A bit of bird talk...

I gave Hub a seed ball for Christmas that, until this past weekend, has been spinning ‘round high up in a tree, with birds vying to be on top of it. On Sunday morning we awoke to find it on the ground, presumably from the strong winds we had during the night. Hub quickly recovered it before any of our hungry deer visitors ran off with it. He placed it on the deck railing, as it is rather hard to reattach it at this point. The birds just discovered its new location yesterday and the Redpolls, feisty birds that they are, have been holding off the timid Chickadees for the most part. But they are still cute little birds.

Also, the elusive Snowshoe Hare has finally started to make more of a daytime appearance. Yesterday I watched him hop cautiously up to sit out in the open underneath our bird feeder. Up until then we were only afforded brief glimpses of them as they hopped along in the woods, their furry white coats blending in seamlessly with the snowy background. I think they are sweet though and I was quite happy to get a photo of him again this year.

On Sunday evening, while at our friend’s house, Hub and I were talking birds with them, while another couple, having just recently just moved up to Duluth, listened in. We were talking about the Redpolls and how they pick through the seed on the feeder, throwing much down onto the ground below. The husband said something like “oh, is that what those birds are? We didn’t know what they were but they do that at our feeder too!” The wife said, “They have the little red spot on their heads and the males have red on their chest too, I think!”…“Yes, yes!” Hub and I agreed…“Oh and we’ve seen a Pine Siskin too!” said the husband…“Really! We haven’t seen any of those birds!” I said…

The bird conversation went back and forth like this a bit until the husband said to the new couple, sitting there quietly, “See? This is what you’ll soon be talking about after living in Duluth for awhile…the birds at your feeder!” I got a little laugh out of this as it is completely true. Hub and I can be so easily entertained watching the creatures outside our window, marking the changing seasons by the different visitors that appear throughout the year.