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A LITTLE birding day, this time




I reached a personal goal yesterday.  

Ever since the ol' "zipadee doo dah" song, I've always 
thought it would be cool to have a bird come right up to 
me and sit on my shoulder or hand (NOT an ostrich, mind 
you! and pigeons in the park don't count).  Yesterday I 
got my wish. 

The suet-dipped pinecones I had put out last week were 
all bare so I made a new batch and headed outside around 
4:30.  As I reached out to tie the first cone to a tree, 
a Ruby-crowned Kinglet landed on my finger and started 
digging in before I was even close to the limb. They've 
always been bold, but never landed on me.  I was 
thrilled.  He fed for about five minutes, occasionally 
backing off to hover, helicopter style, and move back in. 
He sat on my forefinger, thumb, and wrist.  The best part 
was when he swiped his beak back and forth across my 
finger to get the peanut butter off his beak.  It felt so 
great. 

Also of note, I got my first Fox Sparrow for the season. 
He is under the black oil sunflower platform feeder, 
doing the flatfoot shuffle in the snow.

Martha Brinson
Green Level community 
Piedmont, NC, west of Raleigh