Thought I'd start this thread for any AWers who also bird.
I just got back from a two-month stint out of state. My bird feeding stations have been neglected all that time, as my husband doesn't have that much interest in birds (he did, however, keep my birdbath and fountain cleaned and filled the whole time I was away). I was afraid it would take a while for the birds to rediscover the feeders, but I needn't have worried. The whole time I was filling them, a chickadee and then a nuthatch and then a cardinal perched overhead, yelling like crazy (to me it sounded like birdspeak for "Where the heck have you been? Hurry it up!"). Consequently the yard has been a madhouse ever since
Yesterday morning I was headed out the kitchen door to a dental appointment and startled a large hawk on the ground right by one of the stations. It took off before I could ID it, but it clearly had just made a dive at something feeding. I don't think it was successful; I didn't see any blood or feathers in the grass, and it didn't seem to be carrying anything when it took off, but it was a reminder to me that when I put out a smorgasbord for the songbirds, I'm also creating a buffet for predators. Not that I mind; it's the whole circle of life thing, but I always hope they home in on invasive species like English Sparrows or European Starlings, of which I have a surfeit.
Anyone else in the AW community like birding?
I just got back from a two-month stint out of state. My bird feeding stations have been neglected all that time, as my husband doesn't have that much interest in birds (he did, however, keep my birdbath and fountain cleaned and filled the whole time I was away). I was afraid it would take a while for the birds to rediscover the feeders, but I needn't have worried. The whole time I was filling them, a chickadee and then a nuthatch and then a cardinal perched overhead, yelling like crazy (to me it sounded like birdspeak for "Where the heck have you been? Hurry it up!"). Consequently the yard has been a madhouse ever since
Yesterday morning I was headed out the kitchen door to a dental appointment and startled a large hawk on the ground right by one of the stations. It took off before I could ID it, but it clearly had just made a dive at something feeding. I don't think it was successful; I didn't see any blood or feathers in the grass, and it didn't seem to be carrying anything when it took off, but it was a reminder to me that when I put out a smorgasbord for the songbirds, I'm also creating a buffet for predators. Not that I mind; it's the whole circle of life thing, but I always hope they home in on invasive species like English Sparrows or European Starlings, of which I have a surfeit.
Anyone else in the AW community like birding?