There hasn’t been much bird-watching this winter… it’s been too cold for me to sit out there with the camera very long.

But, I’ve been keeping the feeders full for my feathered friends. From my office, I can get an idea of who’s stopping by, as they frequently take a break in the tree outside my window on the way to and from the feeders.

It’s mostly the usual suspects, the Jays, the cardinals, the juncos and the house sparrows. But the other day, when taking a break from my day job, I was looking out the back window that over looks the catio yard and the feeders just beyond. And there I spied a couple newcomers.

I got the camera an zoomed in

At first, I thought it was a Chipping Sparrow. We had lots of Chipping Sparrows at the townhouse, and while I’ve heard them around here (they have a fairly distinct call), I’ve never seen one. But this guy seemed a little bigger than I remember the Chipping Sparrows being. So, when I downloaded the pics, I ran them through Google Lens and discovered…

It’s an American Tree Sparrow! There are several small differences between it and the Chipping Sparrow (one being the size), but the easiest is the colour of the line from the eye. On the Tree Sparrow, it matches his cap, while the Chipping Sparrow’s is a dark brown/black.

And I wasn’t the only one happy to have a new customer at the restaurant….

No patron goes unnoticed here!