Back in early December, I noted that in winter I measure my wealth in pine grosbeaks. At the time, I had eight regulars but predicted more would appear as the winter wore on. It turns out, I’m a very wealthy man this winter, having most recently counted 32 pine grosbeaks at one point, most likely with a few more still up in the trees. That makes this, at least for us, one of the best pine grosbeak seasons in several years.
It got me thinking about the inventive terms we humans have come up with to describe flocks of birds of various species— like a murder of crows, an unkindness of ravens, or a murmuration of starlings. From now on, I’ll be using my own term for a flock of my favorite winter visitors— a “fortune” of pine grosbeaks.
And now I’m headed out the door. Wouldn’t you know, I need more sunflower seeds. Feeding all these grosbeaks is costing me a fortune!