Unusual number of finches

[Nancy]

Chesapeake Beach: Has anyone noticed an unusual number of gold/other finches & similar-sized birds in the last week? We normally have a variety of  birds in our yard & keep feeders up year-round.  But now we're seeing at least 50 finch-sized birds at a time - (they move too fast too count) - and I think they're crowding out the cardinals & jay. They're at the feeders, on the ground, in the air. We have multiple feeders filled with sunflower hearts & they act famished tho don't look thin - some continuing to eat even when I approach. I've never seen anything like this except the occasional arrival of blackbird flocks during snowstorms. 

[James Tyler Bell]

This is an irruption winter for a lot of northern species. First, it was Red-breasted Nuthatches starting in August. Then, Pine Siskins and Purple Finches. Now, Evening Grosbeaks. The numbers of Pine Siskins showing up at feeders has been staggering, sometimes in the triple digits. Keep your eye out for Common Redpolls in the mix and they're showing up in small numbers as well.

Tyler Bell
jtyle...@yahoo.com
California, Maryland

On Friday, October 30, 2020, 8:22:47 AM EDT, Nancy <dan-nan...@comcast.net> wrote:

Chesapeake Beach: Has anyone noticed an unusual number of gold/other finches & similar-sized birds in the last week? We normally have a variety of  birds in our yard & keep feeders up year-round.  But now we're seeing at least 50 finch-sized birds at a time - (they move too fast too count) - and I think they're crowding out the cardinals & jay. They're at the feeders, on the ground, in the air. We have multiple feeders filled with sunflower hearts & they act famished tho don't look thin - some continuing to eat even when I approach. I've never seen anything like this except the occasional arrival of blackbird flocks during snowstorms. 

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[Dan&Nan]

I will, thank you - and given a choice between The Birds and murder hornets, I'll take The Birds. Love the idea of seeing Evening Grosbeaks & redpolls.   

I filled my feeders at 7:30 - one's empty and the other 3 are nearly so. Hungry little devils! But the jay & the woodpeckers are getting in now, which is comforting.  

This group has been amazing - so glad I found you -- I've learned a ton in just an hour.

Thank you!

Nancy

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[James Wilson]

Let's hear it for large numbers of Pine Siskins.  When they first arrived, I was putting out a bit of shelled sunflowers.  That appeared to draw in the Siskins to the point where I had 72 about 10 days ago.  

And then the rain came 5 days and the numbers soared.  The little buggers flit in and out continuously but I got a count of about 250.  That number, and probably more, drained a bag of 25 pounds of shelled sunflowers.  I honestly don't know how they can eat so much.   They must be related to Evening Grosbeaks.

I counted 10 Purple Finches and who knows how many Red-breasted Nuthatches, but at least four.

Time to start a GoFundMe page for seed.  

Jim Wilson

Queenstown

[Dan&Nan]

Well, I'm feeding them, but not sure I'm all that enthusiastic yet.  (Tho I tried to see if they'd eat from my hand yesterday -- I think I need more patience, to stand still longer).  I'm running out early this morning to get MORE sunflower seed (the shells kill the stuff that passes for a yard at my house, so I can't use the UNshelled kind). And possibly an extra birdfeeder the bigger birds can manage (with the hummers gone, I have an extra hook for a feeder).

And thanks to the advice from this group, I'm going to get a couple of bags of shelled peanuts to see if they give my poor lonely blue jay a fighting chance. (A few years ago, until I learned they migrate, I thought our very sensible blue jays somehow lost braincells every fall, since they suddenly had problems landing on our birdfeeders. And when it snowed I had to put seed on the ground in pie plates for them so they wouldn't be hungry 😢. Happily, after a few years they mostly learned to land on birdfeeders.)  

Thanks to all of you for your amazing help.  Googling had been getting me absolutely NOWHERE and the clouds of finches had me flummoxed. 

Happy Halloween all,

Nancy

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[ljeanne...@aol.com]

Good Morning All,   In north Baltimore County, we have an invasion of a Mint plant, Perillo Frutescens.  The finches seem to love picking the seeds off the many flowering leaves of this plant, and it is right attractive.  Yesterday there were something over 50 Gold finches having a party around one patch of the man,many plants.  The plants die back each year, but seem to bear the winter and shot up in late spring. 

 

Good Birding to ALL. 

 

Jeanne Bowman 

Freeland, MD     

 

In a message dated 10/31/2020 6:42:31 AM Eastern Standard Time, birdm...@gmail.com writes:

Let's hear it for large numbers of Pine Siskins.  When they first arrived, I was putting out a bit of shelled sunflowers.  That appeared to draw in the Siskins to the point where I had 72 about 10 days ago.  

 

And then the rain came 5 days and the numbers soared.  The little buggers flit in and out continuously but I got a count of about 250.  That number, and probably more, drained a bag of 25 pounds of shelled sunflowers.  I honestly don't know how they can eat so much.   They must be related to Evening Grosbeaks.

 

I counted 10 Purple Finches and who knows how many Red-breasted Nuthatches, but at least four.

 

Time to start a GoFundMe page for seed.  

Jim Wilson

Queenstown

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