Feeders in the Woods

After finally getting the tire on my four-wheeler repaired, I took some seed down to the feeders in the woods. I haven't filled them in months. It was just too hot to walk down there! I'm pretty excited to see what finds them this winter. I hope Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Pine Warblers and House Wrens find the suet and Bark Butter. It's possible, but not probable, that Golden-crowned Kinglets or nuthatches will show up down there. I'd love to see some Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows on the seed. Maybe even Brown Thrashers will find it. Once the birds begin using the feeders again, I'll put the BirdCam down there to see what is visiting.

I'm thinking of putting a ground feeder on the west side of the property along the road that the drilling company cleared and putting millet on it. My concern is that it will turn into a cow feeder instead of a bird feeder. I'll have to see what happens. Maybe I can put up a little fence around it to keep the cows out. I'd love to have a feeder there to see what sparrows and possibly towhees are there in the winter.

The hummingbirds appear to just about be gone. I'm going to take down most of the feeders and clean them up for next year. I'll leave a couple out for the next couple of weeks and see what happens. I really hope to get a wintering hummer this year. That would be a lot of fun!

A Quick Walk in the Woods

It had been a week since I filled my feeders in the woods. I want to keep them going so that when the fall migrants come through, they'll be attracted by the resident birds that visit them. I walked down and heard several birds still singing. At one point, there were several Indigo Buntings singing in an overgrown field with lots of dead snags. A juvenile male flew into a tree right above my head and investigated me closely before deciding he needed to get out of there! A female Orchard Oriole was getting nectar from trumpet creeper flowers. A juvenile White-eyed Vireo perched right in front of me and gave me a great look. Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and Carolina Wrens were all vocalizing quite a bit. A Pileated Woodpecker vocalized from somewhere deep in the woods. It was a quick walk because of all the mosquitoes, but a fun one to do a little summertime birding.