Sparrows galore

[Howieh]

When I came home yesterday I walked to the back and peeked in the yard - about 30 sparrows, mostly white throated but a few white crowned feeding on the ground near the feeder. Still busy this morning - along with the WT's and WC's there are a pair of redbreasted nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, house sparrows, a blue jay and of course big furry guy, the world's most annoying squirrel! There are three cardinals and the male is acting like a typical male (sorry guys), chasing one of the females all over the place; is this normal behavior for this time of year?

Looks like the sun just emerged so, despite my cold (and protestations from the love goddess) I'm heading out with my camera 'cause most of the migrants(?) will soon be gone.

[Howieh]

I spent about two hours relaxing (and taking a few pictures) in the backyard, came in for a bite to eat and went to the back window just in time to see a (coopers?) hawk carrying off a grey squirrel! Since this was a first for me it was pretty shocking and now that I think of it there was a hawk circling overhead a couple of hours ago but I never considered the possibility of losing one of my regulars...guess my neighborhood is not as safe as I thought it was!

Btw, I still have lots of white throated sparrows but I haven't seen a white crowned sparrow today (guess I lied in the previous post!).

[mr.sharp-photo]

i've been dealing with the sparrow issue for 2 years. they are plentiful and the strip my feeder in 2 days. either i get them fat by feeding them, or i leave the feeder empty and deprive my yard of any bird visits