Wintry Day

The wind is blowing from the south; as yet we've had no accumulation of snow. The feeders are swarming with Pine Siskins - which I thought were immature Goldfinches at first; there are a few Goldfinches though. Several have crashed into the windows but most, stunned at first, recover and fly back to the safety of the trees. There's a black cat that stalks them; don't know if it's an indoor/outdoor pet or feral.

This stunned siskin escaped soon after the photo was taken.

Pine siskins summer further north and winter down here. Their diet is mostly small seeds like thistles, dandelions, wild sunflowers, silphiums, etc. My old sourcebook says that they depend on (now virtually extinct) elm tree seeds in the spring. Remove one species from an environment and that removal affects many other species who depend on it.

I consider myself observant but this delicate, small bird nest, located within 25 ' of the house, escaped my notice all summer appearing, as if by magic, only after the last leaves fell. Perhaps from Goldfinches?

T.J. came this morning and inserted the malfunctioning control panel into the generator and it seems to be working - finally. Lost power for a few hours again last week; this should guarantee that I never lose power again, right?