Ah, the pleasure of Bird Watching…from Mrs. Crumly’s unpubished writings.

Bluebird

As the old saying goes, “We could lose a crop sitting here watching the birds” and we really could as one forgets about time.  There is always so much activity at the feeders and we have seven.  One large feeder we inherited from a quilting friend who died in Georgia and when the squirrel gets on it the bottom section locks so that he can’t get seed.  We have four of the fattest squirrels you ever saw.

I guess we enjoy watching the Red Bellied Woodpecker more than any other.  His favorite feeder is one made by the late Virgil Hall – it’s nothing more than a bottom with a post at each corner and then a roof and it’s easy for the Woodpecker to sit there and get his fill of sunflower seed.  He takes seed to a certain hole he’s made in the trunk of the water oak and deposits them there.  In the spring we’ll watch him bring his young to the tree and teach them how to get the seed out.  He makes trip after trip putting seed in at least two holes.

We love having the little Hairy Woodpecker, too.  At least we think he’s the Hairy – there’s another that looks just like him – the Hairy is 9” long while the Downy is 6” long.  We can’t get this bird still long enough to do the measuring.

Of course, we have finches of various kinds, but the prettiest one is the American Goldfinch – this is the one where the male turns yellow in the early spring.  Old folks used to call this bird the wild canary.

The nuthatch is an interesting little fellow. We call him the upside down bird as he travels up and down the tree trunk upside down.  And another busy little beauty is the wren.  He is easy to identify because he holds his tail straight up. We have Robins and Bluebirds, but they do not come to the feeders.  The Towhee is another interesting fellow – he scratches with both feet at once and he only eats on the ground.

John keeps cracked corn out in a chicken feeder for the guineas and the large doves know just where to go to get the corn.  We have a few Mourning Doves; however, we have an abundance of the new dove that has migrated north from Florida – he’s called the Eurasian Dove and is a beautiful bird.  Light in color and has a black ring around his neck.  I’m told the authorities that be don’t like this new dove coming in as they are afraid they will mate with the Mourning Dove.

We keep suet out for their enjoyment, too.  We thought the Woodpeckers would enjoy it most, but we find the Mockingbird stays at that feeder more than any other bird.

John plans to clean out the Martin gourds today as it’s time for the scouts to come in.  The flock usually arrives about mid-March; however, last year ours didn’t arrive until about the first of April.   Martins are beneficial birds as they are supposed to eat their weight in insects daily.

We recommend bird feeding if you do nothing else but crumble cornbread out for them to enjoy.  Space prevents me from sharing the suet recipe, but do try bird watching – it’s one of the many pleasures of country living.