A little over a month ago I wrote about a new bird that had been with us since October, the dark-eyed junco. We had something like 15-20 of them living here all winter. Then, a week or so after that first post, I noticed that I hadn’t seen any in days and days. And days. A little research showed that they were migratory and it was about this time we should expect them to leave, as they apparently had.
Except for one.
After a good two weeks where we hadn’t seen a single one, this guy started showing up again.
We call him “Solo Junco.”
I’m not sure why he’s here when all of the rest of his flock took off back to Canada to mate.
He doesn’t appear to be hurt or have any issues that would prevent him from flying north.
He’ll eat with the finches without any problems, just like the whole flock did with the dozens of finches that descend after the food is put out for them.
Maybe he got a few days out, got hungry, and came back. Canada and sex are all well and good, but nothing beats a steady handout!
Of course, there could still be a dozen of them in the bushes and they only come out one at a time to fool us and keep us feeding them, while still maintaining the illusion that they flew north for the summer. You know, to keep the Finch Union guys off their case.
Or I could be overthinking it.
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 