.jpg)
The full moon casts aspen shadows across the snow-covered ground. At dawn, the sunrise draws attention to the horizon and the illuminated pines. Fresh animal tracks tell a story from the previous night, and chickadees visit bird feeders before sun rises and feeders are refilled.
A mix of bird species come and go outside every window. Black-capped chickadees come and go for sunflower seeds. Red-breasted nuthatches do the same or stay and work on suet blocks. White-breasted nuthatches do the same at some feeders but not here.
Blue jays take peanuts in a shell or fill their throats with seeds to carry away. A pair of Canada jays visit for a brief time taking bits or chunks of suet. Hairy woodpeckers may be on open platforms eating seeds or working on suet blocks shared with downy woodpeckers. Both male and female woodpeckers display impressive plumage and details when observed this close as opposed to on a distant tree trunk or branch.
This winter many American goldfinches stayed up north and they have been finding a plentiful supply of birch seeds on trees and the surrounding ground. But as winter progresses birch, cedar and alder seeds may become less accessible in some areas. The variety of finch species and other birds increases at platform and tube feeders.
The goldfinch flock came first including a single pine siskin. Then a few redpolls took turns on the feeders and waiting in the trees. Occasionally, a hairy woodpecker or blue jay would flush the smaller birds away to take a turn.
A pair of Canada jays live in this area. They visit briefly to feed and collect some suet fat. in winter and spend time in fall and early winter stashing spitballs of food to eat or to feed nestlings in late winter and spring. Compared to all the other birds at the window feeder, Canada jays, blue jays, and hairy woodpeckers look like giants.
Some species unexpectedly arrive having not been seen at this feeder this year. During some winters flocks of these included evening grosbeaks or pine grosbeaks. Those colorful visits are In town, while taking a memorable. This year there are some that have appeared but very few. There has only been a sighting of one individual of each so far this year at this window feeding tray. Both were brightly colored adult males. walk, the movement in a white cedar tree revealed a group of redpolls busy extracting seeds from its cones. And later a white spruce tree heavy with cones had white-winged crossbills harvest seeds from the cone crop. There are lots of cones on pines, spruce and balsam fir trees this winter. tiful on mountain ash, ornamental crab apples and green ash and buckthorn trees. Some American robins stayed up north and are feeding on these and even a northern cardinal was on Finn Hill in Ely. One of the most regular species each winter is Bohemian waxwings that come down from Canada. Ely has lots of available food, but maybe there is also plentiful food farther north. Therefore, small numbers of these waxfat.
In addition, fruit is plentiful waxwings have appeared and the cedar waxwings that nest here in summer migrated south months ago.
Many visitors are visiting the Arrowhead Region in search of the larger than usual owl migration. Last week while guiding three visitors from Illinois, the only birds seen during the trail walk were red crossbills. Like the birds, they had stories explaining their trip to Ely. After traveling the North Shore and before heading to Hibbing and Sax-Zim.
One person in the group had read the books of Sigurd Olson, Aldo Leopold and others in the 1970s. Learning that Listening Point could be visited the group decided to arrange a visit. We had a pleasant hour and a half, and while standing on the end of the point, a flock of red crossbills appeared to feed on seeds from red pinecones. This was a new species to add to their trip list of sightings.
It truly is a winter wonderland, where all these lives are encountered during winter. While just observing the Canada jays arriving this morning outside, one can only wonder how winter is serving their lead in to nesting in March. How will the blue jay at a bird feeder manage with its deformed bill? This photo by Toni and Rich on the Ely Field Naturalists Google Group demonstrates just one of many unexpected discoveries that can occur during feeder watching.
