Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

We got more birdseed yesterday, so I went out and fed the birds.  Today is mild and wet.  They're highly active, but not so much at the feeders.  They're hopping around the yard looking for fresh food and splashing in the puddles.  I saw lots of robins bounding about.  Some cardinals.  A pair of mourning doves flew over my head crying "WOE, WOE!" -- not a sound they often make.  Usually it's the soft "hoo-OOO, hoo, hoo, hoo."  I've seen house finches several times; perhaps they will stay and nest this summer.  We don't get them every year.  Rabbits everywhere.  I've seen a fox squirrel at the feeder repeatedly, though not today.

The grass is greening.  More plants are leafing out, or have swelling buds like the lilacs.  Scilla is starting to bloom.  There's a sizable patch of naturalized snowdrops along the wild cherry grove in the savannah.

Comments

[viciousladybug]

I've been observing a lot of woodpeckers and cardinals lately. Robins are in the area but I don't believe I've seen them in my yard yet. I feed with mixed seed, suet, seed cakes, sunflower, and peanuts. It is refreshing to see the regulars come back and it's only going to get better!

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That sounds nice. I usually feed mixed seed with lots of millet. Supply has been more erratic this year, so sometimes I've used a songbird mix that's mostly sunflower with some safflower and peanuts. Plus peanut butter suet cakes, which are nongreasy and popular with my birds.

[redsixwing]

Regional dialects may make differences, but the local mourning doves often do that loud, rising call when they're coming in for a landing.

Yay, rabbits and birds! The lilacs' tips are starting to swell here too, but only the very hardiest are leafing out.