Feathers

As I looked out on the bird feeder this morning it seemed to be awash in a sea of small birds. Too numerous to count as they flowed over the feeder and piles of spilled seed on the ground. Flocks of Gold Finches in their pale winter plumage, and House Finches, the males with their raspberry colored heads and backs, mingled with plain female House Sparrows and males with their black bibs. Chickadees and Red Breasted Nuthatches darted to the feeder and back to the tree branches. Gray Juncos with their white bibs and pink bills mingled with the finches on the ground. One Junco looked smaller and browner. Maybe like the rose sided Oregon Juncos we saw out west? No it is must be just an immature Slate Colored Junco. Titmice are here too moving from spruce branch to the feeder, taking their turns. Suddenly there is a surge of flight as all flee in panic, one small body bouncing off the window screen and safely away. One brave - or foolish?- Chickadee remains, sitting on a slender branch, among the clinging yellow birch leaves. Gradually the birds return from the false alarm, a few at a time like leaves tumbling to the ground from the overhanging birch and Spruce branches.

Later two Blue Jays arrive to take over the feeder from the smaller birds. Their backs a reminder of the summer sky that hides today behind the solid gray clouds. A sprinkling of large snowflakes drift down like feathers lost in a flurry of panic or death dealt by the Sharp Shinned hawk that occasionally feeds from our bird feeder, but not today, they are some of the first snowflakes of the coming winter.