They're gone! For months, I had been greeted whenever I left the house by the
deafening chatter and zeeet! of our wintering flock of pine siskins. They
spent most of the day in the treetops behind our house, frequently raining down
to feed at our nyger and sunflower feeders and the drifts of thistle seed on
our deck and sip from our birdbath. They took at least a pound of thistle
every day, and we counted as many as 60 at a time on our deck and at our
feeders. Earlier this month, we were beginning to wonder if they ever would
leave -- perhaps we were treating them too hospitably. Then, late on the
morning of Friday April 17 I stepped out onto the deck to fill the feeders, and
it was silent! No chatter, no zeeets. The feeders were down considerably from
what they had been the previous night, so it appears that our little guests had
left, en masse, that morning. We still have a few stragglers, perhaps 6 or so,
but most of them are gone. We wish them luck and miss them.
Odette James and Dave Stewart, Reston
