Bees and Birds

The image of the goldfinch through the window after the rain this morning is a good one I think. It sure shows the winter plumage well. As a sure identifier, the black and white wings are hard to miss. Some of the goldfinches are starting to convert to their spring color pattern already and it’s pretty early to be doing that. A couple years ago quite a few of these did that and people were asking about the new kind of bright yellow bird with the black cap that suddenly showed up at the feeders. It was hard to convince some folks that it was the same bird as the drab one we usually see. We just don’t get to see them in their bright colors, they go north too early, usually.

The bees are taking over the hummer feeder near my window. I didn’t think they could get enough out of it with the bee guards on the ports, but they obviously do. This morning I saw the female rufous hummer come and clear out the bees and feed – actually I saw her do this several times within the space of a couple of hours. The bees didn’t threaten her, as far as I could see.

The river is at 11.0 feet on the Butte La Rose gauge today. It will fall almost three feet during the next week. The Ohio and upper Mississippi are rising very slowly, probably about enough to hold our water at about seven feet for awhile. I did manage to get the tree off of the dock, and off it went downriver to bother someone else.

Rise and shine, Jim