The snow continues. I measured 12″ in the backyard this morning, and a few more inches are expected. Not record snowfall by any means, but it feels like a lot. Once again I had to trudge out to the platform feeder to dump the snow and lay down fresh sunflower seeds. It’s cold right now, …
It’s a grey day, and the snow has been coming down hard since last night. And when it snows, there are lots of hungry customers for the bird feeders in the back garden. Cardinals, goldfinches, house finches, and chickadees crowd around the platform feeder for sunflower seeds, with occasional forays to the peanut feeders. Woodpeckers …
Well, it’s that time of year when people review various aspects of the year in the garden. As an avid backyard bird feeder, one thing I like to look back on is which birds showed up, which didn’t, and anything else that stands out in the avian department. So let’s get going, shall we? Winter …
Well, that was fast. If I remember correctly, in the last several posts I’ve written about our mild autumn, how the seasons seem to be lingering, etc. But that was then, and this is now. I had today off due to the holiday. It had been raining gently pretty much all day, which is a …
This time of year I start putting peanuts out for the birds, both shelled and in the shell. Peanuts attract woodpeckers, nuthatches, and Bluejays. The Bluejays are the only ones that actually prefer peanuts in the shell. Peanuts also attract grackles, starlings, and house sparrows. These birds gorge so ferociously that the feeders seem to …
It seems a melancholy thing that summer is slipping away into fall. I especially regret seeing the daylight hours slowly shortening with each sunset. On the other hands, there are compensations for us and for the suburban wildlife around us. For people, there are plentiful peaches and tomatoes, cooler temperatures, fewer mosquitos (or at least …
So when I got home from work today, I decided I would check on the Cardinal’s nest I wrote about in my last post. As I walked up to the nest, I inadvertently flushed out a female cardinal who exploded out of the tangle of vines. In her absence, I tried to get a look …
The prairie rose (Rosa setigera) and the trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) are collaborating nicely to create a viney (not really a word, so sue me) tangle against the back brick wall of our attached garage. The kind of tangle, I hope, that will tempt birds to build nests. So we were very happy when we noticed …
I have more bird feeders than I can actually use at any one time. That’s OK, though, because I like to change feeders and types of food as the seasons progress. For instance, I stop feeding peanuts once the warm weather is established. These changes keep the birds on their toes (or would if they …
The beginning of May is when many migratory songbirds return to the Chicago area. And so, before leaving home for a business trip, I stocked the bird feeders with some of their favorite foods. Sure enough, when I returned today, there were Baltimore Orioles and Rose Breasted Grosbeaks making themselves at home in the back …
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