by John Baldwin
If you think your world is upside down!
Wow! Winter sure gave us quite the snow stormy blast the other day, didn’t it; but life still has to go on!? So, once more, the trusty old snow-blower was forced to make a somewhat reluctant appearance and, when it did, would only operate on small bites at a time! It did, however, work well enough to eventually clear me a high banked path to my bird-feeders, much to the relief of both them and me! At -20 deg C today, I wasn’t about to fiddle about with it to improve its performance, despite having added a second heater to my garage workshop!
The sunny, bitterly cold day following the snow fall has meant that the birds were in need of some food for warmth, and the feeders were in demand to do just that. Many of them just ground-fed, but the Nyjer seed and peanut eaters were glad of the hanging feeders in front of our main living room window. A couple of Gold-finches enjoyed Nyjer seed as the sun showed up their winter plumage to the maximum, and were joined by one of our particular favourites, the “Upside Down Bird”!
Yes, that’s what we call the Nuthatches, and this one on the peanuts was the White Breasted one, as opposed to the Red Breasted variety. What jolly little fellows they are too, who, when not upside down on the feeders, can be seen on the tree trunks and branches as they “Beep-beep” around the garden, a most distinguishable and enjoyable sound.
They go about their task of obtaining a tasty peanut with amazing enthusiasm, and never once have I seen them wince at having missed a hole in the metal feeder! They never miss, and neither do any of the Woodpeckers, when they come too. Their eyesight and beak co-ordination are always “right on the money”, so such incidents never occur, – amazing! They never seem to be put off from coming and clutching onto the metal type of feeders either, even in the most extreme cold, where we have to be wary of sticking to them with our bare hands! Gives rise to yet another question, doesn’t it; but I don’t know the answer, so I’ll leave it up to you to do the research. Until the next time, stay safe and well.
Cheers,
John Baldwin
