Good Morning All, I had the first purple finch show up at my feeders in
Forest,near Lynchburg, early last week. It began with three then in a day or
so there were six or more both male and female. By Thursday afternoon I
counted 17 on the platform feeder alone. Friday and Saturday there was no way
to count how many were here. The 3 seed feeders were overwhelmed. All the
trees on the edge of the woods were full of them and none of the other birds
could get near the feeders. In the past 2 days, I have had to refill feeders
numerous times. I cared for one male that had flown into my glass door and
stunned himself. I picked him up, nestled him in some tissue and settled him
in a large potted plant on the deck. After about 30 minutes he came around and
flew off. I have all the vertical blinds over the doors closed to discourage
other hits. I got some relief from the hoard this morning when a great blue
heron flew into the back yard and took up residence for about 30 minutes. ( odd
since I back up to the woods not the lake). All the finches took off for about
45 minutes but are back now. I love seeing them and having them around but
this is definitely waaaay too many. Any suggestions what would help other than
stop feeding which would not be a happy situation for the other birds. Do you
think they will soon move on and become a more manageable flock? Thanks for
any suggestions.
Peggy LyonsForest, VaBedford, County
