My favorite thing to do in winter is to put out food for the birds. Not only does this sustain them during this harsh season, it's entertaining to see who visits Sue's Cafe.
We also set up bird feeders this year and our latest visitor was, to my horror, a budgie. A beautiful white one that must have escaped or been deliberately released. I grew up with lots of budgies but couldn't manage to catch him. He hasn't come to feed for several days and I hope the cold hasn't got the better of him.
A budgie? Poor little guy. I hope it found some warm place to be. We used to leave our pair of tiger finches outside for a few hours and our cat would hang out with them, watching for hours. Only once did he paw the cage. At that, he knocked it over and the door sprung open. Two little finches spent a night in the wilds of the Santa Cruz mountains where we lived at the time. The alpha of the two looks rather haggard and disheveled while his smaller friend chirping away with glee at their new life. Don't know how long they lasted because they disappeared into the woods.
Sue, what a delightful post! We enjoy feeding our birds, too, and it's always very upsetting whenever one - usually a youngster - hits our upstairs bedroom window and lands on the conservatory roof. I try my best to rescue them, and have only ONCE nearly toppled from the windowsill in my efforts. I once spent an entire morning at my desk with a blue tit (tits are what you call chickadees, I think) tucked into my sweater, where thanks to the warmth and quiet it made a good recovery.
The stories coming into the comments here are wonderful. However, my dear friend, let's not kill ourselves in the service to our feathery neighbors. The warm sweater is a great idea, especially if you don't have a rambunctious toddler suddenly leaping on your lap for a hug.
Since the nearly-toppling incident, Sue, I have only leaned that far out of the window under close supervision - with the supervisor having a firm grip on my ankles! 🤣
Hi Sue - Thanks for this - It’s funny how similar my Western Pa bird feeding experience is to yours, right down to the bird types and predators. I even had a similar experience with being a little too late to save a dove from freezing last Christmas Day (I still think of her frequently). Happy Birding!
Oh Joe, cats are a popular source of protein for hawks and owls. I'm glad you were able to distract the hawk from taking Miss Maisie (?) As for our 16 lb. Buda: he saw a huge, I think ferrugenous, hawk staring at him from a tree. Instead of sticking with me on the swing, he saunters out to the middle of the open yard and lays down, baring his belly to the hawk. It was his way of flipping off the hawk. "Come and get me and see what happens." I think the hawk got the message because it flew away.
You have saved hundreds more than were prey. We’ve had strange experiences with hawks too. Once a large hawk swooped right down at our fat cat from the rear. She never noticed it. The hawk just zipped up high as I ran over.
We also set up bird feeders this year and our latest visitor was, to my horror, a budgie. A beautiful white one that must have escaped or been deliberately released. I grew up with lots of budgies but couldn't manage to catch him. He hasn't come to feed for several days and I hope the cold hasn't got the better of him.
A budgie? Poor little guy. I hope it found some warm place to be. We used to leave our pair of tiger finches outside for a few hours and our cat would hang out with them, watching for hours. Only once did he paw the cage. At that, he knocked it over and the door sprung open. Two little finches spent a night in the wilds of the Santa Cruz mountains where we lived at the time. The alpha of the two looks rather haggard and disheveled while his smaller friend chirping away with glee at their new life. Don't know how long they lasted because they disappeared into the woods.
Sue, what a delightful post! We enjoy feeding our birds, too, and it's always very upsetting whenever one - usually a youngster - hits our upstairs bedroom window and lands on the conservatory roof. I try my best to rescue them, and have only ONCE nearly toppled from the windowsill in my efforts. I once spent an entire morning at my desk with a blue tit (tits are what you call chickadees, I think) tucked into my sweater, where thanks to the warmth and quiet it made a good recovery.
The stories coming into the comments here are wonderful. However, my dear friend, let's not kill ourselves in the service to our feathery neighbors. The warm sweater is a great idea, especially if you don't have a rambunctious toddler suddenly leaping on your lap for a hug.
Since the nearly-toppling incident, Sue, I have only leaned that far out of the window under close supervision - with the supervisor having a firm grip on my ankles! 🤣
Hi Sue - Thanks for this - It’s funny how similar my Western Pa bird feeding experience is to yours, right down to the bird types and predators. I even had a similar experience with being a little too late to save a dove from freezing last Christmas Day (I still think of her frequently). Happy Birding!
Thank you, Rob. Here's to birds and their gifts to us.
Oh Joe, cats are a popular source of protein for hawks and owls. I'm glad you were able to distract the hawk from taking Miss Maisie (?) As for our 16 lb. Buda: he saw a huge, I think ferrugenous, hawk staring at him from a tree. Instead of sticking with me on the swing, he saunters out to the middle of the open yard and lays down, baring his belly to the hawk. It was his way of flipping off the hawk. "Come and get me and see what happens." I think the hawk got the message because it flew away.
You have saved hundreds more than were prey. We’ve had strange experiences with hawks too. Once a large hawk swooped right down at our fat cat from the rear. She never noticed it. The hawk just zipped up high as I ran over.