There are basically two ways to attract birds to your yard – food and water. Of the two, water maybe more important – especially during a dry summer when neighborhood water is scarce, and in winter, when water sources are often frozen. Birds can live for a while without food, but they need water every day. For several years, we have maintained a couple of  de-iced bird baths, one in the … [Read more...]

  My two suet feeders have been getting more and more attention since the weather got cold. They were quite popular this week with a few inches of snow on the ground and nothing much to eat except for my feeders and the seeds I scattered. I saw nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, sparrows, chickadees, titmice and wrens squeezing in and out of the suet cages. Suet is … [Read more...]

  My backyard birds have me well trained, especially my blue jays. Right after Thanksgiving, I had bought a big bag of seed with lots of peanuts and fruit. Each morning, I would see the jays fly in right after I scattered seeds.  When I ran out of that seed, I bought a 40-pound bag at Sam’s Club, the Supreme Mix, the best buy on the market. But this blend has only a few nuts – it’s mostly … [Read more...]

  Whenever we amass any stale bread or crackers, we save it, put it beside the door and I take it out for the birds. I try to break the pieces as best I can so the small birds can peck away, but the primary partakers are my three crows. They fly by most every morning to see if there any extra morsels. Crows like the larger pieces of bread, but they don’t eat them whole. Rather, they fly … [Read more...]

  Often, when I go to the back of yard to scatter seed, any birds there will dart off to the shrubs and branches, returning only when I leave. The other day, I noticed a small flock of birds actually flying my way when I opened the seed can. It was my small flock of song sparrows. They flew to within about 10 feet, beneath the forsythia branches, and waited because they have come to know … [Read more...]

  For the first time in recent memory, I have two pairs of bluebirds in my yard. They seemingly get along fine – now. But come spring and nesting time, the feathers will fly. One of the pairs – I think the birds that raised a brood in my yard last summer – inspects the bluebird house on the fence every single day. The male will fly to the hole, peek in, occasionally go inside and turn … [Read more...]

  We had an unexpected Cedar Waxwing visit over the Thanksgiving holidays. We heard a distinct “thump” at the dining room window, and when my son-in-law, Brent, went out to investigate, he found a small, stunned cedar waxwing under concussion protocol. He held the small fellow in his hand for several minutes until it regained its senses and then flew up to the treetops to connect with his … [Read more...]

  It hasn’t snowed yet, but my snowbirds are back. About 2 weeks ago, when the thermometer plunged to 20 degrees, they found their way to my backyard – where they belong. The friendly little songbirds had been missing in action since March, when things started to warm. Then, they headed for Canada to spend the summer. Now they have returned. Snowbirds, officially known as Dark-Eyed … [Read more...]

  Nancy and I were having breakfast in the cafe, with the ship docked  just off the coast of Kona. About 500 yards from the ship, I saw a school of tuna chasing baitfish off the port side. It was hard to judge, but they appeared to be 30 or 40 pound yellowfin tuna. While a tuna will eat a ten pound bluefish, a whale will eat a 50 pound tuna like we would munch on a pretzel. I has hoped … [Read more...]

  Most goldfish, I suppose, are gold. That’s how they got their names, but we have a goldfish who apparently wasn’t happy with his birth-color and has decided to turn white. We call him (ta-dah) Whitey. Whitey and his seven friends are rescue goldfish. Let me explain. About three years ago, I went on an early spring crappie fishing trip to Lake Orange and stopped at a bait shop … [Read more...]