Feeding birds – Tendrils

Yellow-rumped Warblers

An occasional visitor to my bird bath, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). Fondly called Butterbutts by birders. If you don’t have a bird bath, I sure recommend one equipped with a water warmer to keep the water from freezing during the coldest that winter can throw at you.

These warblers don’t partake of the beautiful bird buffet that I put out for them but I’ve read that they do enjoy suet, sunflower seeds, peanut butter and raisins at back yard feeders. AND down at my Mom’s feeder in Citrus County, Florida, they enjoy her suet. Maybe I should ask my sister for her recipe. They don’t seem interested in MY recipe.

When they’re not at a feeder during the winter they will feed on the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper, and dogwood. Butterbutts also eat the seeds of grasses and goldenrod.

During the summer while they’re up north they eat spiders, and many insects like beetles, caterpillars, gnats, wasps, aphids, and grasshoppers.

Best of luck at getting to see Yellow-rumped Warblers and don’t forget, if I didn’t have a bird bath equipped with a water warmer I doubt I’d get to see these sweet little birds.

Hermit Thrush

After an absence of a couple months, they’re back at my berries and birdbath again. This is a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) going after berries of Smooth Sumac, which is a small tree that I really enjoy having in my yard because it attracts such interesting birds.

I’ve tried to figure out how to entice the Hermit Thrush to be a feeder bird but they’ve offered only resistence. The one thing I can depend on is that they LOVE to have a bird bath around, that is not frozen, both for drinking and bathing.

During the summer they mainly eat insects but during the winter they go with what is more available, fruits and berries. Here in my yard they’re provided both the Smooth Sumac berries and also Beautyberries. They also enjoy rummaging through the leaf litter in my yard. Leaf litter seems to be a valuable asset for attracting birds.

Yesterday it was at the Beautyberry bush that I spotted a Hermit Thrush. I was pleased to see it, since I hadn’t seen one since late November. Using my photographs as a guide I can say that I see these birds from early November through late March of each year.

Glad they’re back and I hope they hang around through March!

Red-breasted Nuthatch

A little feathered creature that I see some winters. A bird that is said to be “irruptive,” meaning it depends on the seed supply where it normally spends its winters. In years when the seeds of pine, spruce, and fir trees are not plentiful these birds will venture into areas where they are not normally seen.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) shows up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia every two or three years. I’m always pleased to see them. And their songs and calls bring a smile to my face. They sound like a chuckle, or like the horn of a terribly tiny tin toy car.

While they’re here they will visit my feeders, eating the sunflower seeds, peanuts and suet that is put out. Sometimes I’ll see a Red-breasted Nuthatch going back and forth to the feeders, much more frequently than what I might expect. More than likely this means it is going to a special hiding place, stashing food in crevices in tree bark. Putting the food away for later.

So glad you guys are here and I hope I’ll see you next winter too.

Flowers in WINTER!

Me — always a positive outlook. But I’m wondering about this winter. It is not living up to my expectations. Are we going to end up with the warmest January on record? Is climate change doing its thing? There are rumors from the weather people of snow next week. Be still my heart! Just now, a gift to me. A gift from my gardens. Here to bring cheer, flowers of comfort. Flowers of cheer. Flowers of winter.

Hellebores (Helleborus) native to Europe and Asia.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warblers, Setophaga coronata, have to come to visit for the winter. They’re also affectionately referred to as Butter Butts.

When insects are available, that’s their meal of choice but here, in the cold months, they will settle for goldenrod seeds, and the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper and dogwood.

Some people are able to entice them to feeders with sunflower seeds, raisins, peanut butter, and suet but I’m not one of the lucky ones. That’s okay! They seem to like it here anyway. AND they do seem to enjoy the bird bath that I keep ice free during the winter.

Cooper’s Hawk

A very fine (as in, “this is good”)(and as in, “the flakes are very small, but plentiful”) snow is falling out of the heavens, has been since lunch time when a Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooper, not an unusual sight in the vicinity of my feeders, came by to see what was on the menu. Luckily for the potential lunch, they sensed his presence and took off. He left, continuing on his search for lunch.

By feeding song birds, I am attracting the Cooper’s Hawk, who eat medium-sized birds, rabbits, mice, squirrels, bats, chipmunks and even chickens. I don’t play favorites, this beauty is allowed here at my cabin along with all the other birds, particularly since he doesn’t come by daily. All welcome.

My Winter Birds

Perhaps these are my pets, the birds that come to my feeders. Wild birds that give me comfort just by being there. The bird you see in the picture, above, is a winter bird in my area (the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia), a White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. He has a sweet song that is easy to remember, using the mnemonic, “Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.”

I know that autumn will not last much longer, when I see these little birds, rustling around in the leaves on the forest floor. I have to look very closely to see them. Their feathers provide a great camouflage against the dry, brown, fallen leaves.

I must wait for the bears to retire for their winter slumber, before I put out the feeders for the cold months of the year. Otherwise I am likely to need to purchase a new feeder. Believe it or not, the bears do like bird seed too, and will carry a feeder off, or just totally destroy one with ease.

The bear, above, came out of his den, unannounced on January 17th, to cart off one of my feeders. He chose a new model that was designed to keep squirrels out. Needless to say, bird feeder designers don’t aim to keep bears out of the seeds. I suppose that would be an impossible task. If I know that bears are roaming, I don’t put out feeders.

