Post-Breeding Small Birds

     Serendipity is looking for one thing, but finding something else of interest.  As I was watching a patch of bur-marigold flowers and the insects on them along a brook in a sunny, short-grass meadow, I also began to notice several small birds on two small, half-dead wild cherry trees in that cow pasture.  I looked at the birds through my 16 power binoculars and discovered they were of six different kinds that are common in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland.  And most of them seemed to be in post-breeding, family groups.  I was amazed at the number of species and individuals, considering the lack of vegetative shelter in that human-made meadow.  And, as usual, I had to admire their beauties and lively, food-gathering ways.
     The first two species I noticed were eastern bluebirds and house finches perched on one of the cherry trees.  I saw one male bluebird, one female and two young of the year.  Both genders of bluebirds and their youngsters of the year were lovely in appearance.
     One by one, those bluebirds fluttered closer to the ground and perched on a rail fence, presumably to watch for insects to eat.  They were up and down between the ground and the fence as they caught and ate invertebrates.  I saw one young bluebird wrestling with a large, smooth caterpillar before finally swallowing it whole.
     i saw one male house finch in his beautiful, pink feathering, and a half dozen or more plain house finches, which I presumed were a female or two and youngsters.  The house finches soon dropped to the ground to feed on weed and grass seeds along the fence and in the pasture itself.  It was fun to watch those house finches hopping about in the short grass and over bare spots and gleaning seeds from grass and other plants that were grazed by cattle, but later grew seeds on shorter stems.
     As I watched the house finches eating seeds on the ground, I saw several chipping sparrows actively eating those same kinds of seeds in the short grass.  A few of the chippers had adult plumage, but others had immature feathering.  I thought that again this could be a post-breeding family group feeding on seeds.  The chippers, too, were attractive in their camouflaged feathering.
     As I watched the groups of bluebirds, finches and sparrows feeding in that meadow, I noticed a downy woodpecker hammering on bark in one of the half-dead cherry trees to dig out invertebrates.  That in itself is not noteworthy because downies are common permanent residents in this county.  But what was remarkable to me was there were no woods within a half mile of that little woodpecker.  However, downies are adaptable and do live in older suburban areas and farmland where there are at least a few trees standing.  This type of woodpecker even hammers into dead corn stalks in fall after insects in those stalks.
     I also noticed a song sparrow standing on a post of the wooden fence used to keep the cattle in the pasture.  Song sparrows are permanent residents wherever they are, and notoriously adaptable.  Some pairs make do with little shelter, as this sparrow and its mate must be doing in this meadow. 
     While watching the other birds and the insects on the bur-marigolds, I noticed a small flock of American goldfinches along the fence row.  A couple of them were yellow and black adult males that were molting into winter plumage, a few were mature females, but a few were so darkly olive I thought they must be offspring of the year.  Those goldfinches were there because of the few thistle plants that went to seed along the fence.  They would eat up those seeds and then move on to other sources of seed food.
     It was interesting to see these few kinds of adaptable, post-breeding birds going about their daily business of getting food in a human-made habitat with little natural cover.  And they were attractive in their feathering, and lively actions that were driven by hunger.  Life at home is just as attractive and intriguing as life anywhere on Earth.