Friends gone missing....

  For a number of years, the bird feeders were visited by numerous birds during their migrations.  In the springtime, buntings, finches and grosbeaks would set for a colorful display.  I enjoyed watching the birds and kept the feeders well-stocked.  We keep a variety of seeds and suet on hand to fill any sort of appetite.  For the past few years however, the feeders have attracted not much more than Red-winged Blackbirds, Mourning Doves, Cardinals and the ever-present Blue Jays.  Not one Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Goldfinch or Rose-breasted Grosbeak has dined at our many feeders.  It saddens me but I am at a loss of what to do to encourage their return.

  The Rose-breasted Grosbeak was one of Mom's favorites among many. She would always delight in the occasional visit of one.  Mom did not have many feeders so any visitors were viewed with great happiness. My grandparents, on the other hand, had many feeders.  Granddad made a six foot long feeder out of an old sliding board and mounted it beneath the large picture window on the south side of their house.  This large tray feeder drew all sorts of birds and my grandmother could watch them through the window.  I recall how Mom loved to sit at that window when she visited her folks.  Seeing the birds always thrilled her and she came to recognize them not only by their plumage but also by their calls. She and Grandmother would watch the birds often...just like I do.  (I guess I come by this critter watching naturally!)  But now the birds are not making their annual migration by way of the Bayou.  Their route has changed.

  Once all of this purging of the excess from the Little Bayou House is completed, I have grand intentions of building more feeders.  Perhaps if I make a large tray feeder like Granddad's, the birds will return to the Bayou.  I will have to put a roof over the feeder, though, as I have a lovely Cooper's Hawk that will dine upon the fattened birds that I draw to the feeders.  This bird does get its share of the "not so bright" doves. When the hawk is in the area, the doves' major defense is to "squat" which makes them ready targets. 

  Hopefully, I will have the new feeders ready in time for what should be the spring migration. It would be nice to see some familiar faces back here again!  I would definitely welcome some Rose-breasted Grosbeaks!.....As an added note, did you know that a group of grosbeaks is called a "Gross"?  And did you know that the bird gets its name from the French word "grosbec" which translates to "large beak". Did you know that they use that large beak to eat berries, nuts, caterpillars, insects, flower parts, seeds and fruit.  Well, now you know!