Autumn in Sonoma County

A sure sign of autumn around here are the pumpkins, cut and arranged for the Halloween crowd. This wonderful display includes, in addition to a wonderful barn, many colors of pumpkin, green goose neck gourds, shocks of corn and a skeleton driving an antique tractor.

The nights are definitely drawing in and it is much colder, but the days continue to be sunny and warm, so we have been able to watch the birds at the feeders from our deck. Not only are we beginning to recognize certain regulars, but we also are learning who are the migrating visitors and who sticks around all year.

The hummingbirds are the most fascinating. For two years there have been two--one who appears to be the female who flies in, sits on the rim of the feeder and repeatedly dips her long slightly curved beak into the holes, tilting her head back to swallow each sip. Out of nowhere the male swoops in, drives her off and then flies off himself. They don't pay any attention to us and occasionally buzz by our heads. Lately there have been two, perhaps the same two, but if so they have reached detente because they sit amicably together on opposite sides of the feeder. Sometimes when one has flown off, the other will systematically take one sip from each of the holes around the base of the feeder.

The house finches disappeared for much of the summer but now are back, having traded their red breasts for more subdued colors. The goldfinches, not much bigger than the hummingbirds, have exchanged their bright yellow breasts for more muted tones which exactly match the leaves of the tree they like to perch in. We cannot find out what kind of tree this is but it has soft velvety leaves which will soon fall. All the finches love the Niger thistle feeder and amicably crowd around it until no more can fit. The rest wait their turn on the arm of the feeder.

There is one blue tit, my favorite with his little crest and his shy manner. He waits in the tree, looking anxiously around. When he decides the coast is clear, he flies in, picks one seed and takes it back to the branch where he bangs on it with his short beak until it opens.

Three is a downy woodpecker--small with distinctive black and white bars on his wings and a bright read streak on the back of his head. He feeds exclusively on suet and can eat upside down or right side up with equal ease. Sometimes when the wind comes up in the afternoon the suet holder on its long chain swings wildly, but he seems to have no trouble staying aboard.The creeper, like the woodpecker, can not only eat upside down, but can climb trees. Since we started buying suet with peanuts and seeds in it, the woodpecker has been joined by a flock of little chickadees.

One year we had a pair of thrushes who built their nest in the barn. We got hours of enjoyment watching them fly tirelessly back and forth first with bits of straw and string and twigs and later with worms and grubs and whatever baby thrushes eat. We never saw them fledge, but the nest was cleverly hidden inside the barn ceiling safely away from the jays and other predators.

The most elusive birds are the quail, who nest in the brambles at the bottom of the driveway. They are the state bird of California and quite attractive with their plumed topknot curving forward over their heads. They are perfectly capable of flying but apparently prefer not to. Sometimes our driveway will be full of them when we turn into it but rather than flying, they run like mad back to their bramble patch. There are certain times when they are all over the ground in the vineyard, but they don't seem to eat the grapes. Occasionally one will get caught in the bird nets over the vines and we have to rescue them. They stop their frantic attempts to free themselves and lie still in our hands while we disentangle them.

Everybody flies off when the bluejays show up, but they do their bit around the farmhouse, dipping their beaks into the wasp nests and eating the larvae.

Overhead there are vultures, constantly circling, and red tailed hawks whose distinctive cry we hear before we see them. The only time the vultures descend is if OilMan puts a gopher on the barn roof. It is always gone within a day or two. Unfortunately, the owls have not chosen to take up residence in the owl box OilMan built and mounted, risking life and limb, on a tall pole. Perhaps they will one day discover the amenities of life on the farm.