Wednesday, December 10, 2025
December Rain
A wet and wild day with random strong gusts of wind. The sky was quite heavily overcast earlier, making for a very sleepy and slow start to the morning. It’s now past noon and it seems that the rain has passed, leaving everything outdoors looking damp and soggy. The understory shrubs have finally (for the most part) lost their leaves, so that practically everything outside my window has been painted a monochrome sepia. The bare brown branches set against the brown fallen leaves on the ground make for a rather somber color palette.
Once again, I find myself wishing for snow and a cozy fire in the hearth. Alas, I will have to make due with a fluffy footrest and a hot cup of tea. It’s that time of year when the cold has set in and you really start craving those seasonal comfort foods. Homemade chicken soup, beef stew with biscuits, and dare I say… peppermint mocha lattes.
Birdwatching
I went for a brief walk and found that when the wind decided to blow, it was really quite raw out. The sun shown through the clouds for only a short while before disappearing again. As I walked down the path I startled a pair of Mourning Doves, who flew off in a rush, cooing their displeasure (I am only just today realizing that it is ‘mourning’ and not ‘morning’ dove, how in the world did I miss that?). The pale undersides of their tail feathers flashing has they made a hasty exit.
A bit farther along, I began to notice an assortment of small birds flitting through the bare branches of the bushes. I wasn’t able to identify them all because I couldn’t get a clear view, but here are a few I recognized: a lone Mockingbird, several House Finches, a female American Goldfinch, a Dark-eyed Junco, possibly a Song Sparrow or a similar species. I was hoping to see a Tufted Titmouse but none of the birds present had a crest.
Images from Unsplash.com
Flock Together
Apparently, it is common in winter for small birds to form these ‘mixed’ flocks because foraging in a group is safer, among other reasons.1 I have seen this happen around bird feeders but assumed that it was due to the presence of a provided food source, and thus a human influenced behavior. I find it interesting that this phenomena also occurs without the interference of mankind. Have you done any birdwatching this winter? Which bird is your favorite?
References:
- Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy – https://loudounwildlife.org/2006/01/the-more-the-merrier-in-winter-the-birds-flock-together/ ↩︎