The pine siskin irruption

I've got some different little birds around that I haven't seen before, but I don't know what they are.

Only one goldfinch here so far.

Jackson County, FL here, that little corner of Florida nestled up into Alabama and Georgia. We actually get pine siskins and purple finches most years, but this year have seen crazy numbers of both.

~15-20 purple finches have been at the feeders since before Christmas. I heard a few siskins then but they often don't come to the feeders until they have stripped the sweetgums clean. Once they did, about a month ago, they began arriving at the feeders in droves. Over 50 at a time. I've gone through over 25lbs of black oil sunflower seeds a week, in addition to millet and suet and other goodies.

A few other nice birds to report this winter are 3 rufous hummingbirds (2 captured, confirmed, and banded by a local expert), an overwintering yellow-breasted chat and overwintering male summer tanager.

We were iced in in NE Louisiana for most of the week before last.....I was feeding close to 50 # of black oil sunflower seed per day. Pine siskin in large numbers were to be seen along with large numbers of goldfinch. My favorites feeders were the chickadee and tufted titmouse, which would dart in and out.....other notables were white winged dove, a pair of rufous sided towhee, juncos, and a multitude of different “good” sparrows.

Goldfinches here by the dozens along with a few purple finches and house finches. Plus cardinals and arse hole blue jays hitting the feeders. Robins in the yard.

There has been a notable population of the White Wings in the area, at one time last year I saw over a hundred in my yard.

We were feeding during the ice as well.

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irruption

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Well played

They've made it all the way to the coastal areas in the Florida Panhandle. First it was Goldfinches that showed up in big numbers about a month ago. We had the first Siskins a couple of weeks ago and the numbers grew to 20 or more at the feeders though they've fallen off a bit. And the first Purple Finch ever at the feeder too last week. Siskins make it down here every 5 years or so as a guess, maybe less often.

Meanwhile - yesterday brought the first Hummingbird of the year. A few days ago the first Northern Parula - there are several around now and calling. Chuck-will's-widows arrived on Feb. 28. Purple Martins were on their house in late January.

ETA: Swallow-tailed Kites have been reported by a couple of friends.

That’s nice to spot the Parula. My guess is he dropped in after the trans gulf flight and needed to fuel up. Maybe hang around a bit longer. Good report Tigris.
Chuck Will’s Widow- “a chip fell outta the white oak”

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Florida panhandle is parula breeding ground, I imagine Tigris will see them for a while now that they've shown up.

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Yep, several yesterday. They are not hard at all to find on the coastal hotspots now and will only be increasing in numbers.