Looking back at my blog during the A-Z Challenge has inspired me to post more things from the past, so here goes my Throwback Thursday plan. Every Thursday, I plan to post something from the past that occurred the same week.
Today's post is a look back to 2011, when we got our first bird feeder. We have had many feeders over the years and many visitors. We have very much enjoyed watching them all. About a year ago, we added the Merlin App to our bird "watching," and that is bringing a new fun aspect to it all.
Presently, we have fewer birds at our feeder than we would like, but there are plenty of birds around enjoying what nature has to offer.
So without further ado, here is the blast from the past. 😀
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May 21, 2011
Our Fine Feathered Friends
Recently, for Ward's birthday, we put up a bird feeder, suet feeder, and bird bath. He wanted to become a bird watcher---at least from our windows. We put out expensive seed and suet and waited for the birds to come. Slowly, but surely, they have been finding their way to our gourmet offering.
However, did I mention the whole family is severely lacking in our understanding of birds? Until the new feeder, I was the advanced one because I could identify both a cardinal and a robin. Ward could spot a blue jay, and Wally and Theodore knew a crow when they saw one. That was about the sum total of it. One time, my sister, a longtime birder, took me birdwatching. While she was saying, "Look at the white on the tip of the bird's wing," I was saying, “Which tree?”
After a couple of weeks of watching, we're very proud of our new knowledge. We can now tell you that house finches are our most frequent visitors, the male cardinal doesn't like sharing, and the feeder REALLY swings when a crow lands on it. We can also tell you that we have both pileated and downy woodpeckers enjoying the suet, but neither one seems to resemble Woody Woodpecker. We're still a little confused about all of the little brown and gray birds, but we think we have been visited by a black-capped chickadee, a white-breasted nuthatch, and a house sparrow.
We've also had the ubiquitous visitor to every bird feeder—the squirrel. So far, the “squirrel-proof” feeder is doing its job, but we are enjoying the squirrel's antics as it tries to eat from the suet feeder in all positions. So far, upside down seems to be the favorite. Perhaps it's trying to copy the woodpeckers.
Who knows what we will see next? Maybe it will be something exotic. I just hope that we will be able to recognize it when it comes.
A Footnote: Special thanks to the boys' Aunt Martha—the bird expert who has been a tremendous help in getting us started.
That's a picture from your previous yard, right? What a gorgeous space. I do not have a green thumb, but I appreciate those who do.
ReplyDeleteBirds are tricky to identify. There are several that I am comfortable with recognizing, but the little ones like nuthatches and wrens don't stick in my brain, regardless of how often my husband tells me what they are (he's good at identifying lots of kinds of birds). I got the Merlin app a year ago and have a love-hate relationship with it. It doesn't always pick up on different bird sounds, and I find it to be glitchy. When it does work, though, it's fun to be able to get a positive bird ID.