BIRDS, BIRDS, and MORE BIRDS!

Soph, kitty, and I are sitting at the window with our eyeballs feasting on the bird party happening in the sunshine at our fly-through feeder. Today we've spotted: nuthatches, juncoes, black-capped chickadees, titmouses (titmice?), 1 brown thrasher - tricky little guy was in my hedge while I watched the feeder, and 1 summer tanager that is a smart little fellow.

I recently put out a suet feeder with some sort of apple ingredient (purchased at Lowes) that has NOT been a hit. At all. I can't even get the squirrels to eat it. Actually, I hung the suet by the fly-through because it seemed to be quite a squirrel deterrant! I'll be chunking the suet today, since the crowd hasn't been pleased with it. Suet goes bad in warm weather in a matter of days, so in the trash it will be going today! Don't want sick tweeters! Speaking of the fly-through, we'll soon be adding a hopper feeder to our collection. When we first moved in, the previous owners had a hopper feeder that was an absolute hit, but it was smack-dab in the middle of a flower bed. BAD IDEA! WEEDS! So, we dismantled it, since it was fairly hoopty & intend to get another one as soon as we can locate one that we like.

If you do not currently have a bird party happening in your yard, let me encourage you to get one started! This site can offer any basic info you need based on the state in which you live. For beginning bird feeding info, this site has tons of useful tidbits, FAQS, Do's & Dont's, etc.

The birds are busy at the feeder on this cold morning while I watch The Merchant of Venice (Shylock. Tsk, tsk) and drink my hot tea. Sam and Sophy are playing a rowdy game of hangman, and I'm contemplating whether or not I intend to do anything at all the rest of this break. I had initially planned to head to Houston with the kids and Meem/Pop, but it sounds VERY nice to stay home and do nothing for the rest of our break. We've got some trips coming up before school is out, so that will just have to suffice. I don't feel as if I've recovered from my nasties of last weekend enough to brave a road trip alone with three kids. Maybe another time.
I'll be being a Bosom Buddy later this afternoon. After the bosoms, we're heading out for toes and dinner this evening. Better go attempt to make myself look presentable!

Random Bird Photo:

DaddyP snapped this photo in d'town M'town last week during a bridal photo shoot. You've likely never seen a bird like this in East Texas, or didn't know what it was if you did see it. It's a Cedar Waxwing, and it's a beauty!

Watching my birds

We read up on ways to increase the # of birds & butterflies (more on the flutter-ers in another update) in our yard and found that our feeders were in the wrong location, that we needed certain types of food to attract certain types of birds, etc. So, I'm happy to report that with only a few of the minor changes actually accomplished, we've increased our birdage by a noticeable amount. As I type(and drink some hot tea,) I 'm watching a black-capped chickadee fuss at a titmouse, heehee. We were able to attract some of the more brightly colored birds to our feeding area, and it's been nice to see it happen. Of course, with the added food, we're having to contend with some psychotic squirrels, but I think we're on the road to deterring them. I'd like to add some more housing and feeders around the bigger part of our yard this summer. The kids have really enjoyed helping us and seeing the new birds come. Well, Sam enjoys the squirrel action more, but that is to be expected.
It just dawned on me this morning that next Saturday is time trials for swim team. We'll be in Lufkin. Yes, we'll have to leave at an unbelieavable hour to be in the water for warm-ups by 7:20. Oy! Looks like I've got more to do today than I thought, since this will be my last available Saturday before we head to NC. Better bust a move.