Looking at Lives

Alive and up before first light.

After falling asleep last night, I was thinking of the first Teffts migrating to this continent in the 1600s. An early marriage between a Tefft and a Greene resulted over time in a friendship in Minnesota between John and Jan Green and me. A lifetime of learning about yourself and others creates appreciation for individual lives and the relationships among the past, present, and future of the living.

Pepper awoke and urged a morning walk in the dark before breakfast. She then expected and quickly consumed her food as I put out nuts and seeds in anticipation of birds and sunrise.

Activity increases inside and a downy woodpecker has appeared feeding at a tube feeder. Next look, it has been replaced by a hairy woodpecker. Then, while looking out from the stairs, another hairy woodpecker pauses on another feeder and appears to be looking at me. The hesitations bring thoughts about the bird’s story, thoughts, challenges, and potentials in 2026.

The next pass by the windows has a continuous flow of one blue jay after another harvesting on peanut at a time before the supply runs out. They will be followed shortly by the morning gathering of grosbeaks that feed as a group on seeds. Do they engage in conversation during their morning meal?

Before moving on to the day, another influx of lives appears and brings a reminder. Redpolls were seen as migrants before the arrival of winter. Then their absence was noticeable, almost entirely lacking in the area Christmas Bird Counts.

But during the past week, they have been regular visitors, increasing in number along with goldfinches.

These morning activities, along with the pine grosbeak that just landed on the top of the Christmas tree that was moved outside, are reminders of what the recent Ely CBC results say about the lives of winter birds this year. There were

29 reports from 49 participants, counting 2,307 individual birds or

36 species:

1. Common Goldeneye (4)

2. Ruffed Grouse (10)

3. Spruce Grouse (1)

4. Bald Eagle (1)

5. Rock Pigeon (236)

6. Barred Owl (1)

7. Downy Woodpecker (47)

8. Hairy Woodpecker (44)

9. Three-toed Woodpecker (2)

10. Black-backed Woodpecker (4)

11. Pileated Woodpecker (31)

12. Canada Jay (31)

13. Blue Jay (174)

14. American Crow (56)

15. Common Raven (226)

16. Black-capped Chickadee (729)

17. Boreal Chickadee (4)

18. Red-breasted Nuthatch (146)

19. White-breasted Nuthatch (21)

20. Brown Creeper (2)

21. American Robin (4)

22. European Starling (62)

23. Bohemian Waxwing (30)

24. Pine Grosbeak (209)

25. Purple Finch (1)

26. Common Redpoll (4)

27. Mallard (2)

28. Red Crossbill (20)

29. Pine Siskin (4)

30. American Goldfinch (26)

31. Evening Grosbeak (26)

32. White-throated Sparrow (1)

33. House Sparrow (60)

34. American Tree Sparrow (1)

35. Wild Turkey (1)

36. Harris’ Sparrow (1) The thanks can’t be overstated to all the participants who made this look into the lives of these species possible during this one-day window on Count Day. This also doesn’t represent all the experiences that participants had with other lives through tracks and appearances of other wildlife and species.

Thanks to all the people in our area and elsewhere who observe life and share in art, research, writing, storytelling and other forms for us to appreciate.

This list inspires a start to 2026 for my “to do” list: locate my Birdfy Feeder Camera; join the Golden Eagle Survey, Great Backyard Bird Count; lead and join field trips, explore our area; join with Ely Field Naturalists and other groups, family, and friends. Happy New Year!