Equilibrium

The hawks must come regularly, because the feeders aren't as busy as they used to be.

There is still the occasional Starling and Grackle - although I haven't seen a Cowbird since the last post.

There are four squirrels that seem content to eat from the ground.

The deer clean up every other day or so.  

There is a group of three does who eat from the ground - even close to the house.  

They alternate days sharing the task with a lone buck - who knows how to tip the perch feeder out in the yard. He doesn't touch the one close to the window, so there is always food for the earliest rising Cardinals and Titmice.

This doe found the last bit of pumpkin I put out after Thanksgiving.

Invaders Leave

The mixed flock of Starlings, Grackles, Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds were here until earlier this week when a Sharp-shinned Hawk harvested a Cowbird.

It was tough to get him in focus because he kept at his work.

A poor little Downy Woodpecker was caught at the suet feeder.  He didn't make a move for at least 20 minutes.  It was so cold I was afraid he would freeze.  I tried to flush him by knocking on the window, but he just blinked at me.

I couldn't bear the suspense, so I went about my business. He was gone when I checked back ten minutes later.

It took the hawk about 45 minutes to finish eating. Only feathers remained.

The flock has moved on and not returned.

Bird Invaders

The last few years I wait to put out my seed feeders until the first snow fall - in an attempt to keep the sparrows away.  

I have been feeding a little over a week now and have enjoyed seeing the Titmice, Woodpeckers, Cardinals and Chickadees.

Two days ago a flock of what I carelessly thought were Starlings drained the feeders in 2 hours - ugh.

My friend Cathy was good enough to consult her birding friends for help and on their advice I switched to perch feeders. 

Unfortunately, most of the birds perched just fine.

On closer inspection today, I noticed that this is a mixed flock - with very few Starlings.

There are Red-winged Blackbirds.

And Cowbirds

And Grackles.  

I didn't know the Red-winged Blackbirds and Cowbirds stayed during the winter, but they do.

I didn't put out seed yesterday, but with the temperatures dropping, today I relented.

Besides, they all seemed much more beautiful in the sunshine.

Marriage Saver

We went to the Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm yesterday.  

While we waited for our friends Denise and Robin to arrive we looked at the tree stands they sell.  Duke Jr. walked over and told us he called them marriage savers.

They drill a hole in the bottom of the tree and you just set the tree on a large peg.

It was so much easier than using a wrench to screw rusty bolts into the stump (my job) while someone else gets impatient holding the tree up (Dan's job). 

Thanks, Duke!