I have a long, long history as a Bird Enthusiast, documented already in this post from years ago. It's perplexing how I can retain so much Bird Knowledge, yet forget where in the heck I set my phone down or on which streaming service the show we're watching can be found. Right now I can hear a cardinal outside the window. I don't even have to go and check to see if I'm right.
This, however, was supposed to be The Summer Of The Blue Jay. If you remember, I was setting peanuts out on my porch in a ceramic dish every morning, and a blue jay was coming for breakfast. My goal was to get that blue jay (which I named Sassy) to eventually take a peanut from my hand. Well, that didn't happen, and I sure didn't think up enough names for my Breakfast Club.
I did try to sit out on my porch quietly, but my blue jay just screamed its annoyance and stayed away. Because I am a little bit of an anthropomorphizer and a little bit of an empath, I had to give up after several tries. It just made me feel bad. So I settled for calling, "Sassy!" after I placed the peanuts, and went in and sat on the couch by the window. Very soon, Sassy would come, and I'd say his (? her?) name a few times softly as he took his time choosing the right nut. Then he'd fly away, returning quickly for the next.
It wasn't long before Sassy's Peanut Buffet became common knowledge among the Blue Jay Community. At least four different blue jays are now breakfasting at my house, observed not just by me, but by the resident cats, Marlowe and Piper, too. Even when I put peanuts on the table directly under our gaze, the blue jays hop up and grab their meal. The jays never eat together, but always wait until each one leaves before swooping in.
I'm calling it a Win.
In other Victorious Bird News, I have successfully repelled squirrels from my backyard feeder by stirring cayenne pepper into the birdseed. It's astonishing how effective it is. It's dramatically cut down the chipmunk traffic in the yard as well. Now if I could find a way to keep starlings away, that would be even better. Redheaded woodpeckers are abundant, even at my little stick-on window feeder that entertains the cats. The robins, who appeared in February this year and were everywhere, suddenly disappeared midsummer. I'm noticing more female cardinals than males. Does any of this mean anything? Who knows.
Finally, here's a bit of an Oddment: In my entire life I've never found a cardinal feather. I've found countless blue jay feathers, starling and grackle feathers, and brown feathers from any number of sparrows or whatever. At the lake we find goose feathers quite often, and we've found duck feathers, too. Have you ever found that beautiful red feather?
Enjoy your September now that we're in its midst. How did that happen?
Ohhhhh, I have pondered that too. The absence of a cardinal feather. You and I KNOW they molt yearly...
ReplyDeletejust where the heck are the red ones?!! You know I'm a birder too, so your post hits home for me. I use black pepper at the base of my feeders...it works.
Anni--It's so very strange, this not finding a cardinal's feather. I'd prize it if I did. Red has always been my favourite colour, and cardinals have a sentimental meaning for me, too.
DeleteI'll remember your black pepper trick. It's cheaper than cayenne. Thanks for the hint.
Dee--The turkeys have been a real nuisance in quite a few Cleveland suburbs. They are belligerent and nasty. We don't have them in our neighborhood, but we've been visited off and on by a few black vultures.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with the cardinals? Are they quite vain and only molt in deep forest locations? (That would be me, I confess.)
I'm glad I found your spot again. I must have missed any referral at the old place.
I’ve never seen a cardinal feather either. It is strange. I try to feed birds, but the squirrels take over completely..
ReplyDeleteMary--The Cardinal Mystery deepens. I am so far not going to google it. I like not knowing.
DeleteI'm sure the squirrels will develop a taste for cayenne soon; they've done it before, years ago. Nothing really foils them if they want what's in a bird feeder. Some feeders claim to be squirrel-proof, but it's a lie. They always find a way.
You are so lucky to have a cardinal. I love them, their song, their flash of colour, their cheeky feeder attitude. We had them in the city, but not here in the bush. My friend who lives in a small town near us has them everywhere. Not rural hicks, the annoying things.
ReplyDeleteWe do have chickadees and they obligingly land on my hand, on my head if I put a sunflower seed on my hat, on the feeder while I am filling it ... and they sass me from the trees by the kitchen porch if I am late with their breakfast. Has to be black oil sunflower seeds, though. The striped kind are only good for the jays. Who eat anything, including the toast I burned by accident.
We also have hummingbirds in season and have a feeder for them right beside the kitchen window. Nasty dispositions with one another, but wonderful to watch.
Um, I guess you can tell you hit my 'on' button.
Spot you a starling and raise you a pileated woodpecker.
I used cayenne to keep the squirrels out of my mother's tulip bulb plantings. And one glorious day I greased the pole the bird feeder sits on, as a more than most athletic squirrel had solved the shield, and watched the little begger slide down, over and over and ... (evil chuckle).
