Thursday, December 26, 2019

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Eternal return of the birds

It took a while, but the birds have finally returned to my back yard. The nuthatches, juncos and chickadees are eating out of my two feeders, the mourning doves are taking care of any spilled seed, and the downy woodpeckers and red-bellied woodpeckers are tap-tap-tapping at the suet cakes. 
We had to attach the suet feeder securely to the trunk of a white pine after some hungry creatures managed to defeat what I thought was a raccoon-proof setup involving a bungee cord wrapped around a tree limb. Overnight the bungee cord was dangling from the limb, the suet holder was on the ground and the suet had disappeared.
The squirrels are doing their best to extract seed from the little openings of the tube feeders. One guy was embracing the feeder with his whole body, clinging on to the little metal footholds while the feeder swayed violently. They may be tree rats, but they're pretty comical to watch. (In case they think they're being unfairly accused, I've noticed that the other feeder, the one with the squirrel guard, needs to be replenished MUCH less often!)

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