Back Yard Birds

Despite all the snow we keep having, I know that spring is here because of the hummingbirds in our yard. Each year I put out the hummingbird feeder the middle of March because I know the little guys will be arriving. This year on March 15th we had snow, but I put the feeder out anyway, and sure enough, I saw a hummer on the 17th. They may have even been there earlier, but just not when I was watching. Hummingbirds are such cute little things, and so fascinating to watch. They are very territorial and fight each other over the feeder, as though there isn’t enough sugar-water to go around.

We also had a family of quail in the yard the other day. They are often seen in our next-door neighbors’ yard, but not so much in ours. There were four or five of them, with fat bodies and little heads and fancy topknots. They were eating the seed that falls to the ground under one of the feeders. Mourning doves also like to pick up the fallen seed. So do the band-tailed pigeons that swoop through from time to time. Guess they can’t stand on the perches that well.

Our usual birds are Oregon juncos, Stellar’s jays, flickers, towhees, crows and others. It’s a busy place back there, especially with all the squirrels competing for the goodies. Thank goodness they can’t reach the sugar-water.