Winter Fever

Hidey Ho and sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything! The recent cold snap has brought the feeding to a fever pitch! The birds are keeping me busy refilling the feeders. I have had great success with my new mixes and switched to hulled Sunflowers since I have so many Bluebirds.

For those of you who are unaware of this, Eastern Bluebirds will indeed eat seed when it is available in a hulled form. Their beaks are not made for cracking open seeds like their feeder buddies, Goldfinches, Chickadees and the others. If food availability is short, or in cold months after insects have died, Bluebirds will turn to berries and other vegetation, but they will come to your feeders. It had been so warm that there was still a good supply of insects. We could still see and hear grasshoppers, moths and crickets buzzing around, but since our week of cold weather, they are surely gone. I ordered mealworms by the thousands, but when they've eaten all of those and I am tardy to the feederm they resort to eating seeds.

It is hilarious, though to watch them attempt to perch on the tube feeders and eat, so I have scattered seed about and they have been hopping around eating from the deck. I also have Carolina Wrens eating my mealworms and they are pretty messy eaters, throwing meal dust and worms about, so I am probably doubling my efforts a bit. Somebody is eating holly berries or something along those lines because there are little red poopies all over the place. I even put a dish of seed by the window to entertain my new kitten and so far the Chickadees and Titmice have been having a field day with that.

The birds have also been actively using the bird bath and attempting to even when it is frozen. I was pouring warm water on it to thaw it and have now set up my heated bird bath, so they should be good to go. I still have lots of Goldfinches, Juncos, and House Finches. My little White-Breasted Nuthatch has been coming in his formal attire and the other day I even had a woodpecker in the Myrtle by the deck. I didn't get a good look at him, but I believe he was a Downy. Today I made a peanut butter/seed/fruit mix and hung it in a mesh bag, so hopefully he'll be back.

I'll be back with some exciting news and an owl story! In the meantime, Happy Holidays and FEED YOUR BIRDS!!!