This feeder has been through the mill. Raccoons have taken it off it's hangar frequently and tossed it to the ground breaking off the roof and cracking the sides. Weather - an always uneasy guest - has also taken its toll and it needs a refreshing paint job as well as I think, a larger tray and certainly some repairs to its sides.
The birds don't care. This, along with a tube feeder of sunflower seeds on the east side of my home, is the most popular of the feeders for the small birds. Occasionally the grackles will sit on the edge driving away the rest of the birds - they are so greedy - and this year so plentiful. Four blue jays also are regular visitors when there is seed on the rail, but mostly it's the preferred feeding station of the finch gang.
This spring has brought many more of the small birds to my feeders. It's been cool and they need the extra fat found in nyjer and sunflower seeds. I've had several different kinds of sparrows, fox, white throat, song, white crowned. As well the juncos and chickadees continuing to visit this year. It's such a delight to also have the other birds return, meadow larks, tree swallows, a lone bluebird dropped by, and the warblers are beginning to pass through. The air is filled with song. Soon it will be warm enough for one of my favourites - the hummers to return.
Slowly but surely grass has overtaken many of the small gardens around the property. And just as slowly maybe not quite so surely, I've been pulling it up. It's a process. It's a joyful process since it grounds me and fills me with the feeling of nurture and nature especially as I listen to the water burbling in the pond, the birds' song and soft breezes. And of course there are my two silly dogs playing chase and pull with a torn and favoured stuffed toy.
May this day bring you all good feelings wherever you are.
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