Today when I was out filling the bird feeders, I decided to see just how close I could be to the feeders and still have birds enter. I sat directly beneath the feeders on the boardwalk path that leads to the pier. Three feeders hang from old driftwood pieces about four feet from the ground. At any given moment, I could have easily stretched up my hand and grasped the feeders. I did not particularly try to be "un-noticeable" as I wanted to know if the birds saw me as their friend. I sat there with a mug of coffee in one hand and the camera readily available. It wasn't even a full minute before the smaller birds started flitting around the feeders. They would fly in and immediately zip back to the safety of the trees. Then a brave little Brown-headed Nuthatch landed and started pulling sunflower seeds from one feeder. That was all it took to entice the other birds in for breakfast! Besides the Nuthatches, there were Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Swamp Sparrows, Cardinals and Mourning Doves all withing arm's reach of where I was sitting. Not a one of these birds showed any fear of me at all. To say it was exhilarating is such an understatement of the thrill I had sitting there among my avian friends! I plan on repeating this action as often as possible to record the actions of the birds. What an adventure!
Just a note..Spring cannot be too far away so think warm thoughts! As I was sitting there watching the birds, I noticed the the small transplanted Red Maple tree was showing signs of budding! This was a tree that my son pulled from the middle of a pathway on the other side of the house and transplanted on the Bay side. At the time, I told him that there was no way a "pulled up" tree would grow if replanted. Boy, was I wrong! It is doing so well! This little tree serves as a perch for the birds as they wait their turn at the feeders.
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