I have changed my tune. A while back I wrote about the birds at my feeders. I declared that I do not feed the birds once winter has passed. It’s too messy and the birds can find enough to eat anyway.
In an effort to use up the seed I bought in November, I have continued to feed the birds. Even though the crows have come to feed. Even though the lawn is a mess. Even though my puppy has discovered how sweet black oil sunflower and safflower seeds taste.
As I stood at my kitchen window cleaning and oiling my horse’s bridle the birds fed at the three feeders, their choice of the above two entrees and a third, Niger thistle. Seven bright yellow goldfinches ate and flitted about in a happy community. There was very little bullying. They really seemed to get along. I was satisfied to have provided them a dining room with a south eastern exposure on this cold, sunny and windy spring morning.
We have had another regular visitor. He pecks in vain at the decking looking for bugs. He has discovered the thistle feeder and returns frequently, hopping about. He is usually there when the finches are not, but will come while the black capped chickadees feed. He is the downy woodpecker.
At other times bunches of house and purple finches appear. Unlike the female goldfinch that shows some muted yellow, the female house and purple finches look alike in tans and browns. The mourning doves for which the Iowa legislature has passed a hunting season eat the spilled seed on the deck and ground.
The most amazing bird to visit is another finch. The indigo bunting with the most vibrant color I have ever seen. When I stepped back to the window with my camera, he was gone. According to my bird book, he was here early, scouting for a nesting site for his family.
Never has an hour of cleaning tack gone by so quickly.
Bird Songs
I have been watching the birds this winter. I put up and fill feeders knowing there will be messes to clean up in the spring. The enjoyment of observing them fly around, interact and feed overcomes the dislike of cleaning up hulls and washing out the feeders later on. Some people keep their feeders up all year. Too much mess for me. Also, there is quite a bit to eat in my yard: seeds and insects.
I have attempted to take photos to show you the birds that visit my garden and have realized the difficulty in photographing objects that never stay still. They seem to know when I am even 50 feet away. The lookout birds keep the others alerted to my presence and loudly announce me. Who are these scouts anyway? They are the little birds, sparrows, finches, chickadees and juncos. The larger birds, the cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers and mourning doves, are the timid ones. We also have nuthatches and the red-tailed hawk. We thankfully have many fewer sparrows this year since we have taken out the privet hedge. The birds watch me while I fill the feeders and are feeding again once I am gone. I have new admiration for wildlife photographers. Their skill and patience amaze me. I think I should stick with photographing gardens.
I am not a birding expert. I stare at the photos in my birding books trying to identify the birds I see. I enjoy learning which birds are in my yard. When we first moved out here we had no birds, but over 21 years as our gardens have grown, so has the bird population. Changing the cropped fields into hay fields and adding prairie patches have helped attract birds. I hope you enjoy the photos. I have used the book Birds of Iowa, Field Guide by Stan Tekiela, Adventure Publications, Cambridge, Minnesota to identify the birds.
I have attempted to take photos to show you the birds that visit my garden and have realized the difficulty in photographing objects that never stay still. They seem to know when I am even 50 feet away. The lookout birds keep the others alerted to my presence and loudly announce me. Who are these scouts anyway? They are the little birds, sparrows, finches, chickadees and juncos. The larger birds, the cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers and mourning doves, are the timid ones. We also have nuthatches and the red-tailed hawk. We thankfully have many fewer sparrows this year since we have taken out the privet hedge. The birds watch me while I fill the feeders and are feeding again once I am gone. I have new admiration for wildlife photographers. Their skill and patience amaze me. I think I should stick with photographing gardens.
I am not a birding expert. I stare at the photos in my birding books trying to identify the birds I see. I enjoy learning which birds are in my yard. When we first moved out here we had no birds, but over 21 years as our gardens have grown, so has the bird population. Changing the cropped fields into hay fields and adding prairie patches have helped attract birds. I hope you enjoy the photos. I have used the book Birds of Iowa, Field Guide by Stan Tekiela, Adventure Publications, Cambridge, Minnesota to identify the birds.