i think it's the wet snowy days that are keeping them here. they usually move back up into the mountains in march but the mountains are way over normal with snow depth and it's been colder than normal between storms too. about 2 foot of snow in the fields next to me on the ground with just a few bare spots under some trees.

i get juncos eating from my feeders all the time. I had purposely put oversize bases on several feeders to catch seed lots of birds were scattering. as long as the juncos can perch on the bases they are regullar visiters all winter long. i also have a couple pine rounds about 3 foot tall that i stand on end and put feed on and they are regulars to the rounds that a neighbor calls my stumps.

Last year I had this bird come to visit. I looked it up in my book andI thought it was a Black Crowned Night Heron. I was later told it looked more like a Green Heron. There are pics of both in my book and I though that the Green Heron had a different shaped head and lighter color. I would like to hear your opinion. Here's the pics. In the forst one he was right outside the kitchen window. In this one he? is standing on the window sill. Thanks for any help. Marg

I love the spadefoot toad. They sound like a flock of sheep! As for the birds I looked it up and apparently after fledging they will spend quite a bit of time essentially walking around while they develop proper feathers. Juncos are considered ground dwellers. I did not know they are considered to be a sort of sparrow. In any case your birds have hopefully just abandoned the nest so I would watch for the parents flitting about feeding them. Robins go through a walking stage after fledging as do Stellars Jay of all things. We had a couple nest under the back eave of our house and I just happened to be there when they fledged. The nest was up about fifteen feet but the babies jumped out landing in the ferns thankfully and just walked off into the shrubbery. When they can fly they hound their parents and make massive noise about it. They are huge birds. I had a cat named Gilbert who would catch them and bring them to my screened porch and I would have to catch them to get them out. Giant, huge beaks. patriciae