Coming home after being away for several days, I didn’t expect to find Pine Siskins still here. We filled the feeder before leaving, but they usually go through it in a day or two, so I thought they’d probably give up and move on, or decide it was a good time to head north. But late yesterday afternoon when we got back, I filled it again – and when I looked out first thing this morning, seven Pine Siskins were crowding on or around the feeder, munching away in a cold, steady rain that dripped from their feathers.

Two Goldfinches waited for a chance to break in, and on the ground below the feeder White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos foraged around some bushes. The zhreeee calls and chirps of at least four or five more Pine Siskins could be heard from the branches nearby, and I was happy to hear them and to have them around for a while longer.