Very little proof

When I work from home, I sit in the West Wing and rest my eyes by watching the birds in the backyard. Most of what is there are LBJs - Little Brown Jobs - sparrows and finches. Except for the juncos, no snow birds have arrived yet (although I think I hear the nasal call of a nuthatch on occasion).

Since most birds seem to favor peanut splits and black oil sunflower seeds, I decided to cut back to just those. And unshelled peanuts for the blue jays. And some niger just to get rid of it. And cracked corn. No more safflower, though - I watched too many non-cardinals fling that expensive stuff to the ground.

But then I accidentally purchased striped sunflower seeds instead of black oil, and whole corn instead of the cracked. Rather than take them back to the store, I just put up more feeders. So now there are six.

I have seen something besides the usual avian visitors, but no pics because 1) I am not fast enough, and 2) they are too fast (which helps explain the lousy quality of these photos). I swear to god, one day I saw a robin with a bright red breast and the rest of it was almost all *white*. Really! According to the Internet (which knows all), albino and semi-albino robins are not unheard of. True albino robins do not live long because they go blind. This particular one apparently was just passing through, as I have not seen it since.

An unusual LBJ I saw was a white-crowned sparrow. At least, I think that is what it was, which while not impossible, might be a bit unusual in this particular corner of Indiana. Or maybe it was a white-throated sparrow, which is more likely. Since that white crown was so eye-catching, I am sticking to the first identification. Again, he has not been back since, so cannot confirm.

Hopefully, this red-bellied woodpecker will hang around all winter.

Last Friday I watched this little guy make trip after trip between feeders and patio. He must have quite the cache somewhere close by. All day long, back and forth he went, occasionally joined by one or two other chipmunks from other corners of the yard. The squirrel baffles keep them from climbing the pole, but there is plenty of forage on the ground.

Speaking of squirrels, I see them in the nabe but not at the feeders. Not yet.