Was home from work today, and kept an eye on the feeder activity.
We had a Ruby-crowned Kinglet at the suet.  It likes working around 
the base of the tree where the suet bits fall, but also clings directly to 
the feeder.   We've had kinglets before, they seem to like the woodpile; 
but this is the first year we've seen one using the feeder.   Last week 
we saw our first Creeper in the yard.   Today; it, too, was eating suet.   
We've also had a Fox Sparrow off and on.  Like the White-throats, it likes 
scratching under the niger seed.  One upside-down niger feeder has a bit
of a crack in it, and the snow is dark with fallen seeds there.   It also 
enjoys splashing around in the ground level water tray.    I've noticed 
that when it does this, suddenly other birds decide that they need a 
bath or a drink, too.   

The other day Paul and I were at the Canal Street subway station in New 
York, and saw a sculpture (40 sculptures?) of a mixed grackle and blackbird 
flock; eating and preening, on the floor and on the structures above us.  I 
saw no two alike.  Across the tracks were two more flocks; with another 
flock visible further down the line; probably 160 birds in all.  It was most 
unexpected and utterly charming.  

Backyard Birds today

Morning Doves
Downy Woodpeckers
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Carolina Chickadees
Tufted Titmice
White-breasted Nuthatches
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cardinals
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrows
Junco
American Goldfinch
House Finch
House Sparrows

Elise Kreiss
Baltimore, Maryland