Joan on the Road...of Life

Several weeks ago I bought a cheap bird feeder to hang outside my window. Little did I know what entertainment value there was in this $3.95 feeder!

The first time I hung it, no one came. I was disappointed. But then my son told me that California birds are picky and only like sunflower seeds. So I replaced the bird seed with sunflower seeds, hulls removed, and voila! The birds came by the dozens.

Then we moved to a new site, I filled the feeder with all sunflowers and only one chickadee came. He picked out one seed, chewed it, flew at my window and beat on the glass, flew away and never returned. Failure.

Now on site 23, where we'll be for 6 weeks, the birds are going crazy again. The feeder is in a lovely tree with spreading evergreen branches. It is my personal aviary only the birds are free.

At any time I can see a dozen or more sitting in the branches waiting for their turn at the perches. They fight over spots, play chinese fire drill, hopping from one perch to another, stick their heads all the way into the feeder, drop to the ground like falling leaves, then swoop back up to sit and wait there turn again. It is constant entertainment.

Now I have a zoo as the squirrels and rabbits have found the overflow that the birds push on the ground. The squirrels fight over a particularly good seed, humping up their backs, swishing their tails and bumping butts to push each other out of the way. The rabbits are very cautious, always twitching their ears and noses, constantly worried that some enemy will come along. One bright squirrel is trying to figure out how to get down the rope to the feeder and I'm sure he'll figure that out in a couple of days.

We have chickadees, finches (mostly), scrub jays and red-headed woodpeckers visiting our feeder. The crows would love to but they're a bit too big for the perches. The jays have a hard time getting their heads turned to peck the seeds out so they too wait under the feeder for the scraps. The various finches hog the feeder so the lone chickadee jumps in quickly, grabs a seed then hides in the tree to eat. The finches hover like helicopters waiting for their turn. This activity goes on from sunrise to sunset!

Who knew that such a small investment would be such fun? Only problem is that they'll eat all the seed in the feeder in two days. Eating like a bird certainly doesn't indicate a small appetite. We may go broke keeping food on the table for the birds.