In January, the days seem to flow into one another and thus gave me lots of time to ponder. My biggest problem that I wished to resolve over the Winter months was determining what to do with my backyard, once my paradise … my pride and joy. Do I fill it with flowers and welcome back the birds and butterflies, or enjoy them in nature locales?
The backyard back story.
Through the years, fellow bloggers have commiserated with me over my backyard woes. Once an avid gardener, I spent countless hours every weekend creating a picture-perfect nirvana for birds and butterflies. But, in 2008 a new neighbor’s dog, left outside 24/7 and fed table scraps, brought rats. The pest control service said all my bird paraphernalia had to go. I couldn’t bear to see the woeful faces as birds lined up on the chain-link fence wondering why I no longer provided seeds and birdbaths for them. That neighbor eventually moved, so mercifully there were no more rats, but I never resumed feeding/watering the birds, as I didn’t want to tempt fate and encourage any critters that didn’t belong in my backyard, though I’d never had so much as a mouse before.
Then the Polar Vortex in the Winter of 2013-2014 killed off my entire butterfly garden and multiple bushes. I tucked away the butterfly houses and trappings in the garage and decided qué será, será (what will be, will be) – if any plants survived and thrived, so be it. By then, walking and blogging consumed a lot of my free time.
After a downed wire fire that occurred in December 2022 after a branch from the dead tree two houses away burned one-quarter of my backyard and my energy provider hacked up two trees (which had nothing to do with the fire), I had those trees removed last Summer – I know the squirrels and birds were not amused.
Thus my backyard languished in a sorry state and I fully realized my lackadaisical attitude toward it when, to my horror, I discovered the large groundhog burrow at the foundation on September 13th. I hired a pest control service pronto, but one month later we had two ‘possum captures, still no groundhog, so the burrow was filled with soil and pea gravel and I now check daily for “infiltrations” – so far, so good. My neighbor Jeff found three burrows at his foundation and layered mothballs and dirt to deter any future diggings, then decided to tear out every bush at the fence line. He even cut down a beautiful Weeping Mulberry Tree vowing “no more critters will make their home in my yard!” He even cautioned me “if you don’t want critters hiding back there, rip out your remaining bushes, put in grass and be done with it!”
Well, that statement gave me cause to pause about my backyard and whether I should try to recapture the magic of my long-gone paradise?
Fast forward a few months ….
Our Fall foliage peaked later than usual due to a three-week drought in June.
I arrived home from walking on a gorgeous November day and saw the sun lighting up Jeff’s Red Maple tree, the only tree spared from his tree/bush-clearing rampage. I wanted a photo of that tree, aglow in its glory and quickly fished the camera out of my pocket. When I focused on the tree, I saw two suet feeders hanging among those brilliant leaves.
And then I saw a bird or two at the feeders … woo hoo!
I lingered, taking some more photos of the Maple from different angles, then noticed some seed feeders in the yard.
Jeff saw me taking pictures and came out of the house. I said “the tree is gorgeous and I’m surprised to see you put out bird food.” He replied “I love feeding the birds and now that Woody is gone, I thought I’d feed them.”
(Woody was Marge’s beloved dog and he was euthanized last Spring. This is a picture of my late friend/neighbor and Woody.)
I couldn’t help myself and said “but you showed me a photo on your phone of a Mama and baby raccoon in your garbage bin, you know the trap got two ‘possums and a groundhog burrowed at both our homes – you may get more unwanted critters feeding the birds.” He said “no I won’t” so I said “okay … well I’ll contribute to the cause; I loved feeding the birds and stopped when the rats arrived.” He said he bought several large bags of seed, so I went into the house and carried out a brand-new platform feeder and a ten-pound bag of sunflower seeds, part of my stash for my Park critters. I was thinking of all the Jays and Cardinals I’d see, but only the regular seeds were put in the platform feeder.
The next time I went grocery shopping I bought two cases of suet cakes and gave them to Jeff. Yes, I would try out this bird-feeding venture once, but this time with a bit of trepidation and an eye toward opening up MY backyard to birds (and butterflies) once again.
So, let the birding begin!
Or maybe not.
First, I saw a fat black squirrel park its furry bottom in the platform feeder, munching away happily. I watched a few minutes, then thought “this will make a great blog header photo” but, by the time I got the camera ready it jumped off the feeder and ran away. I’ve never seen that squirrel there since. Note to self: get the shot first, be amused later.
