For The Birds

My sister-in-law, Denice, moved to Alamosa to help us out at Mountain Air Oxygen Service, Inc., our family owned business.  She is currently staying in the guest house until Greg, her husband, gets here from Placerville, CA with all their stuff.  She loves bird watching and so do we.  She suggested to Don that he put bird feeders out near the back deck to so she could sit by the bay window at lunch time or in the evening to watch them.

Off to town she went with Don and an hour later they were back with bags of seed and bricks of suet along with several feeders and suet holders.  Don went out to the shed and found a couple of hooks.  He attached them to the cottonwood trees just off the deck and outside the bay window.  He came in and sat at the table in the bay window with Denice and they waited.  Nothing!  Day two, nothing.  Day three, nothing. On day four their first birds spotted the feeder and made themselves at home.

Apparently the word spread quickly among the bird community because today as I watched the birds, there were so many they couldn't all fit on the feeders.  There are chickadees, nut hatches, sparrows, house finches, red shafted flickers, a harry wood pecker, doves, and gold finches.

Then came a predator.  A cat.  He crouched down at the bottom of the tree right below the feeders and sat perfectly still.  A flicker was enjoying all the feeders to himself as the other birds had seen the cat and fled.  Suddenly the cat made a great leap up onto the feeder.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you are cheering for, the cat was to slow and the bird got away.

We really didn't mean to set up the birds to be cat food.  The bird feeders are for the birds. I hope that the cat doesn't succeed in his hunting excursions.

A couple of deer found the feeders and one was up with both hooves on the tree with his tongue stuck in the seed feeder trying to get the seeds out.  It was pretty funny.  He must of thought, "If  I could just get my tongue in that little hole some seeds will get stuck to it!" Hardly worth it I say. I didn't have my camera so I couldn't get it on digital.

Those feeders have become a real source of entertainment.  We have had feeders before and enjoyed them.  I think we took them down because the squirrels finally broke them and my son shot them up with is air gun. Besides the birds were pooping all over the deck.  However, it is fun to see them again and this winter has been so cold and bleak that I am sure they appreciate all the food they can get.

We will see what happens next with the birds and I am going to try and capture them, on digital of course.