Friday, June 7, 2013

June 7 / the bird seedlings & the clever bird

Our bird feeders stand in among flowerbeds.  This means that when the birds drop seed, and they do, some of it sprouts.  Every few weeks the soil has to get turned to remove these seedlings, which is one of the things I did today.  Most of it is millet, which looks grasslike when it sprouts, but the mix also contains sunflower seeds.  I decided to save a few of what I am pretty sure are baby sunflowers, let them keep growing and see what happens.

The red-wings, or at least one of them, have figured out that the perch lever on the feeder sticks.  It's designed so that when a squirrel, a heavy bird, or too many little ones, land on it, it closes.  It doesn't always spring open again right away as it should when the weight is lifted.  The red-wing sees this, lands on the back side of the lever, which counter-balances it and opens the feeder, then flies round the front, where he can land and eat without causing it to close again. 

Common birds: cardinal (pair), house sparrow, starling, robin, grackle, blue jay

Spring visitors: red-wing blackbird (pair), brown  headed cowbird (female)

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