and the nuthatch showing off how it really should be done.

It was my entertainment for the day (in between sandwiching my quilt on the floor).