A Weekend of Non-Photo Hilites - 18 Nov 2018

I managed to experience a number of neat yard highlights that happened so quick that I had no time to grab a camera. I'm trying to determine which one was my favorite.

A Fox Squirrel had jumped from the trees to the top of the Screech Owl box. It attempted to enter the box several times but the resident Screech Owl wanted nothing to do with it. I actually heard the owl screech several times from inside the house as the squirrel attempted to peer inside the hole. This prompted me to run out the door and through the brush to scare the squirrel away. Owl safe and sound.

A Fox Sparrow made another appearance yesterday afternoon for a few minutes.

This morning the owl box was visited by a half-dozen Eastern Bluebirds that took turns flying in to investigate the box as possible roosting sites. Each time one bird flew in it peered inside then quickly flew off, only to be followed by another bird. And so on.  They soon flew off. Owl safe and sound.

With a steady snowfall this morning the feeders were hopping! Approximately 2-dozen House Finches were at the sunflower feeder while another 2-dozen American Goldfinches swarmed the thistle feeder. Just as I grabbed the camera to photograph a pair of Pine Siskins that joined them a Cooper's Hawk flushed the entire crowd. I saw the hawk fly over the field out back.

An American Tree Sparrow visited the ground the below the feeders this evening.

And, a Red-breasted Nuthatch flew into the sunflower feeder a couple of times this evening and made for a great end to the day!

And not a single photo.

Brownton Abbey, 26340 Higgins Way, Wayne, Michigan, US
Nov 18, 2018 8:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
Checklist Comments:     Yard highlights
9 species

Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)  1
Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio)  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  1
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)  6
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  24
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  23
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  1
Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S158299388

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)