Yard, Gardens, Birds and Critters

 I love to feed the birds, but the European Starlings get on my nerves. They swarm in and eat all the food from the feeders I have on my deck. Of course, they bathe in the birdbath as I stated in the previous blog, which leaves another mess that I have to clean up!  On the 18th of January, I decided to put out some meal worms for the Eastern Bluebirds. I am giving you the proper names to the birds, so you know exactly what they are.  The bluebirds flew in and located the meal worms. I had four that came. One was a female the rest were male. I was watching from my kitchen window. The blasted starlings flew in and the bluebirds left. I wasn't having none of that. By this time I had taken a picture from the kitchen window and had camera in hand.  I went to the back door opened it up and opened the storm door about 8 inches.  The starlings flew off!  I waited a couple of minutes and one of the bluebirds came back. Then another showed up. I was still standing there in the open doorway.

 I have watched birds for a long time. Not just the ones appreciated by everyone, like the Cardinal and the Chickadee, but all of the birds including the sparrows and the starlings. I am sure you know that the European Starling were brought to America in the 1890's.  I read that Shakespeare enthusiasts were responsible.  100 birds were set loose in New York's Central Park. Now we have over 200 million of them all over the states.  I bet you didn't know they were vocal mimics too. They can even copy the song of the American Robin and the Northern Flicker, both of these are also in my yard. So, now I wonder when I have heard that song, "could it be a starling instead?"  I have a heated birdbath on my deck. The birds really enjoy it! They drink and they bathe. I love it when they take a bath. So much action.  One day I took a video of the ever bathing starlings.  They didn't care if it was 18°F or 90°F, if they wanted a bath, they took a bath.  Yesterday, as I wa