Winter Song

Throng of pine siskin

Army of red-winged blackbird

Here for the winter

All day every day

Fighting each other for seed

Not stopping for rain

Neither could be called

Lyrical songsters, more like

Dissonant janglers

Eating their way through

twenty pounds of seed per week,

two bags of dried worms

I wonder what our

year-round residents suppose,

or if they notice 

~dkm 30/52 

 

Unexpected Drove of Pine Siskins

An irruption year

for pine siskins in Georgia

driven by climate

Here by the dozens

I counted nineteen at once

perched on the feeders

From same family

as American goldfinch

Shared genus: Spinus

Smaller, but louder

meowing like their cousins

sounding like kittens

Sometimes they raise a 

hint of a crest on the top

of their dainty heads

Not the least bit shy

these cute small streaky brown birds

with yellow edged wings

don't fly as soon as

most, at Backyard Spectator's

approach with camera

They all stare right back

Curious or aggressive?

Size of a large thumb

~dkm 18/52