Pine Siskins

Pine Siskin Couple having a quiet meal before the hord found the location.

At left is a very small portion of the feeding frenzy that happens when a flock of Pine Siskins arrive. They are the noisest of birds, shouting "here I am" to their preditors, with their only protection being the very large numbers in the flocks they travel with. All other sounds are drowned out by these birds; traffic, rushing water of flooding creeks, other birds, everything fades into the background.

Last year we had the yard dug up for drainage, and also had a load of sand dumped next to this area for use in making cement. The picture at right is not the clearest as any disturbance to find another lens would have caused the birds to all fly off, which they did, after the photo was taken. It was a reminder to me that birds need sand in their crops to digest food, and we have the ideal location, particularly whey it is raining. Most of the little grey lumps in the photo, (right), are Pine Siskins hunting a digestive aid between battles at getting to the perches on the feeders.