Feathers and Fuzz

one woman's cure for the empty-nester blues

Northern Cardinal

Birds Singing the Folsom Prison Blues

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Building cages around all food sources at the bird feeder did slow down the Grackles.  I imagine the juvenile, Red-bellied Woodpecker singing the Prison Blues.  You can see him stretching out his neck (and his long tongue) to reach the suet deep within the prison walls.  The tiny Downy Woodpecker, on the other hand, quickly learned to scurry underneath the bars to happily eat her fill.

It's far from the ideal bird restaurant.  But, but as you will see in the feature video, the birds adapted quite well.  No one is going to sleep hungry!

Red-bellied Tongue

Juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker - Tongue Outstretched

Don’t You Just Hate It: When Your Food Disappears?

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After the Black Bear’s return, I took in every bird feeder at night.  It killed me to watch as the wildlife discovered the reality that food disappears.  It was especially tough to see the juveniles, who probably only knew life with these feeding stations full of food.  I think this picture pretty much sums it up — and I haven’t even removed the peanut feeder yet!

Don't You Just Hate It - When Your Food Disappears?

In the video, you’ll see a particularly-frantic juvenile Towhee and a juvenile Downy Woodpecker.  It ends on a high note, though.  Their food always returned at first light.