Birdfeeding
Mar. 26th, 2021 04:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithToday is mild and gray. It rained off and on last night.
I fed the birds. Today I've seen sparrows, house finches, robins, doves, a male towhee, and a squirrel at the feeders.
I sowed grass seed in the south lot and the savanna.
While walking around, I made some interesting discoveries:
* Something dug into the rotten logs framing the wildflower garden. I may need to replace some of them. Probably it was a skunk, possum, or maybe raccoon looking for invertebrates.
* Much bark has fallen off dead branches from a mulberry tree. I picked up the largest slabs and stacked them to make a ladybug shelter. Sometimes you don't need to buy anything for wildlife, just pay attention and organize things a little. Remember, you are the part of the biosphere that has thumbs, so use them to take care of all our relations.
* I found three new owl pellets! :D They were under a dead limb on a mulberry overlooking the prairie garden. I surmise that an owl has perched there while surveying the open hunting ground. These are smaller than the earlier ones, with smaller bones -- probably mouse, ground squirrel, or some other tiny animal. One has broken open from the recent rain, the other two are still intact and pellet-shaped. Possibly they came from a smaller owl, because great horned owl pellets tend to be on the large side. But smaller owls rarely venture around great horned owls for fear of being eaten. Several decades ago, we had barn owls all over but no great horned owls; now we have great horned owls all over but I rarely see barn owls. I am excited to see that owls enjoy my habitat.
EDIT 3/26/21: I dug up some weeds around the forest garden and edge of patio.
I fed the birds. Today I've seen sparrows, house finches, robins, doves, a male towhee, and a squirrel at the feeders.
I sowed grass seed in the south lot and the savanna.
While walking around, I made some interesting discoveries:
* Something dug into the rotten logs framing the wildflower garden. I may need to replace some of them. Probably it was a skunk, possum, or maybe raccoon looking for invertebrates.
* Much bark has fallen off dead branches from a mulberry tree. I picked up the largest slabs and stacked them to make a ladybug shelter. Sometimes you don't need to buy anything for wildlife, just pay attention and organize things a little. Remember, you are the part of the biosphere that has thumbs, so use them to take care of all our relations.
* I found three new owl pellets! :D They were under a dead limb on a mulberry overlooking the prairie garden. I surmise that an owl has perched there while surveying the open hunting ground. These are smaller than the earlier ones, with smaller bones -- probably mouse, ground squirrel, or some other tiny animal. One has broken open from the recent rain, the other two are still intact and pellet-shaped. Possibly they came from a smaller owl, because great horned owl pellets tend to be on the large side. But smaller owls rarely venture around great horned owls for fear of being eaten. Several decades ago, we had barn owls all over but no great horned owls; now we have great horned owls all over but I rarely see barn owls. I am excited to see that owls enjoy my habitat.
EDIT 3/26/21: I dug up some weeds around the forest garden and edge of patio.
