It’s Only Natural

I have several birdfeeders in my yard and thoroughly enjoy watching all the various birds feast.  They all have different personalities — from the shy Hairy Woodpecker to the gutsy Chickadee. 

 I am, of course, partial to the flashy birds and was thrilled to have a few Baltimore Orioles at my feeder all summer.  But we’ve had our first hard frost here in the northeast, and it’s time for a change.

The orioles have gone, as have the Robin Red-Breast, the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak and others.  But coming back to visit from Canada I’ve gotten Dark-Eyed Juncos and wrens… lots and lots of both. 

 During the summer months, even the woodpeckers prefer to eat seed and not suet, though they will occasionally indulge in the fatty stuff (and the Hairy Woodpeckers teach their children how to eat off the feeder — one of the highlights of mid-summer for me).

But in the winter… all the birds have a suet snack.  I’ll find the chickadees, the nuthatches and others eating suet, and the woodpeckers — all the different types — will almost exclusively eat from there.

Yesterday, I received a big thrill.  My cardinal pair has returned.  They have been MIA since mid winter last year, and I was certain something had happened to them.  But yesterday morning I heard the peep-peep sound they make and looked out to see both a male and female (they seldom some separately, except during nesting season).  I’m so glad they’ve come home.

Do you enjoy birdwatching?

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