Another Cold Weather Visitor

This past weekend has seen some extraordinary avian activity for us at Cary BirdCam. One strange incident occurred Saturday when a mob of American Crows descended to the woods behind the house and stayed for a time, purpose and intent undiscovered. We picked up a Hermit Thrush yesterday. I have seen plenty of Rufous Sided Towhees on the deck. And to top it off, we had a visit by about twenty Red Winged Blackbirds both Saturday and Sunday. I squeezed off only one half-decent photo of a winter-plumaged male at the platform feeder before she rejoined her group which was interested in our pedestal bird bath and lawn. They also spent quite a lot of time on our neighbor's lawn, and I couldn't figure out what they preferred there over mine. We rarely see these Blackbirds, and with one exception we have only seen them on especially cold or snowbound days. And this weekend was definitely a cold one for Cary. I have little doubt the Blackbirds' routine was disrupted by icing and they expanded their food search patterns. Very interesting stuff.