I've probably said it before, but my favourite thing about this townhouse is the sliding glass door in the living room. Not only do the cats love a window at ground level, but it gives me a wonderful view of the backyard from the couch, where I'm usually perched, knitting away.
It's been a year and half since we moved in, but I haven't grown tired of spending my weekend mornings with my needles clicking away, watching the wildlife just on the other side of the glass.
Naturally, there are A LOT of Sparrows. I call them the Sparrow mafia and there can be up to 40 of them at a time. I love how they all line up on the fence above the feeder though.
We have a couple pairs of Mourning Doves too.
Dave doesn't like them because they tried to nest in the air conditioner (his fault, he put it in the window WAY too early) but I love them. I love the sound they make when they take off and the way the waddle around the yard.
The Cardinals are a lot more timid. We have two mated pairs of them as well, but the are hard to get a picture of. As soon as they see me at the door, they fly up into the trees.(I really need to get a telephoto lens)
I managed to get a picture of this Lady Cardinal by standing at the window for 20 minutes really still, while I waited for her to come back down. I still haven't got Mr. Cardinal, but I did have the pleasure of watching him dive bomb a grasshopper and take it back up into the tree for a mid-afternoon snack (boy, grasshoppers can scream!) the other day.
And the other thing I love seeing is the little Red-Headed Finches (he was hanging out with Lady Cardinal as you can see...)
I started seeing these little guys this winter when I switched to the more expensive seed. If I get the corn-based stuff, they disappear, but if I shell out for the good stuff, I can get up to five or six of them at a time.
I've heard the Blue Jays too, but they haven't come down since I stopped putting out peanuts. I got a little suet feeder in the hopes of enticing them back - but it's hard to catch them at it. There were two of them at it the other night
And that's the best picture I could get - through the door because as soon as they catch my movement - back up into the cedars they go.
I'll put peanuts out again in the winter, but I'm a little mad at the squirrels right now...
It turns out, they were the ones eating the Hens and Chicks... and possibly digging holes in my front garden
It's about six inches deep, four inches wide and it was filled with this...
I thought squirrels built nests in trees, but I can't for the life of me think who else it could be. It's too small for Bunbun... any thoughts?
8 comments:
No idea! ! We have a new baby cardinal, now a juvenilee and the parents just keep feeding it…I keep telling them to just let the baby feed himself. I think its a female as its very brown…
THey are devoted parents.
Looks like red head finch would like Mrs. Cardinal to hurry along and finish eating.
Bunny nests look like that. We have had man over the years, but this year they finally got it that there are three dogs ruling the yard.
I love my sliding glass doors too but all I see anymore on my deck are cats, cats and more cats waiting for something to eat. They must putting out flyers about the crazy lady who doles out the good stuff twice a day. I'm pretty sure I'm feeding the neighbors cats.
I'm wondering, too, if it isn't the bunny making a nest. Anyway, I love all your backyard bird pictures. The sparrows create quite a line-up; they do that here too, on the telephone lines.
Sorry no idea. We used to get Blue Jays ... Gavin would sit on the back deck and shell peanuts for himself and they'd land a foot or two away to ask for their share :)
My cat thinks the sliding door is a TV for her. She sits there from noon until night, as longs as the sun shines in!
Chipmunks nest in the ground. My cardinals are very skittish as well, hard to get good pictures. I have to go out and fill my feeders later on. They've been busy today. Not sure what was on the side feeder, birds of some sort. Thought it was female cardinals, but it was hard to tell through the bedroom window. Out front I've had a female finch, numerous chickadees, and a nuthatch. Probably more, but I've been too busy today to watch them for too long. :)
We don't get all that here unfortunately but I think I need to set up a bird feeder somewhere in the open so the birds can see the cats coming.
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