Birds and squirrels
I moved into this house in 2011, after my mom died. Before that I was living in a condo in an adjoining small city/suburb. There, I was feeding birds (and squirrels!) on my deck, and here I feed them in my backyard.
Something I find strange is that the bird life here has less variety than when I was in Pleasant Hill. It's odd, considering here I have a whole backyard, and there I was feeding everyone on a tiny deck with no yard. Here, I get chickadees (always welcome!), white crowned sparrows (in winter - they migrate away in spring), juncos, towhees, house finches, goldfinches, the occasional titmouse and scrub jay, and the ubiquitous house sparrow. In my previous place, I got all the above PLUS Steller's jays, many more titmice, pine siskins, a very occasional robin or phoebe (they eat insects but if I put out suet they'd visit once in a while), and while I never got one on my own deck, I saw a few bluebirds.
I have to wonder why a deck attracted more varieties of birds than a backyard. I conclude that my condo complex offered loads of water sources (they had fountains) and more varieties of trees (landscaping), and I was quite near some open space. The Steller's jays would wander over from the hills and eat the peanuts and sunflower seeds I had on offer. (Who could blame them? If YOU were a jay, would you opt for cracking open pine cones yourself or would you go to where the nice lady put out an all-you-can-eat free birdie buffet?)
Now the squirrels - I get the same fat guys here that I got there. Right now I have three of them in the magnolia tree where I hung a compressed-seed-peanut-and-cranberry "wreath." Neville and Anastasia are watching with rapt fascination.
Oh oh, I just got up from my chair and Daenerys has claimed it for herself. I exist to warm the Khaleesi's throne. (Most cats I've had think that butt-warmed chairs are the ultimate in kitty luxury.)
Something I find strange is that the bird life here has less variety than when I was in Pleasant Hill. It's odd, considering here I have a whole backyard, and there I was feeding everyone on a tiny deck with no yard. Here, I get chickadees (always welcome!), white crowned sparrows (in winter - they migrate away in spring), juncos, towhees, house finches, goldfinches, the occasional titmouse and scrub jay, and the ubiquitous house sparrow. In my previous place, I got all the above PLUS Steller's jays, many more titmice, pine siskins, a very occasional robin or phoebe (they eat insects but if I put out suet they'd visit once in a while), and while I never got one on my own deck, I saw a few bluebirds.
I have to wonder why a deck attracted more varieties of birds than a backyard. I conclude that my condo complex offered loads of water sources (they had fountains) and more varieties of trees (landscaping), and I was quite near some open space. The Steller's jays would wander over from the hills and eat the peanuts and sunflower seeds I had on offer. (Who could blame them? If YOU were a jay, would you opt for cracking open pine cones yourself or would you go to where the nice lady put out an all-you-can-eat free birdie buffet?)
Now the squirrels - I get the same fat guys here that I got there. Right now I have three of them in the magnolia tree where I hung a compressed-seed-peanut-and-cranberry "wreath." Neville and Anastasia are watching with rapt fascination.
Oh oh, I just got up from my chair and Daenerys has claimed it for herself. I exist to warm the Khaleesi's throne. (Most cats I've had think that butt-warmed chairs are the ultimate in kitty luxury.)