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A number of readers wrote in response to my request for arrival dates of winter residents: the Junco and Whitethroated Sparrow. Karin MacDowell of Waterford had the earliest date for the gentle little white-throat. She wrote a delightful letter, dated Oct. 9, in which she wrote: “I heard a White-throated Sparrow last week, then about three days later, I saw one.
As is usual with us bird watchers, one report of a bird sighting leads to another and Karin, an old friend, described an early morning experience with a Barred Owl that she saw hunting near her house. The owl “...looked like an old lady in the face. All grey and pinched looking. That observation made my day.” It would have made mine also.
Two reports came in of Junco sightings on Oct. 11. C.W. Hayward of Orlean saw one at 6 p.m. on that date. What a fine way to end a glorious October day. Rita Paine of Warrenton also reported a Junco on Oct. 11. She feeds birds on the deck outside her family room.
When I visit her I spend all my time looking out the window at the birds. I fear I am not a very communicative guest for my verbal contributions consist of announcing birds I see on the deck: “Cardinal, Mourning Dove, titmouse,” and so on. Once Rita, a consistently careful observer (and reporter), telephoned to say she had a vulture on her deck railing! I suppose that big bird was after the suet that Rita keeps in a wire basket.
Eleanor Davis of Berryville wrote a charming letter in which she reported a Whitecrowned Sparrow at her feeder on Oct. 13. That rare and elegant bird is a definite bonus or, at any rate, it is for me.
The adult sparrow had bold black and white stripes on its head and has an aristocratic look about it. On the day she wrote her letter, Oct. 14, Davis also saw a Junco along with “the regulars: House Finches, Golfinches, jays and doves."
Eleanor Davis also wrote that she fed birds all summer because the Indigo Bunting, of the “...most glorious color,” was a regular at her feeder. I have heard that story over and over again. It seems the bunting became a regular at a number of feeders last summer.
Now that close relative of
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