Category Archives: Birds

And Then There Were Bluebirds

Posted on January 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

The bluebirds have been around, I know, but we rarely see them. Those who told me that having a heated bird bath would increase the numbers and types of visitors were certainly correct.

I haven’t seen two of them here for almost a year and a half. Mama and papa came in for a drink this morning, flitted back and forth more than once, and then wandered off down to the meadow. We moved here in January seven years ago, and have always been amazed at the variety of birds, bees, and the richness of the soil, giving us lots of worms and bugs. Sometimes the grass is blanketed in robins pulling worms out of the ground.

We are indeed lucky to have found this little haven not far from the city, yet peaceful.

One more shot of mama on her way out to feed. If you want lots of visitors, invest in a bladder with a thermostat that keeps the water from freezing.

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My Not So Friendly Back Yard Predators

Posted on January 15, 2012 by AnnieRie

We have lots of wild animals around here. Fox, possum, groundhogs, deer, field rats, mice, vultures, snakes …

… to name a few, but today I am going to focus on the hawks.

I have two or three different types that wander through, and occasionally they decide to stay and hunt. The one above, which looks like a Cooper’s Hawk, has been spending almost every day in our meadow looking for rodents. The weather being warmer than normal means the little mice and rats seem to be active in the fields.

Sharp Shin and Cooper’s are the two most common visitors here. When it snows, they love to buzz the feeders and grab mourning doves. Then I get to clean up the mess of feathers in the yard. When the Blue Jays are around, they will chase the hawk, ganging up and flying behind. The jays and the red bellied woodpecker will come up close and eat when there is snow. It does attract the hawks though, and mostly mourning doves seem to fall prey.

They get very brazen too, and decide my patio furniture is a great spot for resting and checking out the scene. They do sometimes perch on the bird bath and get water.

The circle of life here not that far from the cities. The plans we are making to add chickens here need to take into account the natural enemies that also reside in our woods behind the meadow.

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Feeding My Fine Feathered Friends

Posted on January 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

The winter feeding site. The place where the birds come when the berries and seeds have all blown away or been eaten. We moved here in the winter and found an amazing array of birds living in our coniferous trees. I have slowly created a habitat that attracts and retains this variety. What does it give me? Birds to eat the bugs that bother my garden.

How do I keep them fed during the worst storms of the winter?

You do have to be prepared. After that storm, I was throwing seed out the door onto the hard snow under the bushes. It brought birds up close and personal.

But my best investment was a thermostatically controlled heating pad for the bird bath. Water is extremely important for the health of the birds. Even with 48 inches of snow on the ground, my backyard birds had water.

Since that series of blizzards in 2010, I have added a few more feeders and kept them topped off when I know storms are coming. And for me, the pleasures of watching them feed are worth the expense and effort to feed them.