Starlings are already back..

The starling in the photo is not from around here and is a juvenile rather than an adult. He flew in from the world wide web. I saw the first starling at the feeder several days ago now..They come only occasionally and when they do all the other birds vacate the feeder.

Brewer's blackbirds not starlings..

Birds that I thought were starlings must actually be Brewer's blackbirds. Starlings have a yellow bill but the blackbirds that visit my feeder have a dark bill. Both starlings and Brewer blackbirds have irridescent feathers on their heads. People in this area mostly just call them blackbirds although they do also talk of red-winged blackbirds. I have never heard anyone speak of Brewer blackbirds! There is also a chipping sparrow in the background barely visible.

Starlings visit regularly ...

Starlings visit the feeder rather regularly now. They usually feed on the ground as shown in this photo. I find the starling very attractive with the iridescent colours on its head.

More chickadees

There are more chickadees visiting the feeder now. Perhaps this is a sign of the coming of fall. They have not been too common over the summer. During the winter time they are sometimes one of the commonest visitors.

There are still hordes of house sparrows from time to time, and also pine siskins are still plentiful. There are also a few starlings. One starling often visits along with the sparrows. Unlike the hummingbirds, the siskins, sparrows, and starlings seem to be able to co-exist while feeding.

Hummingbirds are quite plentiful. Once we start to have some frost at night they will leave. It is apparently a good idea to take the feeder down before it gets very cold since if nectar is available the hummingbirds will stay too late.

Fuzzy starlings

This is a group of starlings eating sunflower seeds off the ground and drinking out of my old cereal dish. When the bowl developed a cracked we handed it down to the birds as a drinking dish. The starlings insist on washing their feet or taking a bath in it and also manage to pollute it with sunflower seed shells as well. There are oodles of house sparrows visiting the feeder and they dump seeds on the ground. I have run out of seeds even though I bought a sack about a month ago.
My usual supplier is out so I had to pay ten dollars for a lighter large plastic bag the probably will not last more than a couple of weeks. Seems there is inflation in bird seed as well as energy.

A lone black-capped chickadee visits.

During the summer I only see chickadees occasionally. I saw one the other day who darted in to grab a sunflower seed before he was crowded out by house sparrows and starlings. I have never seen so many young starlings. There were about a dozen starlings and close to two dozen house sparrows at the feeder the other morning. There are also a few pine siskins, nuthatches, and even American goldfinches who all manage to scrounge a few seeds.

Lots of juvenile starlings and parents

This is a photo of a juvenil starling--not mine. As you can see it is much more brown than the parents and hasn't the dark irridescent colours on the head as yet. There are quite a few starlings at the feeder the last few days. Starling apparently like insects but are more or less omnivorous. Although some of the younger birds beg others for food by approaching them and opening their beaks their comrades just ignore them. House sparrows and even pine siskins seem to be able to feed at the same time without too many fights!