I’m hoping Mr. Bear, is now back in his den. Hoping that the cold will keep him all snug and warm, and away from the bird feeders for while longer. Not only do I enjoy simply watching the birds and their antics, I depend on the feeders to bring them within easy shutter range, so that I can get pictures of my winter pets.

Another bird of winter, is the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis. Most of them summer in the far north, some going into the Arctic. A few however, do stay in this general area year ’round. I have seen some summering in the Shenandoah National Park, which is just a short distance from my cabin. Here at my feeders though, it is only the migrating Dark-eyed Junco, that I see.

I speak of the wild birds as my pets. I don’t have any “all the time” pets living with me. A frequent visitor, though, is my son’s and daughter-in-law’s cat, Betelgeuse.

That’s Betelgeuse, in the picture above. She’s a rescue, Maine Coon cat. She is a predator. For her own safety and health, and for the sake of my wild pets, she is an indoor pet. I hope your cat is an indoor cat as well, for the sake of my wild pets.

Snow Mountain

This morning I was greeted by a tiny bit less than an inch of snow here on the mountain. I skipped yoga (!!) and spent the morning walking and enjoying the sounds of snow. Okay, mainly the sounds of birds enjoying the new, white blanket. Many were robins, and cedar waxwings gathering in the tree tops, exchanging stories of how this winter has been mighty wimpy so far. They agreed with me. The winter is still young. There is still hope.

This first picture, above, is of greenbrier. There’s loads of it up here. It is a native, and though many people don’t like it, it has numerous benefits. Greenbrier provides good cover for small animals, and some animals eat the leaves and stems. Deer, beaver, and rabbits are three of the animals. That they eat this plant, impresses me. Those stems, complete with thorns, must be mighty tough. There is an impressive number of birds that enjoy the berries during the winter, along with squirrel, raccoon and possum.

These red fruits, are rose hips, from a plant that I really wish would just go away. It is a non-native, invasive. Rosa multiflora produces white flowers with yellow centers during its short blooming period. It forms an impenetrable mass, spreads rapidly and has very unfriendly thorns that are hooked backward, making being snagged an unpleasant experience. I’m waiting and hoping. There is a virus that is attacking these walls of thorns, slowly decreasing its population here in the Blue Ridge. I’m sorry that the same virus may be putting your garden rose bushes in jeopardy, but I am cheering it on, in the case of rosa multiflora.

Another plant that I captured in pixels on my walk this morning, smooth sumac. Among the plants that grow up here, I have many favorites. This is one. My favorite time for this sumac is winter, when birds enjoy its brilliant red berries. Cardinals, and many types of woodpeckers are among the visitors to the small trees.

Snow still covers my dirt, twisty turny, steep mountain road, but tomorrow morning I’ll be heading down to go back to yoga class. My “snow day” was a total pleasure. Yoga will be tomorrow’s total pleasure!

Thistle Seed? No!

What are these seeds, that I’ve been calling thistle seed, since I was a child? These seeds that Goldfinches, Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and White-throated Sparrows seem to go bonkers over?

What a surprise I had, when I looked up thistle seed on the internet. Seems thistle seed is not thistle seed at all, but the seed of a yellow flower, Guizotia abyssinica, which is cultivated for its seeds in Africa, India and other areas of southeast Asia. A native of the highlands of Ethiopia, and the only major wild bird feed seed imported to North America from overseas.

This tiny black seed is sold here in the U.S. as Nyjer seed, a registered trademark of the Wild Bird Feeding Industry. It amazes me that the tiny songbirds that come to my feeders, take each tiny seed to a nearby branch and carefully remove the hull, to eat the little bit of nut meat, which is packed with 40 percent oil, which is the attractant.

In all seasons, Goldfinches arrive to dine on the Nyjer seeds.

Another bird that can’t resist the temptation of Nyjer seed, is the White-Throated Sparrow.

There are other birds that are attracted to Nyjer seed, but I’ll close with this last little guy. A Tufted Titmouse. These four bird species, Chickadees, Goldfinches, White-throated Sparrows, and Tufted Titmice are the ones that I know I’ll see every single day at my feeder of tiny black seeds, that are not thistle seed.

Grumpy Birds

Those of you who are fortunate to have hummingbirds come to your garden, to get a sip from your feeder, or to enjoy the nectar provided by your flowers – you’ll know how intolerant they are. I’ve actually seen one hummingbird come up behind another, who is feeding, and hammer him on the head with his bill! Come on guys! Relax!

But that’s summer! Let’s get back to this season: mud, or the end of winter.

I’ve been watching the birds at my feeders since January. When I first put out the suet feeder, it took a while for the downy woodpeckers to show up. Perhaps a bit more cautious. Let the chickadees, white-throated sparrows, juncos, cardinals, titmice see if harm comes. They had already tested the feeder territory, eating the sunflower seeds and perhaps felt safe in the area.

I was delighted when the first nuthatch showed up. Just him. It took a while for another one to brave this new thing, a suet feeder in the woods! And then, a couple weeks ago, a pair of downy woodpeckers started coming for their dinner too.

It has been surprising to me to find that downy woodpeckers are not “sharing” birds. If another bird gets near the suet while they are feeding — look out! Grump City! Much like hummingbirds, charming little things to watch, until they feel they have had enough sharing!

One morning recently I saw a downy grab a chickadee and actually toss him aside.

Goodness. Much like hummingbirds. Grumps! — Much like some people! Fortunately not many of them, right??