BIRDS

[Wilma]

I use a CD hung on a string that I can pull from my recliner to scare the starlings away from the bird feeder on days when their pickings are plentiful elsewhere.

Is it common for flickers to come to the bird feeder?  I have had two of them consistently lately.

[Diane Amberg]

I have Flickers at the feeder often when the ground is snow covered, which it has been for weeks now and we have more snow today too. I enjoy watching them poke holes in the bare ground with those long beaks looking for whatever meal they can poke up. We've got a lot of different kinds of woodpeckers at the feeders this winter. Hairy, Downy, Rosy Breasted, and the Flickers. Also both kind of Nut Hatches.
I'm beginning to know what it must be like in winter in the upper tier states.The snow doesn't go away and more keeps collecting on top. AGGH!

[sixdogsmom]

Once again we dodged the bullet and the snow predicted for last night missed us! Today is by far the warmest it has been all week, nearing 50 degrees. The birds are very active, and the dogs keep thinking that the weather is nicer than it really is. They go out for an extended playtime, and come back in half frozen, looking for a blankie to wrap in. Even the two cats are ready for spring, pretend fussing every time they see one another. I have new seedlings coming up each day; I need to get some more started. I also have a couple of things needing to be stored in the fridge for a period before starting. I need to get that done today. Of course, there is ironing and mending galore, ugh! I'd rather play in the dirt! 

[Mom70x7]

Just told Jim I didn't mind this kind of "snow" - and hope that Sunday/Monday's snow is just as nice. 

[Judy Harder]

I want to report that SPRING IS JUST ABOUT HERE!

I went up to church this morning to put the bulletin out and as I got out of my car I saw flowers coming up.

The hyachinths (sp) and one that looks like a violet, but I think is a piece of creeping phlox. I know, I was shocked.
These flowers are protected from the north by the building...............but there are a lot of them coming up.

I knew my allergies were going crazy for a reason. the sap is a rising. LOL

[sixdogsmom]

Yah Judy, a lot of trees are blooming; the big maple in back has had squirrels and blackbirds in it eating the blossom all week. I started daily allergy stuff again, but I'll put up with that just to say that Spring is near! Hooray! 

[sixdogsmom]

Wilma, I chuckle every time I think of you yanking that string with the cd to shoo away the interlopers from your bird feeder! That is true yankee ingenuity! Lol!

[Wilma]

There is a solution for everything.  Necessity is the mother of invention, but laziness comes in a close second.

[Wilma]

We have just discovered something.  One of the red-bellied woodpeckers that come to my feeder is actually a ladder-back woodpecker.  The difference is where the red on the head ends.  The red-bellied's red goes all the way down to the beak, the ladder-back's red stops behind the eyes.  Also, the red-bellied has a white splotch on each wing when he is flying and is slightly larger than the ladder-back.

That makes 4 different kinds of woodpeckers that have lunch on me every day.  The flicker, the red-bellied, the ladder-back and the flashy little downy.

The birds are busy this morning, at the feeder as well as at the bird bath.

[Diane Amberg]

Do you get Hairy too? I can't tell them from Downy unless they are there at the same time and Hairy is bigger. Love those woodpeckers! We've got both kinds of Nuthatch with us this winter too.