I have bird in my back yard that is just as happy to eat a meal upside down as he is straight up. He also eats sideways, crosswise and most in any position on a tree or suet feeder. He is the white-breasted nuthatch, a permanent resident in my yard. I have one suet feeder that is upside down, meaning that birds have to cling to the bottom and peck up for bits of suet. For my nuthatch friend, … [Read more...]

It rained one evening recently, and when I looked in my back yard the next morning, all the robins in the Northern Hemisphere were there. Well, maybe not all of them, but there was no robin shortage, for sure. The robins enjoy my back yard because we have leaves as mulch in several spots and they know that where there are leaves, there are worms, grubs and other juicy tidbits. The robins were … [Read more...]

I went out to get the paper a few days ago and saw a wonderful sight. There was a worm in the driveway after an evening’s rain. That’s a good sign. That means spring is not far away when lawns and gardens will teem with worms. I have always had an affinity for worms, dating back to the days when my dad and I went down to the creek bottom behind our house to dig them for bait. When I had a paper … [Read more...]

It’s been a good year for buzzards. When deer get careless and don’t look both ways before they cross the road, it means the buzzards dine in style. And buzzards do us a great service. They keep carrion to a minimum. But I worry a little about the surge in black buzzards, or black vultures as they re also called. In Virginia, we have two types of vultures/buzzards, the more common turkey … [Read more...]

  My backyard bird friends come and go. Robins, for example, will be packed in my yard like sardines one week and disappear the next. Even my resident bluebirds take a leave of absence, usually after the last brood has hatched. But the titmice rarely leave. They hang around from winter to spring, from summer to fall. They are lovely and loyal little birds. I noticed a pair at my feeder … [Read more...]

  When I was in college, I drank Old Crow bourbon. First, it was dirt cheap, right there with Mattingly & Moore, but it was actually a decent bourbon. I have an old crow in my back yard, too. Actually, I have four old crows, as in birds. They visit each day because I strew cracked corn for them. In return, they help keep hawks away, so it’s a good trade-off. Some people – … [Read more...]

  A reader of CvilleBuzz recently asked my recommendation of bird bath de-icers. I have used several varieties over the years and have found that the Model C-50 Bird-Bath De-Icer by Farm Innovators is by far the best. The others, though advertised as highly efficient, don’t do the job when the going gets really cold. And several take up unnecessary space. The Premium Cast 150-Watt … [Read more...]

  I saw them last week. Snowbirds. And then I realized I had not seen them since, well, last winter. They had vamoosed. But there they were, 4 or 5 black and gray snowbirds, scratching on the ground for spilled seeds from the feeder. The official name for snowbirds is Dark-Eyed Junco – Junco hyemalis, to be exact. Snowbirds often spend their springs, summers and falls to the north, then … [Read more...]