We are half way through September. Don' t blink.
Mary G--I can feel October breathing down my neck, truly. Yikes.
DeleteWe have chickadees mostly in winter, but some do hang around all year. One year, we had one that was enamored with Rick. It used to follow him up and back while he mowed the yard, right at his ear. They are so cute, and I think they always look chipper and happy.
Our blue jays are far more discerning and leave bread and cereal discards for the WalMart birds like sparrows and starlings. They have been spoiled by the feeders in the neighborhood, which are plentiful. And my peanuts, of course.
I do like terrorizing the squirrels, but in the winter I hang a huge seedcake from my porch roof and watch them jump from the rails to get at it. It also feeds the cardinals and jays, so it's multipurpose entertainment.
I remember the day we had a pileated woodpecker at the lake. I almost fainted. Those things are enormous! Big as a chicken! I couldn't wait to record it in our bird journal.
Love the concept of Walmart birds. So very, very apt. I guess our jays have to compete with two colours and sizes of squirrel, both very fast to grab a treat, and this makes them less discerning. Yeah, they are big. I had a young one on my wooden clothes post once and I really feared for it. We get them regularly and their call, sort of an hysterical laugh, is also memorable.
DeleteThe chicadees are, I believe, well-adjusted and pleasant little guys who can feed as a flock with minimal jostling and pecking. More so than any other flocking bird we see here. We have Rosebreasted Grosbeaks, usually two families or more, that we love also. But, sniff, never a cardinal.
'they' is the pileated guy. OOPS.
DeleteMary--I've only had one Rosebreasted Grosbeak ever. I was lucky enough to see it land at my pond, and I nearly scared it away with my awestruck and joyful identification. I was so excited I almost threw up. Honestly, how ridiculous.
DeleteI will see your Grosbeaks and spot you Bluebirds and Cedar Waxwings. Both are plentiful at the lake.
I'm glad to get an update on your 'feeding the blue jay's' post, but I'm saddened that they didn't cooperate the way you wanted them to. Sassy and the gang should get on board With Nancy's Plan; don't they know you are reporting the bird activity on a bonafide blog?
ReplyDeleteI know more about birds than other, perhaps more important things. For some reason, bird facts remain in my brain, unlike math. I too could pinpoint a cardinals' chirp outside my window. (they are more active after a rainfall) Alas, I've never found a cardinal feather either...now I will be on the look out for them.
BB Suz--It's disheartening; I really thought I'd have that Disney Movie Moment with my blue jays. Alas, I'm still firmly grounded in reality. A rainstorm just finished up here this morning, and my jays have started screaming for their breakfast. Just what I need; I already have two loudmouthed cats who insist upon their meals, too.
DeleteI think we Bird Enthusiasts commandeered the mathy part of our brains rather than have it atrophy from disuse. Let me know if you ever find that cardinal feather. Isn't it strange? It makes me wonder if they pull them out themselves as they molt and put them someplace secret (or magical).
I don't know how, but I totally missed this post! I'm sorry the blue jays didn't cooperate - I think they're just stinkers in general? My "professional" opinion - ha! I remember being highly amused watching them steal dog food at my dad's house.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a cardinal feather either. And we DEFINITELY have enough cardinals for there to be feathers around here.
I'll have to tell Mike about the cayenne pepper - but we're so amused by the squirrels we might not mess with it. Maybe in the front feeder though - it's the one where we can really see the bird traffic & would appreciate a break from squirrels.
Bug--I love blue jays. They're my favourite, and I'll brave the cold all winter long to put out their peanuts.
DeleteI spoke to my sister Susan, also a bird enthusiast whose yard is full of cardinals regularly, and she's never seen a cardinal feather, either. She immediately reached for her phone to google it, but I stopped her. "Look it up later but don't ever tell me," I said. To be honest, I'm enjoying this mystery, and if I know the reason now--if there is one--I'll feel a bit of a letdown.
A little black-chinned squirrel has become very comfortable around me in my back yard lately. It's quite distinctive looking. When I toss out the heels of the bread for it, it ventures quite closely to me. (I have to give them something since they can't eat my birdseed anymore. Sigh.)
I contemplated killing a blue jay once, it was SO LOUD, SO EARLY in the morning, every damn day. Eventually it moved away or someone else murdered it, I don't know. I like most of them, just not that one. I don't think I've ever seen a cardinal in person.
ReplyDeleteJ--Although I'm horrified, I can understand your urge to take out that blue jay. They are incredibly loud and relentless when they jeer. That call is not melodious or pleasant at all. I hear it often as each of my Breakfast Blue Jays uses it to ward off each other since they prefer to eat alone.
DeleteNo cardinal for you? That's sad. Make it your quest!