Dark Eyed Junco in our yard today
At this point in the year, it's dark when I wake. There are no birds at the feeders. The sun rises just after I have the kids ready for school. And it's fully risen when I walk out the door. Weekends become about the only time I can bird. And sadly from now for the next two months, each day will be darker than the last.
This morning presented the first time this year I've seen juncos visiting the yard. Three slate gray, Canadian sparrows descended on our Highbush Cranberry bushes before beginning their morning forage. The white V of their tail feathers is a dead giveaway as they zip in and out of the shrubs. They forage on the ground under the bird feeders and around the compost.
Their arrival is sequenced after the last of our summer migrants have left. It was just a couple of weeks ago when the wave warblers and grosbeaks made a last visit to our yard. We had one last Painted Lady and Cabbage White butterfly today along with a handful of bumblebees. The juncos visiting is a sure sign that the cold weather is soon to be upon us.
Oddly enough, I needed to snap a picture today. As common as they are; I hadn't taken a picture of a junco in years. They are frequent visitors in the winter and admittedly a bird I must take for granted. I sat down this afternoon with the latest edition of Living Bird which is focused on the loss of 3 Billion North American Birds. A graphic near the end of one article caught my eye; it was on declines in common bird species. Species that we not even notice are declining because sightings are still frequent. 1 in 3 Dark Eyed Juncos have been lost as part of this massive decline which affects many bird species including Blue Jays, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, and Baltimore Orioles.
The weather today was beautiful (sunny and 60 F) so after watching the juncos, we took the kids for a walk by Goose Lake. While our Quaking Aspen and Red Oak have not yet shed their leaves, the oaks and aspens along the trail were mostly bare. That made spotting a kinglet picking at the edge of branches easy. We'd hoped to see fancy ducks like Mergansers or Redheads, but instead we found Blue Heron, Double Crested Cormorants and Pied Billed Grebes.
The juncos arrival signals the start of the end of the year. Over the next couple of months, we'll watch for American Tree Sparrows, Pine Siskins, and Common Redpolls who are looking to escape the dark and cold of the Canadian winter. It's funny to think of the impending Wisconsin winter a warm weather destination for these migrants. We'll be sure to keep the feeders full in anticipation of our cold weather migrants, and as the leaves begin to fall; they should be easy to spot.
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