Birds
What a fabulous morning! We have Veterans Day off (hats off to all Veterans past and present whose sacrifice has made it possible for me to enjoy today - and to blog freely!!)
Even though Wilma left my back yard a shambles, I've cleaned up some - and the birds don't seem to care that a lot of the bushes are minus leaves. We put our bird feeders back up and we are in the birdy diner business again.
This morning I put out millet, suet cakes, black oil sunflower seed (the world class favorite claws down for all birds), fresh water in the two bird baths, a couple of apples slathered with peanut butter - and some thistle seed for finches.
We have a spot breasted oriole that comes and eats anything orange. Note to self - buy oranges today and put them out, too. We have a couple of adorable warblers - a blue gray gnatcatcher, a palm warbler and a yellow butted warbler (I forget the technical name for him). They stay in the bushes eating bugs - they don't bother much with the seed feeders. Since I don't use insecticides, I have plenty of bugs,.
I have some very pushy blue jays that DEMAND peanuts. They get very close to me, as they are used to me, and they just stand there, cock their heads, make cooing noises - and wait for me to be sufficiently bowled over by their cuteness to come up with some peanuts for them. I usually do. Then it's blue jay ballet. They swoop down, dance around, hop like crazy - and basically have a peanut-a-thon. The grackles sneak a couple of peanuts, but my husband says they must have been policemen in their past lives since they dunk everything in the water bath. They try to soften the shell on the peanut that way, I guess - they're fun to watch.
We also have a red bellied woodpecker that comes around for a peanut or two - and we put out special woodpecker bird mix for them also.
Let's not forget the squirrels. I don't mind them stealing the bird food - there's enough for everyone! They are so cute - so cuteness wins them food. No squirrel proof feeders for me! Last week, a little one got stuck in one of the feeders we have for smaller birds. It is a tube feeder, but is fits inside a mesh cage to keep out larger birds. The squirrel managed to squeeze himself inside the mesh - but couldn't figure out how to get out. So I approached the feeder quietly, speaking in a soothing tone (I think) because he was panicky. My husband just picked up the feeder and put it close to the ground and for some reason, at that point, the squirrel was able to squeeze out. To be so close to that little critter was a thrill - I love animals and birds....I could and DO sit in the backyard and watch them by the hour. It is soothing to the soul and funny to watch some of their antics.
I think I'll go back out there and watch a while longer. Wherever I live, I ALWAYS have to have bird feeders!!
Even though Wilma left my back yard a shambles, I've cleaned up some - and the birds don't seem to care that a lot of the bushes are minus leaves. We put our bird feeders back up and we are in the birdy diner business again.
This morning I put out millet, suet cakes, black oil sunflower seed (the world class favorite claws down for all birds), fresh water in the two bird baths, a couple of apples slathered with peanut butter - and some thistle seed for finches.
We have a spot breasted oriole that comes and eats anything orange. Note to self - buy oranges today and put them out, too. We have a couple of adorable warblers - a blue gray gnatcatcher, a palm warbler and a yellow butted warbler (I forget the technical name for him). They stay in the bushes eating bugs - they don't bother much with the seed feeders. Since I don't use insecticides, I have plenty of bugs,.
I have some very pushy blue jays that DEMAND peanuts. They get very close to me, as they are used to me, and they just stand there, cock their heads, make cooing noises - and wait for me to be sufficiently bowled over by their cuteness to come up with some peanuts for them. I usually do. Then it's blue jay ballet. They swoop down, dance around, hop like crazy - and basically have a peanut-a-thon. The grackles sneak a couple of peanuts, but my husband says they must have been policemen in their past lives since they dunk everything in the water bath. They try to soften the shell on the peanut that way, I guess - they're fun to watch.
We also have a red bellied woodpecker that comes around for a peanut or two - and we put out special woodpecker bird mix for them also.
Let's not forget the squirrels. I don't mind them stealing the bird food - there's enough for everyone! They are so cute - so cuteness wins them food. No squirrel proof feeders for me! Last week, a little one got stuck in one of the feeders we have for smaller birds. It is a tube feeder, but is fits inside a mesh cage to keep out larger birds. The squirrel managed to squeeze himself inside the mesh - but couldn't figure out how to get out. So I approached the feeder quietly, speaking in a soothing tone (I think) because he was panicky. My husband just picked up the feeder and put it close to the ground and for some reason, at that point, the squirrel was able to squeeze out. To be so close to that little critter was a thrill - I love animals and birds....I could and DO sit in the backyard and watch them by the hour. It is soothing to the soul and funny to watch some of their antics.
I think I'll go back out there and watch a while longer. Wherever I live, I ALWAYS have to have bird feeders!!
posted by Susan Humeston at 10:22 AM
4 Comments:
I hope all goes well for you - anyone who feeds the birds, like you do, deserves the best. Here, we have chicadees all winter, and I'm planning to put together a feeder for them, just to hear them.
Well, thank you! I love critters, both big and small - and that includes, of course, birds. It's the birds up north where the winters are cruel that need someone to take pity on them - so bless you for that!!
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