Redpolls and Tree Sparrows

Today was a bit chillier than the past few and has brought the birds back to the feeder. Instead of the usual Chickadees, Nuthatches and Bluejays, today brought a new assortment of species – Common Redpolls, Tree Sparrows, and Dark-eyed Juncos.

We get Juncos each winter. They don’t seem to stay for the entire winter, but rather, show up for a week or two at a time and then disappear again. We usually have two or three Tree Sparrows visit us intermittently throughout the winter. But the Redpolls are something new. We have seen them at a feeders before, but maybe for a day or two. For the past few weeks, the Redpolls have been coming and going. They seem to show up every few days and normally arrive as a flock of about 10-20 birds.

Seeing as how the Redpolls are not common visitors to our feeders, I just had to get my camera out…. I only managed a few images before my fingers froze to the point of burning. But hopefully these little beauties will return on the weekend so I can make more images of them.

Common Redpoll

I love how the Redpoll (above) has puffed itself up for insulation. There was a bit of a wind blowing today and the windchill was pretty cold.

 

I just love the crimson cap these birds wear.

 

 

I need to look into this further, but I noticed that some of the Redpolls had no colour on their breast while others had rosy breasts. I briefly ready something about different subspecies, but I don’t know if this is the case, or whether this is a difference between males and females, or whether it’s just natural variation.

Several Tree Sparrows accompanied the flock of Redpolls.

This was pretty much all I managed today, but I’m hoping the flock comes back on the weekend so I can get the camera out and try my hand again.