The next morning I went out to walk and noticed Jeff had hung a filled suet cake holder on my shepherd’s hook. I had to get a photo since my Burning Bush was at peak color like Jeff’s Maple. (I have two Burning Bushes just a few feet from one another – one always turns red, the other always stays green.)
A few days later I took this photo through the screen door. It looked like the suet made a hit – in fact, Jeff told me this was the second suet cake and the bottom had to be secured with a twist-tie from so much action at the feeder that the original cake fell into the bush..
The Downy Woodpecker saw me open the door, then bolted next door to Jeff’s offerings, clearly miffed by my presence. (“Hey, what’s your issue, I live here Bud!”)
I vowed to have my camera at the ready every time I exited the house going forward.
First, I’d glance toward the platform feeder …
… and all the Sparrows would fly up like I was terrorizing them.
Sparrows seemed to be the most-popular birds bellying up to the platform feeder as you see in this slideshow … the sneaky squirrel cleaned up the remaining seeds on the ground.
I guess I should have tempered my expectations a tad from when I DID have colorful songbirds bopping by the feeders and Birdola seed blocks and happily sipping and splashing in the four birdbaths. “Birding in the backyard” is not how I’d describe this 2023-2024 venture as it has been about as exciting as seeing Hope, the one and only hummingbird that shows up at the two feeders I put out.
So, admittedly feeding the birds had/has been a letdown.
During the bitter cold days of our mid-January Polar Vortex, I saw zero birds. Perhaps they, like the squirrels, stayed tucked in their nests next to their kin?
Plus, from my vantage point, the food sources were frozen solid – that snow/rain then flash freeze caused the suet and birdseed to be covered in snow, then ice and it remained frozen solid for a week. Secretly I hoped Jeff would chisel out a few spots so they could eat – maybe that wasn’t doable?
The yard looked a bit barren and brrrrrr with Jack Frost’s etchings on the garage door window, a frosty backyard thermometer (a bit wonky as it was colder than this temp) and frozen food at the feeders.
The peanut suet balls and sunflower seeds I put into two small feeders …
… both ended up having snow glazed with ice on them.
One frosty morning, since it was too icy to try to walk to the Park, I captured the comings and goings in Jeff’s backyard; yes, it was hardly the “birdie nirvana” I anticipated. Finally, the incessant rain and fog must have made the food more pliable and it rapidly disappeared.
All I’ve really seen are the gazillion Sparrows that perch in my tall Golden Vicary bush (all those brown blobs in the next two photos) …
… and, in a whoosh, take flight every time I head toward the backyard.
There are way too many Starlings to mention; here are a few that flew the coop when they saw me.
I am not discriminating against the Sparrows, nor the Starlings, however, I saw no Cardinals, Blue Jays, Finches or Chickadees. At least there was the one visit from the Downie.
Oh … and there was one Junco munching up high – they are usually ground feeders. I see them at the Park all the time.
The weather wasn’t the only “spoiler” this Winter.
“The Lurker” a/k/a a Cooper’s Hawk came calling.
One morning I went outside to run the car and heard Blue Jays screeching – not just one. It was non-stop screeching and, when I glanced up at the trees, I saw a huge Cooper’s Hawk perched on a lower branch glaring at me. I did a double-take when I saw two brown spots on that speckled chest, but quickly realized it must have been preening and its feathers remained parted.
This brute was not my idea of backyard birding.
The Jays, still agitated by this predator’s presence, continued to hop noisily from branch to branch in a nearby tree, sounding the warning alarm to other birds. I wondered if the squirrels were savvy enough to heed those Jays’ warning calls? Perhaps, as I saw no squirrels around. I got these few shots of that hawk before it flew to another tree. Did I spook it? I don’t know, but having dealt with the demise of the contingent of neighborhood squirrels by a Cooper’s Hawk in 2020, I decided that our backyard buddies are once again vulnerable, just like poor Grady and his friends.
I think I won’t participate anymore after Winter is over, preferring instead to dole out peanuts, seeds, suet balls and suet cakes to my feathered friends at the Park instead, just as I do year-round. I get more enjoyment from that interaction and I love seeing them swoop down near me to enjoy their treats.
So yes, February IS Feed the Birds Month and I intended to count the expected “backyard birds” as part of my annual participation in “The Great Backyard Bird Count” on February 16th to 19th. Instead I’ll probably take my abacus and camera down to Council Point Park as I have in the past.
I’m joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Challenge for February 4, 2024 “February is Feed the Birds Month”.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 