Backyard Circus
Sensing movement on my left, I quickly turned to watch two hummingbirds fighting over the right to use the sugar water bird feeder.
Even our Blue Angel fighter pilots would be envious of their dart and maneuver.
Movements and skirmishes are so quick that one poorly timed blink might cause you to miss the show. Repeat performances occur regularly however so patience will be rewarded by several encore showings.
Hummingbird visits proved so entertaining that we decided to add bird feeders containing suet, seeds, nuts, or peanut butter to increase the bird species frequenting our yard.
Our neighbors have taken up feeding also and at least fifty different species of birds frequent our combined yards, plus more seem to show up all the time. Good placement of bird feeders allows us to view and conduct our own outdoor circus. Some performers travel long distances, as part of their migrations, to join in with our group of regulars. Our more unusual sightings to date have been quail, ring neck pheasant, heron, owl, three species of woodpeckers, Stellar jays, plus a few migratory birds that we have yet to identify. Watching the ongoing show has become more entertaining than television, and we don’t even need to change channels. A recent heron sighting has aroused suspicion as pond goldfish were noted to have disappeared shortly thereafter, without the usual mess following a raccoon visit. Not all bird feeding is planned.
Backyard bird feeding is not without expense. Bird identification books soon become a must. At a garage sale we purchased and audio book containing recorded wild bird calls to help with identification. Next came four hummingbird feeders, two hanging basket feeders, bird stand feeder, tray feeder, plus three squirrel corn feeders which were scattered in good viewing locations around the yard. We added two bird baths, fish pond, plus sand and gravel to aid bird digestion. Our yard has lots of trees that accompany an existing stream and large flower garden. The combination helps attract birds and wildlife. Of course, the birds needed a place to raise their young, so bird houses came next. Currently over a dozen bird houses with variety of design and color dot the branches in our newly named bird house tree.
After careful interrogation I pried an estimate of $20 per month from Linda for what we spend entertaining neighborhood birds plus their migrating friends.
Linda keeps our feeding cost minimal by preparing much of the bird feed by mixing lard or suet with peanut butter, corn meal, cut oatmeal, bird seed and sometimes peanuts.
A little cayenne pepper is added to the mixture to keep squirrels away, but it does not seem to bother the birds. I contribute a little by gathering field corn during frequent trips to eastern Washington in an effort to tempt grey squirrels and crows. Our yard has been formally acknowledged, with a certificate and metal signs, from National Wildlife Foundation, as a yard that has qualified wildlife habitat. Linda proudly displays our certificates on our back-yard entry gate where she uses the signs to welcome visitors to her garden and wild circus.
Bird feeding is a hobby second only to gardening in its addictive nature.
I would tell you more about how this works, but I must go now.
