“Small birds throw seeds out of the feeder; large birds pick them up off the ground, but the squirrels try to muscle in.”
Yesterday was a quiet day. I wasn’t very productive. I had to fill two of the bird feeders I just filled. The hungry birds are many. After I went back inside, I watched from the kitchen window for a while. Dining at the new mixed seed feeder were goldfinches, mostly males with their bright yellow plumage. A lone, drab female goldfinch was in and out quickly. Chickadees ate at the new sunflower seed feeder. They all still avoid the third feeder, the one where a spawn’s weight trips the feeder and the sides come down to cover the seed holes. I’m going to replace it.
This morning I caught a spawn at the new feeder. When I chased it away, I checked and found the new feeder chewed at one seed hole. I moved the feeder to a spot further away from the deck hoping the space will give the spawn some second thoughts. If not, I will.
The early morning was chilly and cloudy, but it is supposed to be warm today. I noticed the sun is beginning to make an appearance as it bobs in and out of the clouds. I see a bit blue.
When I was a kid, the house across the street, the one with the grape arbor, had a bird house the same colors as the house. It was on a pole in their backyard. I never saw any birds in it, but I did see a few birds stealing grapes. My grandparents had a similar feeder also on a pole. I never saw birds there either. I always wondered why those bird houses were avoided. They were up high enough, but I remember they were a bit ugly being blunt squares with layers of paint. I figured they may have offended the sensibilities of the birds.
I remember getting a new pair of roller skates one Christmas. I remember sitting on the curb while I put my new skates on. There was a procedure to follow when putting on skates. First was the slide. It was moved, slid to fit my foot then the screw had to be tightened so the slide wouldn’t move. My shoes were next. I put my shod feet on the skates fit to the grips and then took off the lanyard, really a rope, from around my neck. It held my roller skate key, the one made infamous by Melanie. I liked to skate. could even skate backwards which I thought was a great feat. Sometimes, when I was skating magnificently, Olympic quality, my skate came off at the grips. I’d let it hang by the strap while I walked to the curb to put the skate back on. I always felt a bit silly with a hanging skate.
I loved the way my feet felt when I roller skated. They seemed to become part of the skates. It was quite Zen.
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April 9, 2021 at 1:12 pm
Birds usually don’t like to eat if there’s no where to fly to if predators come. That’s why they avoid those feeders. Place it near a tree or bush and there will be plenty of birds eating.
We’re having a storm here today, the wind is roaring in the trees. It rained in the morning but later we had sunshine. My car got tossed around when I drove to work 🙂 🙂 It was even worse when I drove home and at least one tree had fallen across the road plus twigs and branches were flying around in the air. Well it wasn’t boring anyway 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
By the way! I can’t read the article about our corona strategy, people are dying like flies so I doubt they liked it 🙂 🙂
April 9, 2021 at 8:44 pm
Hi Christer,
The feeders are hanging off big limbs of the trees in my backyard. The spawn eats at the furthest feeder. The birds ignore the spawn and eat at other feeders.
Sorry about the article. It was really interesting. It did slam the earlier policy: ignore the virus and keep everything the same and then it mentioned the virus had taken hold in Sweden.
Our weather stayed lovely all day. I did go out and enjoyed some of the day.
Enjoy your day!