May
11
2013
I had to rattle the screen door when I let our four dogs out for we had a chipmunk who was eating the birdseed that fell to the ground. Yesterday he zipped the forty feet to hide under a bush. I did not want any of my four dogs to hurt him. Occasionally we get chipmunks and even less often a cottontail under our tree. They all like the easy meal.
May
7
2013
Within five seconds I saw a chipmunk climb a tree and a hummingbird. Usually you see chipmunks scurry on the ground. I know they can climb trees but it was an unusual place to see it. The animal was attracted by the scattered birdseed on the ground–some of it dropped by the feeding birds. I have only seen a chipmunk climb a tree several times and I am always surprised when I see one do that. I do not see chipmunks too often in this area but I know they are around. I always love watching its antics.
Apr
22
2013
Every morning I look out the window at the hummingbird feeders and expect to see a hummingbird. But I don’t. I am leaving for a week vacation in less than a week and wonder if my wife will see one before me. She is staying home.
Apr
18
2013
I put out two brand new hummingbird feeders. One was small and the other was a large one. I had checked my old one I had hanging outside the large living room window and it had a layer of mold on the ends and was also leaking. Then (???) so I put out fresh nectar in the newly bought feeders, which I hung on both sides of my sunflower feeder. Now I want to see how long it will take before the hummingbirds come. I did note this event in my bird journal. I expect to see one any minute although that is probably an illusion. I can dream any way.
Apr
13
2013
It was April 14–still no hummingbirds. I keep looking out my window and wonder when I will see the first one. Pretty soon I will have to put out fresh nectar. It only lasts so long. I will have to consult my bird journal to see when I put out the nectar. It always amazes me. Did one fly thousands of miles and remember the spot I put out nectar last year or how did they locate my nectar for the first time! Every year I wait for them to appear outside my large living room window. My sister who lives in California gets different species of hummingbirds. We don’t here: The ruby throated hummingbird is the only variety in the East. Hummingbirds are marvelous to watch.
Apr
9
2013
Every day I peer at my hummingbird feeder, which is only three feet from my front window and sways slightly in the breeze. It was just last week I put out fresh nectar. In the past, the first hummingbirds did not appear until the end of the month. Nevertheless, I keep thinking I will see one any minute and periodically stare at it for a number of seconds each day. Maybe, this will be the year they appear earlier. They had a long flight to get here. I am hopeful any way.
Apr
8
2013
I have been attracting the goldfinch to my thistle feeder for several weeks. The males were all in their drab winter coats. Yesterday was the first male gold finch I saw in its bright yellow coat. I want to see today if I can spot more transformed males.
Apr
5
2013
I put out nectar for the hummingbirds. Let us see when I see the first one. Traditionally it is usually by the end of April. It has been abnormally cold the beginning of spring. It is just now starting to warm up so we will keep an outlook for the first one of the year. I expect it will be like other years and I won’t spot one until the end of this month. Only time will tell.
Mar
29
2013
Two male cowbirds I spotted today on my platform feeder under my large white pine tree. I have seen them in my yard other years but this is the first time this year. Only the male has a brown head. They do have a bad reputation for planting their eggs in other birds’ nests. Anyway, they were a pleasant surprise today.
Mar
24
2013
I just put out a fresh suet cake for the birds and a white breasted nuthatch found it within seconds. That amazed me: that a bird would find it so quickly. I wonder what keen senses birds must possess to locate food. Is it smell or sight or was it just coincidence that the bird found the suet cake so quickly. It could be habit. I regularly put suet out for the birds, particularly for the woodpeckers. I just wonder about that.
Mar
10
2013
There were actually three goldfinch spotted today: two were feeding and one was on hanging on the rope to the thistle feeder waiting its turn. The goldfinch have found the newly filled thistle I put out over a week ago. It is always a mystery how birds find seed you put out. But they do.
Mar
9
2013
It took eight days for the first goldfinch to come to my thistle feeder. I was not able to identify the sex of it. In the winter they are drab looking but the male will get its bright yellow in the early spring. The goldfinch, sometimes, will position itself for five minutes feeding at the same spot. Sometimes in the spring hordes of goldfinch come some feeding on the thistle spilled on the ground. Let us see if more come.
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