Bird Watching

American Goldfinches on the Nyjer feeder in February

Pine Siskin group feeding on the sunflower seeds

One of my joys here at Shore Side Farm House is watching and feeding the birds. Yes, I am the crazy bird feeding...and observing...lady in the neighborhood. I have had the gift of observation at close range, which in combination with research and study has answered many of the questions I had about birds. I have learned so many things I didn't know about many species.

I never knew that Herons are the most private of birds. They do not want you to even look at them, let alone approach them....no pictures please!  I never made the division in my mind that there are shorebirds, and woodland birds. Of course I knew it on some level, but I never really thought about it that way. After moving to the shore, it was quite obvious to me that my new home on the shoreline...not this one...had no woodland birds to speak of. There were Stilts, Eagles, Falcons, Osprey, Plovers, Herons...and I could go on, but no Titmouse, Catbird or Woodpeckers to be seen. This was when I first started classifying these birds in my mind.

Pine Siskins in the bird bath

All of this was a revelation. The joy of observing nature and putting the pieces together to understand and support the natural world around me has been a wonderful trip. It is a conscious choice. Living out here out here on the edge, at Shore Side Farm House,  means giving up many conveniences. A grocery store is 17 miles away,  you are not popping over there to pick up a spice you need for dinner. You are planning every aspect of your life to live here. You often suffer flood waters keeping you from civilization, winds blowing your power out, and no close by conveniences in order to live here. These are the inconveniences you live with to align yourself with nature.

In light of all of that, I am very disappointed in our bird population this Fall turning into Winter. There has been some bad storms already this season. Needless to say Hurricane Sandy was a trial, but there have been other powerful storms too. It seems as if the powerful storms might be decreasing our bird population. In spite of my constant offerings of sunflower seeds, nyjer seed, suet, and fresh water in bird baths, there are very few birds here. One Goldfinch comes by every fourth day or so. I had a flock of Pine Siskins who stayed for a couple of weeks but must have continued a migration to locations further south.   Every so often I get a day with some bird visits...this morning I had one Carolina Wren, one pair of Red Breasted Nuthatches, a handful of Juncos...and that is it. Four Cardinals stopped by last week for an hour or two, but that is it! No birds! I am disappointed. Whether it is the wind, the weather or the season. I miss the birds!