For the Birds: Deep freeze brings surprise bird visitors

Just as a snowstorm can bring out the birds, a deep freeze can bring our feathered friends flocking to our feeders as well.

That was certainly my experience this weekend when I woke up, opened my weather app, and saw -9 staring back at me. My son Andrew and I typed a few other locations into the app to see what some other temperatures were. Pittsburg, New Hampshire, (where we go camping in the summer) was -22. Nome, Alaska (just out of curiosity) 2. Erie, Pennsylvania, (where we visit family) 18 -- but snowing, as usual. Naples, Florida, (more family) 58. I could hear the Floridians complaining all the way up here in New England.

Andrew then found the topper. The night before we watched on movie on Netflix called "The Way Back," about a group of men who escaped a prison in Siberia during the World War II era. Andrew checked the current weather in Siberia. It was -44. Suddenly -9 didn't seem so bad.

Birds will be fueling up today, I thought to myself. Then I sought proof by checking out the feeders. The birds were fueling up all right. The sunflower seed feeders were busy and the suet feeders were crowded with birds actually waiting in line for their turn. The peanuts I had thrown out the night before were already either gone or reduced to empty, broken up shells.

At first glance it was the usual suspects, but lots of them. Downy Woodpeckers dominated the suet feeders as White-breasted Nuthatches paced nervously and uttered their nasal "yank-yank" in nearby trees waiting for an opening. Then they all scattered when a Hairy or Red-bellied Woodpecker flew on the scene.

I was more than content watching these birds, as well as the large numbers of chickadees and titmice. It was Great Backyard Bird Count weekend so I kept a mental note of what I saw and how many I was seeing. Then the first surprise visitor came.

A lull occurred at one of the suet feeders and only one bird was on it. I glanced over at the sunflower feeder and finally it clicked in my brain that the lone bird on the suet feeder looked a little different from the usual Downy Woodpeckers. It appeared "dirtier" than a Downy and slightly larger. It was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The reason it didn't click immediately for me was that I've never seen a sapsucker at one of my feeders before. I've been feeding birds for over 20 years and this was the first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker I'd seen. I've seen plenty of them in the woods before and even camped a night right under a nesting pair, but had never seen one at a feeder.

Another surprise visitor appeared later in the day. It didn't technically visit a feeder, but it did pick at scraps left underneath one of the suet feeders. It was a Brown Creeper, a small and rather nondescript bird with white chest and belly and streaked brown elsewhere. They are typically seen climbing along tree trunks using their thin, curved bills to glean insects from the bark. But on this cold day, two of them hung around the base of a tree on which a suet cage feeder hung. They didn't sit still for long, but they did pick at the tiny flecks of suet that fell from the feeder above.

I've always liked Brown Creepers, despite their ordinary appearance. Their habits of climbing up a tree looking for food and then darting down to the bottom of an adjacent tree only to work its way up again has always fascinated me. They are not particularly hyper and fast moving, but they are constantly in motion, making them difficult to photograph -- especially since they blend in so well with the bark. But, finally, I had them sitting still (relatively, anyway.)

Despite the negative temperatures, the sun was bright that day. At one point, the sun filtered through the hemlock branches and illuminated a group of Eastern Bluebirds. The visit was short-lived, however, as the boys hardly had time to rush to the window for a quick glimpse before the birds left as a group. The bluebirds left an impressive, though, as their blue and orange was highlighted beautifully in those rays of the sun.

But the day of exciting backyard sightings wasn't over yet. Some people have terrific luck attracting American Goldfinches. I've seen photos of five-foot long tube feeders completely covered in goldfinches. Me? I've never had such luck. I'm lucky if I get one or two a day, despite having a new feeder filled with Nyjer seed. Late in the day, however, I looked out to see five of the yellow birds perched on that feeder. Not only that, I walked into the room where I have a window feeder and saw one literally sitting inside the seed tray eating sunflowers seeds.

So I actually enjoyed the cold snap. I've said it before and I'll say it again. One of the great things about birdwatching is that it can make otherwise hard-to-tolerate conditions downright enjoyable.
