I'm still exploring suet options: last Sunday was a good day at the latest version suet feeder. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is standing on a suet cage or maybe a branch, but eating out of the old pine cone which had suet/peanut butter mix. This is the first time I've seen the Red-belly on the suet feeder - usually it feeds on the hopper or the ground. The Downy Woodpecker is also standing on the upper suet cage, but eating out of that same cage which contains a C&S Almond Treat suet block. The Red-breasted Nuthatch likes the bottom cage, which I think has a C&S Nutty Treat, or something similar. I have another single hanging suet cage on the rose arch with C&S Insect Treat in it. Downies, wrens, titmice and chickadees like this one, maybe because it's well-hidden in the rose canes (which is why I don't have a good photo of it). I'm trying to avoid mixing up my own suet glop, particularly because I don't have a convenient source of rendered suet. The raw suet hasn't been more popular than the store-bought. Claire

We have whole flocks of juncos, chickadees, finches, pine siskins, purple finches, plus sparrows, several varieties of woodpeckers, cardinals, jays, mourning doves, a pair of Carolina wrens (with sharp attitudes and beaks to match, lol), a couple of mockingbirds after raisins and suet, lots of titmice, nuthatches and plenty of robins at the birdbath water. There are also a few bluebirds in the yard getting drinks out of the pond tho they haven't visited any of the feeders. I don't have any mealworms for them, I don't know what they are eating. I feed lots of black oil sunflower, two feeders of thistle and some scratch feed for the ground feeders (doves, sparrows, and other seed eaters). They are going thru 20 lbs of seed in about 4 days.

The "slate-colored" is actually just a subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco. So you actually have a Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) no matter which subspecies it is. The subspecies exist as populations in certain regions of the country. Those listed in my field guide are: 1.) Pink-sided 2.) Oregon 3.) Gray-headed 4.) Slate-colored Each subspecies looks a little different. As for the slate-colored (the subspecies I see in my location), the first-winter males look very similar to the adult females (brown instead of slate gray). They can be difficult to age and sex unless it's the adult male, and the adult male is dark slate gray with a white belly and white outer tail feathers. Very distinct plumage on the slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco.

I've submitted three counts so far - one of my yard for Friday, Feb. 12, one for the local marsh on Saturday, Feb. 13, and one more of my yard for Saturday, Feb. 13. These reports are as submitted (emailed back from GBBC) First Report Locality: 02360, Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA Observation Date: FEB 12, 2010 Start Time: 6:45 AM Total Birding Time: 1 hour Party Size: 1 Skill: good Weather: excellent Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm) Habitat(s): deciduous woods coniferous woods scrub rural freshwater salt water Number of Species: 17 All Reported: yes Checklist: Wild Turkey - 15 Mourning Dove - 23 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Blue Jay - 5 American Crow - 4 Black-capped Chickadee - 1 Tufted Titmouse - 1 European Starling - 3 Song Sparrow - 2 White-throated Sparrow - 4 Dark-eyed Junco - 6 Northern Cardinal - 9 Red-winged Blackbird - 13 Purple Finch - 1 House Finch - 3 American Goldfinch - 15 House Sparrow - 20 Second Report Locality: 02360, Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA Observation Date: FEB 13, 2010 Start Time: 2:30 AM Total Birding Time: 15 minutes Party Size: 1 Skill: good Weather: excellent Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm) Habitat(s): deciduous woods coniferous woods scrub rural salt water Number of Species: 5 All Reported: no Checklist: Canada Goose - 125 American Black Duck - 3 Mallard - 2 Green-winged Teal - 3 Hooded Merganser - 1 Comments ---------------------------------------- Drive by sightings at Shifting Lots Preserve (adjacent to Ellisville Harbor State Park) ------------------------------------------------- Third Report Locality: 02360, Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA Observation Date: FEB 13, 2010 Start Time: 7:15 AM Total Birding Time: 1 hour Party Size: 1 Skill: good Weather: excellent Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm) Habitat(s): deciduous woods coniferous woods scrub rural freshwater salt water Number of Species: 17 All Reported: no Checklist: Wild Turkey - 13 Mourning Dove - 17 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Blue Jay - 13 American Crow - 3 Black-capped Chickadee - 3 Tufted Titmouse - 1 Hermit Thrush - 1 European Starling - 5 American Tree Sparrow - 1 Song Sparrow - 3 White-throated Sparrow - 6 Dark-eyed Junco - 12 Northern Cardinal - 7 Red-winged Blackbird - 5 American Goldfinch - 16 House Sparrow - 25 ***************************************************************************** I have another neighborhood count almost ready to submit for today, but I've emailed a few photos to a local guru for identification. There are some birds I've never seen before and I'm not sure if I've identified them correctly. Claire