Virginia became a national news treasure this week with the arrival of the season's first snow. It has been unseasonably warm here, but that changed quite quickly. With the snow came the first Juncos (snow birds). Also, I have a gang of White Throated Sparrows that typically over winter here. I had not seen them yet...until this week with the snow. I like to post in my blog for as much as anything it is an easy index of my life. (You can create a personal, private blog to do the same--though you could accomplish the same thing with OneNote.)
I'm still awaiting the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker and the Brown Creeper. My Hermit thrush arrived early. He sits daily on my deck rail.
The White Throated Sparrows are vegetarians; they eat only the suet and the sunflower seeds. The Juncos, the same. The Hermit Thrush, Bluebirds, and Carolina Wrens eat no seeds but devour mealworms + suet. Everyone else eats everything else.
When snow comes, the bird activity is nothing short of frantic. We ensure that the feeders are full and that there is some ground swept clean for the ground feeding birds. Our reward for being a reliable food source, is that we have created an avian neighborhood. My Hermit Thrush has been visiting for the last 5 years. I think it is the same due to the same habits (sitting on the deck rail), and the fact that s/he is not scared of me.
Now that hunting season is over, we will put some corn out for our deer friends. We also keep a salt block out for them.
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