Bird Watching update

A few hummingbirds were back at the end of April, but were out in force over the May 12th weekend. Towhees, Grosbeaks, Wood Thrushes, Veerys, Indigo Buntings, and a lone Scarlet Tanager were back, noted either by sight or song. The Bluebirds were busy with their nest and the Phoebes were sitting on the trees and diving for insects.

I finally figured out why our birdfeeders empty so fast when we're not on the property. I would fill up the feeders when I arrived, and after 3-4 days, they would still be 80% full. Then another 10 days would pass and they would be completely empty. Clearly a non-linear process. It isn't raccoons, it's crows and squirrels. I caught half a dozen crows raiding the feeders early one morning, throwing food out to their friends on the ground. Cooperative behavior. Rather than spend $75 for a crow/squirrel-proof feeder, I armored our existing feeders with hardware cloth left over from building our chicken coop. We shall see whether this has worked next weekend. I did buy a squirrel-proof feeder at Lowe's and hung it from a shepherd's crook down in the forest, hoping to attract a different group of birds that won't come up and out of the forest to feed on our deck. This should work, unless a bear decides to snack on the bird food.