Yard, Gardens, Birds and Critters

Birds and the Bees and Me By Mary J Williams (c) What do I love Looking outside Watching the birds Eat food I provide So many birds What do I see There is the Tufted Titmouse And the Black-capped Chickadee The Cardinal flew in To take a drink Many do the same Bluebirds too, I think Yes, there he is The Bluebird just flew in Not for the food, but water Busy they have been It’s nesting time now No insecticides for me The birds need the protein From the bugs you see The Robin digs down Eating caterpillars or slugs Please don’t kill them Don’t kill the bugs If you spray your flowers What will the bees do Visit the flowers for pollen And die because of the brew We have to protect As much as we can The birds eat lots of bugs Insecticides I ban Robin and Cardinal Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Bathing Bluebird waiting his turn for food The Bee

 I have to tell you, before you read the poem, this has totally amazed me! The Yellow Jackets have been here before, eating the grape jelly I put out for the birds. Before long, no birds were eating the jelly just the Yellow Jackets. By the way, I did look them up and they are  Eastern yellowjacket - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org  › wiki › Eastern_yellowjacket The eastern yellow jacket or eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) is a wasp found in eastern North America. Habitat Forests, meadows and forest edges, including urban and suburban environments. Like in all Vespula, colonies are normally subterranean, or sometimes at ground level in stumps and fallen logs. In deciduous forest, nest entrances frequently situated under tree roots or adjacent to logs on the ground. Of 40 colonies confirmed as this species in western Pennsylvania, 34 were subterranean, 3 were in exterior walls of buildings, 1 was beneath a tree stump, 1 was in the roots of a fallen tree, and 1...

Conversations By Mary J Williams © I get up in the morning Go out on the deck Jelly dishes in hand Not gonna’ drop a speck Put the dishes in the holder Grab nuts feeder next Put it on the deck Fill to the top, others to check Put out the circle of seed One bird I know loves it It’s the little chickadees They eat quite a bit There is a bird Up in the tree I swear it is cussing And he is doing it to me I tell him I’m filling the feeders Who do you think does that? You just have to have patience Or come to the deck for a chat I look down and there is a honeybee Already going after the grape jelly I just put those dishes out There is enough for your belly I sprinkle some water on flowers And as I am standing there A Downy Woodpecker flies to a feeder He doesn’t even care He talked to me a bit Then got to eating First on the nuts After our little greeting Well, guess who just flew in? It was the mouthy bird A Red-bellied Woodpecker So, I gave him a few choice words I told you I wouldn’t hur...