Filling the Feeders

The dip in temperatures this past weekend prompted us to ready the bird feeders for the winter.  We loaded up all of the suet feeders, which I’d only stocked infrequently over the summer, and moved two of our larger seed feeders up onto the back deck. Yes, seed will spill, and squirrels will gather below prompting endless barking by our dogs.  But moving these feeders closer to my office window and the back door ensures two things: wonderful winter bird viewing and easier access to the feeders when they need filling.  Come January, when it’s below freezing and the snow is thigh deep in the back yard those feeders will be much easier to fill if I can just dash out the back door.

We keep a few feeders further out in the yard, too, of course.  The smaller birds – the chickadees, nuthatches, finches, sparrows and downy woodpeckers – aren’t shy at all about coming up close to the house. But some of the other birds are wary.   Our back feeders draw the blue jays, hairy woodpeckers, and red-bellied woodpeckers, as well as the cardinal pairs who take turns feeding while their mates stand guard.  Refilling those feeders requires serious winter gear, though – no sprinting out the door in my slippers! 

Yesterday’s work has already paid off.  The smaller birds have adjusted to their feeder’s new location and a large hairy woodpecker was just out on the back suet feeder enjoying a meal.  I am keeping an eye out for the pileated woodpecker I saw last week while walking the dogs.  We’ve never had a pileated at our feeders, but maybe this one will pay a neighborly visit or two now that we’ve put out the welcome mat.

The colder temps are inevitable, as is the snow they’re forecasting for later this week. Lucky for me, visits from hungry winter birds are inevitable, too. As long as I keep the feeders full, that is.

Who wouldn’t!

Changing of the guard

I finally took down the hummingbird feeders today.  I suspect the last of those tiny birds migrated through a while ago, but I always worry that one or two may have been waylaid, so the feeders stay up until October.  It wasn't really necessary to flip the calendar over to the new month this week to know that autumn had arrived and settled in.  This weekend's temperatures were almost 30 degrees colder than last weekend and the gray clouds crowding the horizon are the same clouds that will soon deliver snow. 

So I filled the seed feeders with plenty of black oil sunflower seed and hung a suet cake for my cold weather feathered friends: the chickadees and nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, cardinals and juncos. I look forward to the coming months with them. For ours is a reciprocal relationship. I put out a little seed and they, in turn, feed my soul all winter long.