My, what a difference the varying weather has brought upon the birds’ normal activities. Some of the “ground feeders” have even resorted to seeking food sources a little higher up than usual and have visited my suspended hanging feeders, much to our delight! The Goldfinches have had to move over to make room for a Dark-Eyed Junco at times and we got a surprise when the very shy male Cardinal tried one of our Birdie Block feeders too. It was a great opportunity to get some close-up pictures of him as he tucked into the food provided as you can see from the picture of him with food in his beak. A Hairy Woodpecker even tried that feeder too, but, as I have captured her in my picture, she is busily feeding at my metal peanut feeder, which is her usual spot for competing with her smaller relatives, the Downy Woodpeckers. The picture of her also reveals her tongue, as she probes and feeds, and also note how her claws clutch to the side of the metallic feeder holes.
As an aside, I have another of these metallic type of peanut feeders suspended on one of my front garden feeders, and this has provided a harmless distraction to my marauding bunch of red, black, and grey squirrels! They haven’t, as yet, gnawed through this to enlarge any of the holes, although the shiny brightness around some of the holes indicates that they are trying! They do get some of the nuts out of it, but not very quickly, so the distraction isn’t costing me a lot in food at present, and it keeps them distracted from the other bird food. Of course, they can only feed one at a time, so my efforts in preventing them from enjoying the rest of the food sources provided by “yours truly”are still rather punitive, considering their numbers! Ah well, such is life!
Stay safe and well,
Cheers,
John Baldwin.
P.S. A gentle reminder to all North Grenville Times and Baldwin’s Birds music loving followers of Tripoly and The Grenville Troubadours who are performing “The Great Irish SIng – Along” to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on Saturday, March 1, @ 7.00 pm, in Merrickville’s Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-great-irish-sing-along-2024-tickets-820397068717
