Bird Blogging

The cowbirds are showing up in droves at the feeders these days. The juncos have finally gone to wherever they go this time of year, so I reckon it really is spring now despite its being in the 30s over the weekend.

Mrs Vache Folle spotted a grackle, a first for us at our spread. I didn’t believe her right away and figured she just saw a particularly attractive cowbird, but sure enough we have a grackle. There appears to be a pileated woodpecker up the road on water supply land, but he hasn’t visited our feeders that I’ve seen. We regularly entertain downy and red-bellied peckerwoods.

I started putting out some larger stuff on the ground for the squirrels and bigger birds: peanuts, corn, sunflower seeds, and such like. Yesterday, one of the squirrels was using his tail as an umbrella to protect his head from the rain while he stuffed his face. He had his tail plastered to his back with the fur on the tip spread out like a fan. I had never seen this behavior before.

On the off chance that the hummingbirds show up early, we put up the feeders. Last year, they showed up on May 11 or so, and it would not be impossible for them to be here within the next couple of weeks.

I have been using a lower priced birdseed mix, and it is pretty messy. I am thinking of going back to the “Neat Feast” product we used last year. It attracted a wide variety of birds and left no mess at all. I am encouraging the thistle to grow along the northeast fence instead of fighting it this year. It seems to attract a lot of goldfinches in late summer. These almost never show up at our feeders.

UPDATE 4/25: A Baltimore Oriole dropped in this morning.