On Sunday, April 7, 2013 I was in the house when I heard the distinctive sound of the impact of a bird on one of the windows.  I went outside to investigate and found a breathing, but unresponsive Pine siskin on the patio.  I picked it up and cradled it in my hand to keep it warm.  As I was admiring the bird I heard another impact and found that a second Pine siskin had hit the same pane of glass, but apparently not as hard.  Nevertheless the second siskin was stunned.  I picked it up and found myself with a Pine siskin in each hand!

We had a run in a chair on the patio so I made a small cave and placed both birds inside.  Over the course of the afternoon I checked on them several times.  First one disappeared and later, the other.  I’m assuming a positive outcome.

As I think I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, we have been overrun with Pine siskins this spring.  One morning I attempted a count and reached 22, but I’m fairly certain that count was somewhat short as I was only able to count birds on the ground and there was a constant flow of traffic from lower tree limbs to the ground.  It’s also of interest to me that several years back I went for about a year and a half without seeing a single Pine siskin.

So in honor of these small birds I’m posting some recent photos of them, all taken around our watercourse.