While it’s cousins prefer pines, this fellow prefers deciduous tress. They are frequently at the feeders, taking the nut of the seeds and hiding them for later in the tree bark. They are always here at the farm year round, I see them often yet rarely post a photo… here we go, a fall Nutchatch at he feeder.
The fall migration has had a slow start, however the birds are coming thru. The trees we full of loud birds this morning here on the farm. There are several warblers in the bushes which I can’t identify in their fall plumage and no camera in hand. This little fellow was an easy one, and new to me. It is likely passing thru and stopped for some niger seed with the Chickadees.
These clever little birds are very smart indeed. They cache food in many different sites, recalling those locations and finding the food again is not small task. So much so, their little brain actually increases in size with the information, and as the winter stores are found and memory is not needed, its brain shrinks. They are also tough little birds that will gang up on a small owl to protect its family. Fascinating.
While on the Bruce Peninsula I learned some interesting Monarch info… they currently flying south along the shore line, we saw at least a dozen, perhaps more. They overnight in the cedars and sometimes will cluster in them. While some will make the whole trip to Mexico, along the journey 7 generations are produced. The extra little bug in the first photo is an Syrphid. Next time your up in the Bruce Peninsula look in the cedars for sleeping Monarchs, you might be surprised how many you find.
