Hungry birds
Jan. 10th, 2012 01:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
A little bird feeder hangs in my tree now, a red and white house complete with chimney and miniature wreath on the door. This was the Xmas gift I knew was coming, tu whit:
Me: "The birds seem to like the sunflower seeds. I figure I'll stop off at the bird place and--"
Mom: "No, no--don't!"
Me: *stares*
Mom (chagrined): "Um. Perhaps you might want to wait till after Christmas?"
It's as much entertainment for the (indoor) cats as for the birds, though I figure when you drop a townhouse on a piece of land, you wipe out a few food sources and have a responsibility to replace them.
Callie, the gray kitty, meowred herself silly the first day. She was zonked out by the time I got home, too tired to move. (She's learned moderation.) Rothy, one of the kitty boys, asked me to put a feeder in his backyard window. (Sorry, son, I'll never fill it if I have to bushwhack my way there.)
Anyhow, the birds and spectators are pleased and so am I. It usually takes three days for them to go through the seed.
Saturday night I ran out. Worked Sunday so I picked up more seed on the way home, this time a cheaper "Eastern US" mix. Cheerfully filled it up.
It was all gone by 11am.
Either they love the new mix, a squirrel's figured out how to get into it (though I'd expect more spillage, as a squirrel would have to work pretty hard to get it), or they were really hungry after a day of it hanging empty. It snowed today, so maybe they knew and stocked up on the bird equivalent of toilet paper and milk.
Or maybe the cheaper seed's like potato chips, and they're going through it faster? I dunno. So far today the fresh supply seems to be holding up.
Me: "The birds seem to like the sunflower seeds. I figure I'll stop off at the bird place and--"
Mom: "No, no--don't!"
Me: *stares*
Mom (chagrined): "Um. Perhaps you might want to wait till after Christmas?"
It's as much entertainment for the (indoor) cats as for the birds, though I figure when you drop a townhouse on a piece of land, you wipe out a few food sources and have a responsibility to replace them.
Callie, the gray kitty, meowred herself silly the first day. She was zonked out by the time I got home, too tired to move. (She's learned moderation.) Rothy, one of the kitty boys, asked me to put a feeder in his backyard window. (Sorry, son, I'll never fill it if I have to bushwhack my way there.)
Anyhow, the birds and spectators are pleased and so am I. It usually takes three days for them to go through the seed.
Saturday night I ran out. Worked Sunday so I picked up more seed on the way home, this time a cheaper "Eastern US" mix. Cheerfully filled it up.
It was all gone by 11am.
Either they love the new mix, a squirrel's figured out how to get into it (though I'd expect more spillage, as a squirrel would have to work pretty hard to get it), or they were really hungry after a day of it hanging empty. It snowed today, so maybe they knew and stocked up on the bird equivalent of toilet paper and milk.
Or maybe the cheaper seed's like potato chips, and they're going through it faster? I dunno. So far today the fresh supply seems to be holding up.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-10 03:34 pm (UTC)Did you know that goldfinches eat upside down? We used to have a feeder for them, and watching the babies master the flip is hilarious.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-10 08:02 pm (UTC)My conclusion is that the birds have already come to depend on it and they were just really hungry after a day with an empty feeder.