Going to the birds

/ Ramblings / By

I’d meant to post this for a while now, just now getting around to it.

In addition to running a successful vacation rental, I also feel as though I’m now running a fairly successful joint for the birds to come and hang out. This morning I had 6 robins (4 adults, 2 juveniles) and I don’t know how many chickadees and sparrows (they fly around a lot!) possibly as many as 8-10. Yesterday I had this many birds, plus a couple of Northern Flicker woodpeckers.

I have a few different birdbaths, two bird feeders (suet and feed,) a squirrel feeder, and trees that are currently full of berries. This fall I’ll probably plant another couple of bushes that have berries.

I just put up a hummingbird feeder last week. I’ve seen hummingbirds in the backyard, but they haven’t found the feeder yet. I’ve kept the nectar fresh, and am hoping they’ll find it eventually.

My only issue is that the cats in the neighborhood also like my backyard. I’m going to go to the bird store this weekend and get one of those wild animal scents, see if I can discourage the cats from coming around and stalking the birds.

So now — onto the pictures!


Northern Flicker woodpecker at the front feeder

Sparrow at the front feeder. They tend to travel in flocks.
Chickadee at the front feeder. Also travel in flocks, often with the sparrows.
Black capped chickadee at the front feeder. They travel in twos & threes, maybe with the other birds, but often on their own. I also get black-capped juncos at both feeders.
Two Northern Flickers eating at the suet feeder in the backyard.
Poor squirrels trying to get at the food and can’t. I do have a squirrel feeder as well, so he won’t get too envious. I get both male and female squirrels at the feeder, as well as rats and mice.
The robins love to come and sun themselves in my yard.
This is the birdbath in the backyard. I think the birds really appreciate that it’s close to so much greenery that they can hide in before they land on the rim. The smaller birds just drink from it. The robins bathe, and splash out all the water.
Yet another robin sunning itself in my backyard. This morning I think I had four of them sunning themselves at the same time. Sometimes they take turns, all using the same spot.
The robins love the berries in my laurel trees. Swallow them whole, then regurgitate the pits.