I've been one to feed the critters over the past 30+ years, but I've had to slow down in that venture here in the last year, due to the attraction of rats. They are dead and gone now, but you get gunshy when one of the creepy guys walks over your shoe, as if you aren't there. If I never see another one, I will be happy.
Still, though, who can resist the calls and screams of the blue jays outside your window, as they seem to "know" you're up and about? So I have been putting out peanuts. Plus, the squirrels also enjoy them. The good thing about peanuts is that the birds get them "to go" -- it would strange indeed if at the end of the day, there were peanuts left over.
But there is something else more interesting and attractive to the birds than peanuts and sunflower seeds::: water! I've got 6 bird-bath fix-ups in the back yard. I filled them all up moments ago, and while I waited for my coffee to come down, I got a variety of birds coming in for a drink or a splash (nothing too unusual, but showing how quickly they catch on):
Robin, for whom birdbaths are more than a drink: they are ecstasy!
Cardinal, state bird of Virginia:
Blue Jay, who also gets ecstatic in the baths:
Eastern Towhee, who loves the mud around the baths:
Brown Thrasher, musical cousin to the mockingbird:
and a host of mourning doves, starlings and grackles.
All within a few minutes.
Water is premium stuff!
