Another beautiful picture, Konrad! I shall have to drive out one day and soak in some of your paradise. :)

I have DE Juncos all year here in the city. Of course I love to put out a smorgasbord all winter. :)

Again, I love your pics!

Ginny

Lovely picture Konrad. I had a bunch go thru last week but usually have a few winter here.Robins are still around.

Ginny,.. any time!

Guess what,...all are gone.

Our juncoes are almost done too. They stay until about November and then move south.

This fall I noticed some new birds at the feeder - a pair of purple finches which I have seen before but they never hang around; and a red-breasted nuthatch which I knew live around here but I had never seen one. There are at least three RB nuthatches now, and it looks like they're here to stay. Cute little guys. We usually have the white-breasted ones.

Funny you mentioned nuthatches, Gil. I'm not seeing them, really, right now, but i hear them in the trees - dozens of them! Well, i lie - maybe one dozen! I just checked and it's the red-breasted we have around here, but there's never more than two in the winter, and they hang around with our small resident flock of chickadees. But there seem to be so many of them around for the past few months - i was really wondering why.

It would be great if more of you could post your bird pictures. I don't know what half of them look like when you mention them, and they're probably beautiful.

Konrad if I were a bird, I'd sure be landing in amongst those beautiful evergreens.

I've uploaded some pictures, I'll start a new thread. I need an ID! Konrad!

Our juncos stay all year. I just now saw 3 robins, though. Was so shocked to see them this time of year that I got the binoculars to make sure they weren't anything else. They had better quit eating and start flying!

We often have robins this time of year. People keep saying that robins don't go south, but i can't see them staying around here - they must go somewhere milder at least!

Well, the majority of our robins migrate. The locals leave first, and then a few weeks later we get another wave, this time mixed with varied thrushes, which I always assume is the more northerly birds migrating out. They stay for a couple of weeks, and then poof, they're gone. I know there are always a few sighted in Anchorage during the winter, but I've never seen one. Perhaps they're still around because it was such a rainy summer that there are many berries still on the trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

That map shows that they're only here in summer.

The ones we have this time of year are the same as yours, the northern ones on their way to warmer climes. I guess the amount of time they spend here in the fall must depend on the weather. Any around here the past few days are probably building an ark about now! LOL

I think a lot of these birds that don't have a really formal, organized migration will just hang around wherever there's still food and decent weather, and move a bit if conditions change. Other species with a long migration leave all at the same time. The flexible species seem quite successful I'd say - there's no shortage of robins or juncoes.

Finally, some grosbeaks!

Thank you all!
I've never seen grosbeaks at my feeder,..lovely marciaz!

Just now I saw a flock of Canadian Geese go south, ...in this cold of around minus 14C, I was surprised that they can fly at all for long distances in this cold, I don't think I've seen this before.

Konrad, I also saw a very large flock of geese heading south today. Most of the bodies of water are frozen and we have a good covering of snow. I was surprised they were still around.

I was seeing geese and ducks last week but I suspect with this snowfall they will now be gone. Huge flocks of them often stay put around here long after the sloughs freeze as long as there is no snow cover since they feed off the various grain fields - I'm told they particularly like the fields where peas were harvested...they pick up all that didn't make it through the combine. Sometimes the fields are just covered with them, snow geese in particular.

I'm jealous of your bright Pine Grosbeaks, Marcia. I've only had them visit twice since we've lived here (15 years now) and both times it was to eat those winged seeds from the green ash tree. That tree has a huge bunch of seeds this year so I hope I'll get a visit from the Grosbeaks again.

We've been getting daily visits from many chickadees and even more dark eyed juncos, a few bluejays, a white breasted nuthatch, and hairy and downy woodpeckers. This morning, though, since the snow and now cold temperatures, a whole flock (about 30) of house finches showed up as well as a red breasted nuthatch. Quite a bird party going on out there this morning when they pretty much all showed up at once.

The grosbeaks are really pretty. It's nice to have a flock around, and i'd like to have a feeding table as well as the feeder itself so that more than a couple at a time would be together. When mil lived next door, she just threw the feed on a small picnic table in her yard and dozens of evening grosbeaks would be there at once!