[Birdtalk] Yard birds, yet again

[Brenda Kidman]

Hi Guys,

I know all I ever post about is yard birds because honestly, that is pretty
much all we do.  I did go up and see the geese in March because I was going
to be up there anyway but that's it.  We are yard birders.

My husband had a knee replacement surgery on Monday (and he came home a day
early and is doing Super-Star well... he is incredible).  With both of us
being gone my son has been keeping the feeders filled and taking care of all
of the animals, but I haven't been here to see the activity.  Sunday I
filled all of the feeders (including the jelly feeder hoping to keep the
Western Tanager around) so there wasn't a lot to worry about.

The last three days have been beyond belief.

We are already filling the "favorite" 16 oz nectar feeder DAILY and I have
TWO other nectar feeders that need filling every other day.  And this is
early in the season!  There are years that I wouldn't have even put out the
third nectar feeder yet.

On Monday night, after being gone all day, I turned on the outside light to
just "see" outside and I noticed the jelly feeder looked "strange."  I went
out to get a closer look and IT HAD BEEN LICKED CLEAN.  LICKED TOTALLY
CLEAN.  If I had taken a scraper I would not have been able to get 1/4 of a
tsp of jelly from it.

It was full on Sunday, by Monday night... empty.  It is a Pyrex ramiken that
I tend to overfill... and it was licked clean.  All four orange halves were
pecked dry and we are at about 24 oz A DAY of nectar.  When I went to refill
the jelly I looked at the jar (that we purchased when the first of the
orioles showed up at the end of April) and we only have 1/3 of a 2 lb jar
left.  They have eaten almost 2 lbs in less than 1 month!

When I walk outside there are so may orioles taking off from the various
feeders it is just a wave of yellow and black flying off into the trees.
The songs are incredible.

I don't know what is going on in the bird world but if you ever had a
thought that you might like to put out feeders, "just to see what you could
get."  THIS IS THE YEAR!  DO IT NOW!

We are able to sit outside again so I will post another list of what we have
soon.  Today I saw quite a few Lazuli Bunting females.  They are so soft
looking.  Lovely birds.

Brenda
South Weber


-- 
I hope that my achievements in life shall be these -- that I will have
fought for what was right and fair, that I will have risked for that which
mattered, and that I will have given help to those who were in need that I
will have left the earth a better place for what I've done and who I've
been. ~ C. Hoppe
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