Brief periods of snow and cold are becoming more regular with each passing week. The birds have noticed it as well because fall migration is over for songbirds. A handful of lingerers include the odd Gray Catbird, Fox and Chipping Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and even a late warbler. Birds like the juncos and Tree Sparrows have arrived from the north and will be with us throughout the winter.
This is the time when surprises can turn up at our feeders. When natural food becomes harder to get, visitors will follow our local species, hopefully to the next meal. Aside from staples like black oil sunflower and mixed seed, make sure you have suet and perhaps peanuts as well. The more choices on the menu the better chance you will have something that will appeal to any bird passing by.
Happy Birding!
By Brian Morin
Publisher of Ontario Birding News
