A large flock of BH Cowbirds have visited my backyard bird feeding station
for 4 days now. They suddenly appeared. I have counted close to 70, with a
handful of few European Starlings and Common Grackles mixed in with them.
Still, I enjoy the antics of the valuable birds species, who scurry in to
feed when the hoard of Cowbirds takes a break: Carolina Wrens land on the
bird feeder, hop up on the glass pane and squeeze into the inside of the
feeder bin; Blue Jays steal shelled peanuts from the squirrel feeder and
enjoy picking them apart; WB Nuthatches snatch up the black oil sunflower
seeds and wedge them into my neighbor's shingles; Hairy and Downey
Woodpeckers go upside down under the suet feeder; eight Cardinals continue
to add color to the bleak winter landscape- they hang around my feeder all
day and are the first early morning and last evening feeders of the day
(Why is that?); a lone Song Sparrow has been feeding for a week now; Dark
Eyed Juncos wait patiently in my fir trees until the Cowbird hoard is
finished; the resident Sharp-shinned hawk rockets into the Cowbird swarm,
but is unsuccessful, although last week he nailed a large rat feeding on
thrown-out kitchen scraps on my compost pile; the plump Mourning Doves
picking at the cracked corn I put on the ground, oblivious to the Sharp-
shin hiding in my fir tree, not remembering that he nailed one a week ago,
in the same spot they now feast at, and ate it atop my garage (down and
feathers filled the backyard); and the squirrels still conniving a way to
get around my squirrel baffles. Robert in Fremont, Ohio
"The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird
seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his
life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of
all climes, and knowing no bounds -- how many human aspirations are
realised in their free, holiday-lives -- and how many suggestions to the
poet in their flight and song!"
John Burroughs (1837 - 1921), Birds and Poets, 1887
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