How soon we have progressed into the New Year, with this being our second week and the weather not knowing what it wants to do! The birds are as confused as we are as to what it holds for us on any one day, what with all the changes in temperature and the snow and freezing rain bringing humidity. The recent heavy snow fall brought some of the birds a little closer to the proximity of the house, as they sort some solace and shelter from under its eaves. I was working away on one of my articles to you all, and happened to look up to my basement window and caught the sight of a very quizzically looking, wide open-eyed Mourning Dove, peeping in to see what was inside! Quite the surprise, but a lovely one. Its buddies had also come into the lee of the house and were hunkered down on a low wooden garden fence, all puffed up in their beautiful pinky colored feathers to increase their own body temperatures, as most birds do,- a lovely sight to behold.
My feeders are very busy, as the birds seek to sustain themselves through it all. They seem to be faring quite well, despite their daily competition with the greedy squirrels, who tend to dominate the scene, but that’s the way it goes in the Natural World, and I’m not about to be able to alter that, so we all have to persevere, unfortunately! I did get a bit upset the other day when one of our furry friends managed to scale its way up the house wall (siding) and launch itself onto one of my front window hanging feeders, underneath the eaves. Heaven knows how it did it, but it had quite a drop to the ground when I shouted out of the adjacent window to it, in my efforts to scare it off! It hasn’t been back since, but no doubt, it will try again! Meanwhile we will have to just keep an eye out for it, just in case! I expect you have tales of your own on that particular subject, so I’ll leave you to contemplate on your solution to the problem, if there is one. Stay safe and well,
Cheers,
John Baldwin
