[mou] shrikes

[linda whyte]

Last week held a bonanza of shrike sightings for me--3 in 8 days. On the
first Sunday, there was one hunting the hillside below Refuge Headquarters
in Bloomington. The following Saturday there was one at Black Dog Park,
about halfway along the trail toward the SNA at Cliff Fen Park. (Perhaps it
was the same bird?) Then on this past Sunday, another was seen on the west
outskirts of Carlos Avery Wildlife Refuge. We seem to have a larger influx
of them than usual; do they choose a winter territory to occupy, or can we
expect them to be simply nomadic?

The sudden drop in temperature brought more activity to the backyard feeders
and heated birdbath today. There continues to be a RB nuthatch, along with
the WBs,  At times, the finches, both house and gold, have been outnumbering
the house sparrows. Bluejays are appearing almost as often as cardinals, and
juncos are plentiful. However, the real surprises  were the pair of
robins---haven't seen any of them in weeks--and the red-bellied woodpecker
at the birdbath. (Perhaps the RB woodpecker has been visiting the nuts and
suet right along with the downies and hairies, but I should think I would
have noticed, since I don't very often see them right here, even in summer.
It makes me think the warm water was the real attraction.)

Linda Whyte
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