Birding

I happened to capture a finch was landing on the feeder. I think it's pretty cool because it solved my mystery. I'd been wondering how they land on the feeder.

I used to have regular bird feeders, but they were destroyed by squirrels. They tore them apart. Well, no more food for them. I got this squirrel proof feeder. Unfortunately, at the same time, it also excludes big birds like cardinals. They hang out on the ground picking seeds fallen from the feeder with pegions.

When the old feeder was hung, cardinals often came over as a couple. They were at the feeder, a male picked seeds from the feeder and gave them to a female. That was a sweet picture. Then, the female took the seeds, then kept feeding herself. Oh well, the sweet picture just ends there. Now, I see the same picture on the ground around the feeder pole. Male birds sing and feed to females, but females take seeds, but completely ignore them. It's a tough world to males to get dates to cardinals no matter how beautiful the males are.

They are the regulars in my yard. A hummingbird and woodpeckers were flying into our house a couple of times. They lost and got panicked. I caught and released them. I realized how tiny and fragile they are. They just fit into my hand. I was so afraid that I would hurt them while I tried to catch them. They were amazing experiences to see them so close. After the incidents, we make sure the screen door is always closed. Birds are welcome, but we don't want them to get panic and hurt themselves while finding their way out.

We have big birds as well. Turkeys are a big party. Mamas take their babies and follow their routine everyday. Males show up individually.

We had a turkey vulture once though they are not welcome. He was huge. I'd never seen a vulture before. I thought that was a bold eagle. When these guys are around, some dead animals are near by. A good thing about them is they don't hunt. You don't want to see hunting in your own yard.

Right now, the yard is not so perfect to little birds. They get food, but the area is exposed. As my gardening project progresses, I hope they find some safe spots to hang out. I saw orioles in the neighborhood. I'd love to invite them to my yard. So, I just started putting grape jelly out. Let's see how it goes. In the little yard, there are many visitors to keep entertaining us. I just cannot help looking forward to finding any new comers-especially cute ones.