Nature Watch, Dec. 6, 2023

Another too-warm, too-heavy snow! Birds stay close to the feeders again, and among them are a number of very dear little red-breasted nuthatches. Although a summer breeding bird, they may leave the Northeast in winters without a good crop of hemlock seed, apparently their favorite winter food. So, as they delighted us today with their fast fluttering and almost tame demeanor, their presence also told us this must be a good seed year. Time to go down to the hemlock grove and see.