The Birds of Autumn

The way I see it, for the next eight weeks it is likely I am going to see a fairly limited cast of characters at the feeders. We're down to one summer visitor (Hummingbirds) and they will be gone before the end of the month. None of the winter visitors ever seem to come by until the middle of November. And some perennials just aren't feeder types at this time of year (e.g. Towhees, Mockingbirds, Robins, Bluebirds, Flickers). Assuming I get no migrants (likely) I figure to see about 14 species through autumn, such as the Downy Woodpecker (shown.) And even of these, only a few will be common. Dull times ahead? Not really. One just needs to more deeply appreciate the behavior of those few, and savor the quiet times before the feeder storming that is inevitable in winter.