Ducky Visitors and More

We were eating dinner when I noticed an unusual movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked out the window in time to see two large birds setting down in our back yard. I realized they were a pair of mallards--an unusual sight, but it has happened before. It was fun to watch them as they waddled toward the bird feeder. Mrs. Mallard was in front with hubby meandering behind. There is a rather large residue of stuff on the ground under the feeder, and Mama was content to peck around in it for awhile. Dad stood off to the side and didn't do much, even after she came up and waggled her tail feathers at him. I had the impression that it was like she was telling him to just be patient while she shopped around a bit.

Something that impressed me was how bright orange his legs and feet were, while hers were just plain brown. I hadn't really noticed that before. It was an interesting example of Nature's paint job. All of a sudden a mourning dove landing on the ground behind Mama must have startled her, because she instantly took off with Dad close behind. I hope they come back.

I really enjoy the bird feeder. We've had feeders ever since Betsey gave me a little birdseed bell for Christmas one year. This is the time of year that we stop feeding the birds though. They will soon have enough out in nature to feed themselves. Another reason is that our funny little yellow dog, Angie, likes to go out and feast on the bird droppings on the ground under the feeder. Yuck! That can't be good, so every year we stop attracting the birds until the next winter. Angie is less likely to munch on the "offerings" on the ground in the winter when it's cold.

I will miss them once we run out of seed for this season. We are frequently visited by a pair of red-headed woodpeckers, a pair or two of cardinals, lots of chickadees and house finches. We also have some gold finches & juncos, sparrows, a smaller woodpecker, occasional red-wing blackbirds and mourning doves. Every once in awhile we see a cowbird, or a blue jay, but they are rare here. Once we were visited by a tufted titmouse. There is also a small hawk that several times a week will come and sit in our big maple tree to see if he can catch anyone. I don't think he's ever been successful. The smaller birds are good at hiding when he's around.

Years ago someone planted two silver maple trees and a Colorado blue spruce in a row behind the house. When we moved here we knew the spruce tree was too close to one of the maple trees, but we never got around to moving it. It was only about 14 inches high when we moved in, so we named it "Tiny Tree." Helena could easily jump over it. Well, now "Tiny" is 10 or 12 feet tall and really IS too close to the maple tree. An unexpected side effect though is that he provides shelter for the birds that visit the feeder. I think it's because of Tiny that we have so many birds in the first place. We would not have planned it that way, but the arrangement works perfectly.