A VISITOR DRESSED TO THE NINES--

Nice experiences abound here.  Shortly after watching a pileated woodpecker make it's multiple-times daily visit to my suet feeder I saw a mink with its distinct, vertically undulating gait make its way East on the ice along the face of my dam.  Probably two feet long with dark, reddish brown fur on its bow darkening toward its stern.  It's girth was about the size of a fox squirrel that hasn't missed too many meals.  It crossed over the driveway about 1/2 way from the spill pipe to the chain post and disappeared over the face of the dam.

The spill pipe is flowing robustly and I suspect my attractive visitor knows that is a good source of water and likely a source of food as winter clings here in the early Spring.  Remember, Spring, according to the rules of Bass Hollow, began here March 1st and will tantalize us until it morphs into Summer on the 1st of June.

 

PERPLEXING PEANUT BUTTER

A couple months ago I made a bird-feeding peanut butter log by cutting a 3” branch about 12” long and drilling one inch holes into it at random intervals. I drilled a 3/8 hole through it near the top and hung it with a wire tie. I filled the 1” holes with gobs of creamy peanut butter and...the birds wouldn't touch it.

I changed peanut butter brands and...still nothing. Curious, when I have had lots of peanut butter log feeders over the years. I believed that piece of branch was from an Ash tree and I liked the remaining bark as good for the birds to cling to. Then I began to wonder if the beetle toxins that killed our ash trees could be repelling the birds.

I found a maple log of the right size in an old wood pile, made a new offering and presto! A female downy woodpecker arrived, paused momentarily to check for predators then hopped through the squirrel-repelling wire cage and munched some lunch.

COMMENTERRY--

On a ramble through Washington, D.C. recently I saw a bedraggled sign on the steps of the capital that read, "Welcome to the 'Disunited Banana Republic of America' ".

Heaven help us.

Please!

NOT LOOKING TOO PROMISING

I don't care if it is pretty.  Yuk!

BALTIMORE ORIOLES--
The Avian Variety

For several weeks now I've enjoyed visits from a Baltimore Oriole; a bird uncommon to my feeders.  I knew they liked fruit for their munchies so I've been amazed to watch them grub around on the ground for fallen seeds with common ground feeding birds like sparrows, doves, cardinals and a turkey or two.

Click here for some very nice sample photos of this colorful bird.

After several sightings I decided to fashion a feeder for them I hoped they would find attractive:

 

This is simply a pine board with two long, drywall screws run through from the opposite sides to hold the orange slices with some branch segments attached for the birds to grasp while dining.

 

For the sake of variety I also bought a commercially available product (Perky Pet Bird Feeders) that I found at my local Elzy, home and farm store:

 

 

These birds also are known to enjoy grape jelly.  That's an inverted jar of it in the suspended, orange feeder.  The jelly oozes into the tray thus insuring a constant supply.  The clear dome is a cleaned-up relic from a previous feeder.

 

Today, my visiting friend showed its first evidence of curiosity about my sliced orange offerings.  It flitted about, landing ever closer to that feeder but didn't quite muster the courage to stop for a bite.  I suspect it will take a few days for the bird to get used to this strange concoction. 

 

I will be quite proud if my home-made feeder attracts an oriole before the store-bought one.   

 

Stay tuned!

BUFFLEHEAD DUCKS, PART II

A couple of days ago I offered a piece on my Facebook page regarding the first-ever observed visit to my pond of these delightful little ducks.  Only the male was here on his migration from the deep south of the US where it winters to somewhere in Canada where it prefers to breed.

He spent more than 12 hours during that first visit diving about twice per minute for food.  Evidently it was extremely hungry after its long flight. 

Wednesday morning he or one of his pals was back and brought his girlfriend.  That's the male on the right side of this page from my National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.  The female is illustrated closest to my thumb.