The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
October 2015
Pacific Northwest
I don't know why I planted 3 pear trees in my backyard twenty years ago. I don't really like pears all that much.
Fortunately there's plenty of wildlife that does. Besides the raccoons and rodents, wasps and fruit flies, lots of birds munch on the pears while they are still on the tree.
Here are some of my local birds making use of this sweet calorie-filled food. I'm glad they are!
Can you see the Varied Thrush? It's tricky locating birds in trees sometimes. Their rustling and calling helps.
The Varied Thrushes have just returned for the winter.
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
Their cousins, the Robins, are here year round, although the winter populations are a different set of birds than the summer population.
American Robin:
Who is this, head buried in a pear?
A House Finch!
Flocks of Starlings take over now and then. Here's one:
The Golden-crowned Sparrows have just returned for the winter. I love their cheerful melodic song.
A juvenile Spotted Towhee, on its own now, figuring things out:
This American Goldfinch is sitting in the pear tree but likely it's just a staging place for the sunflowers:
And I have to include my first pear visitors, back in August. The Black-headed Grosbeaks worked on the Asian pears as they began to ripen then. Haven't seen a Grosbeak since early September. Perhaps they are visiting pear trees further south?
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Late Bucket today ready for your nature observations. What are you seeing in your backyard?
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" is posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 on the Daily Kos front page. It's a great way to catch up on diaries you might have missed. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.