We enjoy the birds in our back yard but they are eating us out of "house and home". We were back down to Orscheln's again today and got a $14.00 bag of mixed grain including sunflower seeds. A Common Grackle and Harris sparrow are shown in the picture. These 2 species seem to be the most popular and biggest eaters. There are also many Yellow and House Finches, Cardinals, Doves, Blue Jays, etc. Now that I'm not playing golf, I'm attempting to learn how to identify more species. Both Elaine and I have had an interest in Birds ever since growing up out in the country where both of our Dad's were able to identify several species by their call or song. We have had bird books and even tapes with bird songs in our possession over the years but never really took the time to become very proficient. We are now taking it pretty seriously and hopefully we can at least add a few to our "list." Here is a Mourning Dove that scrounges around the base of the feeder picking up the grain that the Grackles and Sparrows have scattered from the feeder.
We are pretty sure that the Doves had a next this spring in our big Blue Spruce tree. We thought for a while that a pair of Collard Doves were also nesting in the tree but were not sure. The young birds grow so fast that if you miss seeing them for a few days they are gone. Our highlight of birdwatching this spring was the appearance of a male Baltimore Oriole which was exciting. Almost as exciting as making a 20' putt and it occured with about the same frequency. I miss my golf playing and especially the companionship of Charlie and others but my yard work, reading more, and birdwatching are good alternatives. I don't play baseball nor basketball anymore either.
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