This is a dark-eyed junco and this is the little bird I've been wondering about for awhile and trying to identify. This bird is the one who likes to run around underneath the bird feeder picking up things that have been dropped to the ground. I like his black hood and I like the way he cleans up after the other messy birds who throw the seeds around with no respect for the people who so generously provided them. Dark-eyed junco is a common bird here and I don't know why he was so difficult to identify. Today Shawn bought me a new bird feeder and a tall hanging pole for my birthday. The pole is supposed to keep the birds safe while they eat so that cats can't climb up, hide, and then catch them. The pole is very neat in that you can add extra arms to it so that it can hold many feeders and bird houses too. We put the new feeder on the pole; it's a suet feeder which is supposed to attract all kinds of birds that we haven't seen yet, like woodpeckers. I hope it does. So far it has attracted three Italian Greyhounds who all gathered around to lick the package the suet came in and were thoroughly irritated when they discovered they can't climb poles.
It was at the bird feeder store that I asked about our little ground feeding birds and the lady who worked there told me he was probably a dark-eyed junco. She was right. She also says we can attract the Rufous hummingbird with sugar/water feeders. We didn't get that feeder yet, but I think the bird feeder project has lots of room to expand.
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After the bird feeder store, we went to the dog food store and got treats and bones and dog food and a couple of new dog toys, one of which D destroyed within three minutes of pouncing upon it. These dogs are hard on their toys. To make up for the disappointment of not being permitted to eat suet cakes, they will get knuckle bones later this afternoon at which point I think they will forgive us for our cruelty.
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