As businesses and stores start to reopen during stage three in many of our towns and cities, things have slowed down for me. I will be off for the next few months recovering from knee replacement surgery. This has afforded me time to truly enjoy the antics going on in the backyard. There sure is a lot going on if you have the time to sit back and watch.
My day starts with having a coffee on the back deck with my husband. My other new companion is TC, a chipmunk that has decided to join me everyday since I had my surgery… hence the name Therapy Chippie, TC for short. He hops onto my knee every morning. Smart little guy as he now gets a daily supply of peanuts.
The next act appearing in the ground feeder are the red squirrels. You don’t want to mess with these guys. They constantly chatter and fight with each other to see who reigns dominant for the morning feed. I have observed some intense takedowns with these two and have compared them to wrestlers in the WWE.
The black squirrels are slightly calmer, but have been known to chase each other through the yard if they’re not in the mood to share.
While this is going on the birds are busy too. Orioles are competing for the grape jelly, sometimes knocking each other off of the feeder, while chasing the wasps away. The young Blue Jays are trying to figure out how to get peanuts from the peanut feeder. This is always entertaining as they tend to drop more than they would like and then spend time on the ground looking for elusive peanuts. Cardinals and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks feed peacefully together at the safflower feeder. The young grosbeaks have such a soothing call compared to most of the other fledgelings. Goldfinches share their feeder nicely without commotion. Red-winged Blackbirds are still busy feeding their young competing for space on my Squirrel Buster Plus feeder. As all of this activity is going on the dominant Red-Bellied Woodpecker arrives and clears all of the Blue Jays from the peanut feeder. They rule that feeder.
While enjoying all of the morning antics over the last two weeks, there is the constant call of the young Red-Tailed Hawk screaming for food. He spends the majority of his day on the hydro poles in the field behind our house and calls from morning until evening.
I hope you are all enjoying the sights and sounds of nature!
Happy Birding!
Jane Paradis
