Wednesday, December 28, 2005



Feeding the birds in winter is such fun. They seem as though they are my pets, because I miss them so when they aren't around. I feel responsible for them when I'm not home, and have to designate someone to come by to put out their food! Today when the rain came sluicing down in sheets, the birds were too soggy to come out to eat. But the minute the downpour lightened up, they were all there.



For Christmas I got a backyard journal which my Bear and I will fill out with all the visitors we observe every month, day by day. It doesn't just cover birds from the local backyard - it is whatever birds we see anywhere. So I guess the first entries will be Flamingos, Roseate Spoonbills, and my very first Florida Scrub Jay, woo hoo!



The chickadees and nuthatches are among the most frequent visitors to the suet bar. The scrubs and stellar jays are big time peanut eaters, as well as picking at the dried corn cobs wedged into the tree forks. I have a huge dove population which feeds exclusively on the ground, along with the white and golden crown sparrows, squirrels, juncos and an occasional bandtail pigeon or two. It is so relaxing and calming to watch them as they treat us to their presence.

15 comments:

Autumn Storm said...

Sounds delightful :)

Crazy Me said...

That's so cool. All I have are stupid squirrels in my back yard. They keep getting in my attic and it's driving me nuts!!

Trée said...

Terry, I have two feeders in my backyard and we have five cardinal couples that visit. I've seen as many as ten cardinals in my tree at the same time. We also have tons of finches, chickadees, blue jays and doves that visit too. And two squirrls. I find such peace watching those birds from my back window. They more than pay for their feed with the joy they bring me. Glad to see another bird lover. And leftovers from that big meal? :-)

tsduff said...

Autumn- :-)

Tracey - I'm jealous that you have a picture - I want one! The spoonbills we saw were so pretty in pink (LOL) and smaller than I had imagined they would be. You must tell me about anything exotic (oh, yeah birds too) which passes by your view down there :-D

tsduff said...

Hi Chris,

I would have left a comment at your place but your blog remains unable to receive comments. You might want to tweak it a little bit on the comment section under settings.

Nice of you do drop by - I enjoyed reading your park notes. I was married to a park ranger from Tapia Park in Malibu Canyon - that was how we met. The park was beautiful, a wild and natural setting, but there were times when the "human" wildlife took over making the job a bit unpleasant.

tsduff said...

Trée, Whatever gave you the idea that I am a bird lover - ROFLOL
Sometimes I wonder what might have happened if I had finished my biology major, with minor in ornithology... then I might actually have a job which I love to do and get paid for it to boot! I adore those little (and not so little) feathered souls.

Not much in the way of leftovers, as we ate them for breakfast, and lunch the next day! The prime rib was all gone that very night - yum. Oh, and the pies are gone too. I think we all ate sufficiently, and drank copious amounts of wine & brandied eggnogg enough to fuel the fireworks for the New Year ;-D

tsduff said...

Hey A (aka Crazy Me),

Give the squirrels a break - try giving them some dried corn or unsalted unshelled peanuts and then watch the fun. Oh, BTW, are you sure those are squirrels in the attic? Ugh. I had a horrible rat problem once - if you can hear them scampering at night then guess what? Squirrels sleep at night.

won tong said...

TERRY AND GEORGE.. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH AND THE FAMILY TODAY AND ALL YEAR.. THANKS FOR YOUR BLOG AND FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF MINE.. MUCH LOVE AND JOY AND KEEP MY GRANDSON TO BE IN PRAYER THAT HE IS HEALTHY AND NORMAL AND ALL GOES WELL.. LOVE YOU FROM ANNE AND GEORGE AND FAMILY

Autumn Storm said...

Happy New Year, Terry - all the very best of life is what I wish for you in 2006

Keshi said...

Very cute lil birdies....

Happy New Year Terry!

Keshi.

Jeanne said...

Our neice, who's living on Iceland, bought "The Raven Flies" there and gave it to my father-in-law for Christmas. It had english subtitles. So you ought to be able to pick it up while you're there, along with its sequel(s?). Happy New Year!

tsduff said...

Jeanne, I'm so excited to hear that the film is available. We just rented an Icelandic film called "Noi" or something like that. It was awful - bad ending too. We enjoyed hearing the spoken Icelandic though, with english subtitles.

Happy New Year from soggy California :-D

tsduff said...

Greetings Keshi - sorry I've been away from blog land for a while. Lots of disasters on the home front. Hope your New Year is prosperous and happy.

tsduff said...

HI TRACEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

I'm here - just wet and cold. Not much time on the computer. My feet are cold. And there is lots of mud in the house. grrr. Life is good though - today the sun is out.

tsduff said...

Hi Autumn - sorry I've been absent from my rounds of blog friends. I have lots of catching up to do! Hope your New Years was wonderful and filled with friends and joy.