Naturally
It’s the time of the dancing butterflies. Monarchs, swallowtails, sulfurs, pearly crescents, painted ladies, red admirals, viceroys, azures, cabbage whites, skippers and others delight the observer.
The bird had something to say. A peewee whistled his name. I whistled an echo, a right smart one, I thought. The bird wisely ignored it.
A chipmunk’s chubby cheeks can hold a complete buffet. I’ve read that their cheek pouches can hold as many as 12 acorns, 31 corn kernels or 70 sunflower seeds. I attempted to find the source for those numbers but was unable to. Each pouch extends to about three times as wide as the head. Pouches stretch from the mouth back to the shoulders. Chipmunks empty pouches by using their front paws to push from behind the jaw.
Sow thistle is a tall dandelion-like flower with leaves that resemble those of thistles.
Kingsyard feeder
I put up a new feeder and the birds ignore it. What can I do?
I get that question regularly.
Here are a few things I hope might be of help.
First, make sure the feeder is outdoors. That’s important.
Be certain the seed is good—likable and not musty-smelling. You might change the location of the feeder or place seed nearby in another feeder or on a platform on the ground. If the new feeder replaces an existing feeder, even if only for a brief time, that should hasten acceptance. The birds can be influenced to boycott a feeder by the powerful squirrel lobby wanting the food reserved for those with bushy tails. Your patience gives the birds time to make a discovery.
I put my advice to the test, thanks to the good folks at Kingsyard (Kingsyard.com), who gifted me with a fine dining hall for my avian amigos. It wasn’t even my birthday.
It took me seconds to put it together. Yay, me!
I have favorite bird feeders. It’s a trait of many men to like inanimate objects. My father had a Barlow jackknife that kept him company; I have bird feeders. This one uses recycled materials in a platform feeder with a dome to deter squirrels. The dome is adjustable to tailor access for the size of birds preferred as customers. I like common grackles, but not everyone does. Grackles did not create social media. That was the work of the dodo, and you know what happened to it. Forgive me for veering from the subject at hand. This feeder would certainly frustrate grackles.
I put the feeder on a baffled shepherd’s hook and waited. The birds didn’t flock to it. Birds can be neophobic, showing a fear of new things. It takes time for birds to trust a new feeder and food source. They are like the cowboy in a movie, who when he saw his first car, said, “I don’t trust them newfangled contraptions.”
So, the birds approached the new feeder with trepidation. Three juvenile blue jays suspected the new feeder was either a boogeyman or a Bugatti, and made numerous attempts to land on it. All were epic failures.
I put the feeder to bed for the night. I needed to move it indoors to impede the onslaught of those rascally raccoons who easily outsmart my other ideas to keep them at bay.
I put the feeder back up early the next morning. It was August–not prime bird-feeding time, but the birds still feed in the coolest parts of the day.
The first bird to come to the feeder on the second day was a goldfinch. It was a golden ray of sunshine. I expected a chickadee. The first bird that comes after a Cooper’s hawk has made an appearance, seems to always be a black-capped chickadee. Its presence is an all-clear signal to the other birds.
An avalanche of birds soon followed—rose-breasted grosbeaks, northern cardinals, white-breasted nuthatches, house finches, chickadees and more goldfinches.
A goldfinch was the last bird to feed at the trough on the second day, feasting late into the night.
As it flew away, its flight call was in air quotes. I think it was saying, “Nice feeder.”
I had purchased a high-quality suet feeder from Kingsyard a couple of years ago. It’s been a faithful friend to many a woodpecker and a surprising number of other species.
In my boyhood, there were bluebird days with cloudless skies. There were cardinal days, too. On our farm, we didn’t see that many cardinals. When we saw one, it was reason for celebration. There would be pie.
I’m still wonderstruck when I see a cardinal. It’s a jubilation without pie.
The new yard attraction is a bustling keeper. Cardinals gave it their approval.
Thanks for stopping by
"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home."–Gary Snyder.
"What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?"–E.M. Forster.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2026
Do birds need bird feeders? Not as much as I do, even though studies have shown that feeders can aid bird survival. A feeder offers a connection to nature. It brings joy and beauty into our lives. It takes us out of ourselves. And, squirrels aside, it has a calming effect on us. We all need that. Photo by Al Batt.
A 1968 Subaru 360.
An unintentional selfie. It’s the only way I could fit into the tiny car.
The Subaru Brat was produced 1978-1987.
The Brat’s spare tire was easy to find.