The First Townsend's Warbler Is Back in Town...a Harbinger of Winter to Come...

I received an email first thing this morning from Ellen Blackstone, writer and web editor for public radio's popular "BirdNote" series:  "Saw the first Townsend's Warbler of the season yesterday on my suet feeder...Winter is a comin' on...."

Read more about which birds you might spot over the winter outside your windows, and how to attract more birds to your garden (hint: organics only, don't be too hasty to clean up out there, and keep your cat indoors) in my column this morning "Invite the Birds Over for Fall and Winter" in Pacific NW magazine.

Thanks to Ellen for the bird arrival update and to Mike Hamilton for this photo of a Townsend's Warbler going after suet.

Comments

[Chris]

Gorgeous photo of that little beauty! I too am seeing new visitors showing up and a few just passing through. Today as I was out tidying up the garden, I made sure not to get too tidy and leave lots of seed heads for everyone and added to the brush pile for shelter and wintering over lots of other garden wildlife. It was actually so warm, some of the birds were thinking it was spring and were singing! :)

[Elaine Mahler]

So enjoyed the article about the birds showing up now for food. We have a hummingbird that continues to feed on our fuchsia even though the plant doesn't look as hardy as it did in the summer. Is this good for the hummer to feed on at this time of year???
Thanks again, Elaine

[valerie Easton]

Hi Elaine,
If the hummingbirds can still siphon nectar out of the fuchsia, I'm sure it's just fine....soon enough they'll be moving on to the mahonia, which is just coming in to bloom, which will hopefully carry them through until the native flowering currant starts to bloom....
Val