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Spring fever



Greetings:
It's hard not to succumb to the fever when the temps are warm, and the birds
are frisky!

After rousing debates after Hurricane Fran about how many snags to leave in
the yard, my husband and I agreed to leaving a couple of substantial oaks
and other assorted debris for the birds.  The rest was sawed, burned,
hauled, stacked, etc. and the remaining firewood is quickly becoming mulch.

Anyway, as a result, we now have a resident pileated woodpecker at our
house.  He likes some of the branches about 15 feet from the house and he
sometimes dallies there so that we can get close up and personal views of
him in his red-topped glory.  I'm waiting to see him at the suet.
Meanwhile, a mocker has taken over the suet territory (fist time in 8
years), but can't defend the relatively large area too well by himself.
(There are 2 suet feeders and multiple seed/other feeders).

So, in the garden, hearing the calls of the pileated woodpecker (along with
the red-bellieds and their smaller cousins) alternating with the
increasingly boisterous red-shouldered hawks, the lure of the binoculars is
hard to resist when you're laboring over the perennial beds, making ready
for more hummers.  In fact, on Sunday, a red-shouldered hawk swooped down by
us (within 10 feet) and perched about 20 feet away in a tree watching while
we dug and conversed.  He seemed to be supervising, and was certainly not
concerned by the proximity of our activity.  At the same time, titmice and
cardinals were arguing over an owl box and the foundation-dwelling towhee
was singing his spring tunes.

So, when the cold blast gets here next week, I'm going to remember this
week, and anticipate more to come!
Wendy Painter
Chapel Hill, NC