Time Flies
Our days continue to go by "normally". Patrick and Katherine continue their journey through distance learning as they wind down the school year. Joerg continues to do his job from the comfort of our home office. Laundry gets done. The house gets cleaned (despite the ongoing challenges to find basic household cleaners). And I venture to two different grocery stores to get the ingredients for meals (that's one more than normal because the supply chain is most definitely interrupted).
A local store that provides farm supplies and livestock feeds, as well as more domestic animal products like dog food and birdseed, was declared "essential" (and therefore remains open) in this quarantine environment so I was able to restock my birdfeed supplies. I have enjoyed filling the feeders each season, but seldom have the time to just sit and watch the birds (and squirrels) come to dine. With a little more down-time on my schedule these days, I have found that sitting by the window and watching the birds is surprisingly relaxing, and even a bit entertaining.
It turns out that we have quite the menagerie of feathered friends. We have a Cardinal couple - although the female is a bit camera shy. We either have one blue jay or a couple, but only one comes to feed at a time (because, unlike the cardinal duo, I only ever see one). We have several goldfinches, and a few tufted titmouse (or would that be titmouses? titmice?), and a red-winged blackbird, crows of course, a small family of woodpeckers - probably a mother and two or three youngsters, and a couple of nuthatches. Oddly enough, the biggest bully in the bunch is one of the fat goldfinches. That guy (or girl) on the right side of this feeder chases after even the largest birds (the woodpeckers) just to be mean. Seriously. It's not like we don't have enough feeders hanging out there with plenty of food to go around.
Speaking of large birds, yesterday while I was watching the feeder action I was caught off guard when a Cooper's Hawk landed on the feeder pole. Compared to the tiny birds that I generally see on the feeders, the hawk was huge - like watching a pterodactyl swoop in to check things out. He didn't stay long, but he sure knows how to clear a room. Those little birds flew the coop pretty fast when he arrived.
It's been fun to also watch the squirrels. The feeders that I have are "squirrel proof" and generally they work really well. However, the suet cage is not so squirrel proof so I was concerned that having the cage so close to the tree would be a mistake. It was fun to watch this squirrel get out on the limb only to have it bend under the weight of his body separating him from the suet cage. Eventually, he just gave up and went back to the wooden porch feeder where he can comfortably sit and gorge himself on seeds.
We don't have any roses to smell yet, but it has been fun to stop and watch the birds while I wait for the flowers to bloom. Happy Spring everyone.
A local store that provides farm supplies and livestock feeds, as well as more domestic animal products like dog food and birdseed, was declared "essential" (and therefore remains open) in this quarantine environment so I was able to restock my birdfeed supplies. I have enjoyed filling the feeders each season, but seldom have the time to just sit and watch the birds (and squirrels) come to dine. With a little more down-time on my schedule these days, I have found that sitting by the window and watching the birds is surprisingly relaxing, and even a bit entertaining.
It turns out that we have quite the menagerie of feathered friends. We have a Cardinal couple - although the female is a bit camera shy. We either have one blue jay or a couple, but only one comes to feed at a time (because, unlike the cardinal duo, I only ever see one). We have several goldfinches, and a few tufted titmouse (or would that be titmouses? titmice?), and a red-winged blackbird, crows of course, a small family of woodpeckers - probably a mother and two or three youngsters, and a couple of nuthatches. Oddly enough, the biggest bully in the bunch is one of the fat goldfinches. That guy (or girl) on the right side of this feeder chases after even the largest birds (the woodpeckers) just to be mean. Seriously. It's not like we don't have enough feeders hanging out there with plenty of food to go around.
Speaking of large birds, yesterday while I was watching the feeder action I was caught off guard when a Cooper's Hawk landed on the feeder pole. Compared to the tiny birds that I generally see on the feeders, the hawk was huge - like watching a pterodactyl swoop in to check things out. He didn't stay long, but he sure knows how to clear a room. Those little birds flew the coop pretty fast when he arrived.
It's been fun to also watch the squirrels. The feeders that I have are "squirrel proof" and generally they work really well. However, the suet cage is not so squirrel proof so I was concerned that having the cage so close to the tree would be a mistake. It was fun to watch this squirrel get out on the limb only to have it bend under the weight of his body separating him from the suet cage. Eventually, he just gave up and went back to the wooden porch feeder where he can comfortably sit and gorge himself on seeds.
We don't have any roses to smell yet, but it has been fun to stop and watch the birds while I wait for the flowers to bloom. Happy Spring everyone.
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