Lunch Is On Us

After a long hiatus from feeding the birds in our back yard due to the unwelcome nightly visits and damage done by racoons, I decided to put my feeders back out this winter to give "birding" another try. They were slow to come but come they did, juncos, black capped chickadees, gold finches, common redpolls, sparrows and white breasted nuthatches...but nary a raccoon. So far so good.

We do however, have a pesty little squirrel eating our seed up and wrecking havoc with our feeders. Yesterday, after discovering yet another feeder destroyed, war was declared. That little bugger had to go!

While there are many ways to eliminate squirrels from your property, we opted for the humane way and forked over forty bucks for a "live" trap. We baited it with seed and waited. It wasn't long before we spotted our squirrel scampering into the cage, nabbing some seed and running back out to enjoy his snack before running back in for more. We had just about given up on the trap as garbage when the squirrel's luck ran out...we had him.

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of leaving our captive in the back yard until hubby was ready to take him on a road trip. When we looked out the window a short time later we found a large black cat we'd never seen before crouched about ten feet from the cage. By the time hubby made it to the cage the cat had already made its' move, the cage doors were open and neither the cat or the squirrel was in sight.

We reset the cage but there has been no sign of the squirrel. Perhaps he was so traumatized that he won't be back, but I expect that he was probably an easy meal for the cat...forty bucks for the trap...I guess you could say...lunch was on us!

SILENCE

In order to see birds
it is necessary to become part of the silence.

- Robert Lynd

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SUNDAY CITAR

The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.
- Carly Simon

My initial excitement in discovering a nest of robin eggs tucked among the branches of the honey suckle vine climbing up the side of our back deck soon gave way to worry. Built just four feet off the ground , I knew this nest was easy pickings. When the eggs survived long enough to hatch I had a glimmer of hope...but alas...it was not to be.

These little guys lasted just one week before they became a meal for what I suspect was a raccoon.

But , for every story with a sad ending, there is one with a happy one. Sometimes we have humming birds that fly into our garage through the large door which is open during the day. Once in, they flutter all over the garage trying to get back out, sometimes flying against the windows. They can't seem to navigate their way back out through the large open door way. Luckily, I was able to rescue two in the past couple of weeks.

This little guy got caught between the top and lower window pane but I was able to pick him up and release him outside.

Isn't he/she beautiful?

After a brief rest on my hand he flew off.


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