Birds, etc.

Since we've moved up to the lake, it's become a pleasant habit to feed the birds. There are three feeders for seeds, two with mixed seed and the black sunflowers seed preferred by the Chickadees, the third has Niger seed for the Goldfinches and Warblers, along with two feeders for the Hummingbirds.

As the young birds hatched, their parents would drop them off at the feeders, and it's been fun to watch them learning. In particular the young Hairy Woodpeckers who have a hard time perching on the feeder so they hang onto the edge of the feeder and fling seeds off in their search for the ones they enjoy. This is a bonus for the Chipmunks who scurry around like small vacuum cleaners scooping up the fallen seed.

I was standing watching this whirlwind activity the other morning when suddenly a pair of wings flashed past my nose. A Hawk had seen the Chipmunks as well and was intent on breakfast. There was a flurry as the small fury ones fled for cover and the Hawk took off in disgust; a chorus of angry warnings following him as the Chipmunks let the other creatures know to beware.

With the humming bird feeders I try to remember to remove them in the evening, returning them in the morning to be sure that the little birds won’t suffer from a chilly feeder. We use a four water to one ration of sugar and renew it frequently in warm weather.

Yesterday morning I went out to fill the feeders and realized I had forgotten to bring the liquid feeders in and the feeders were completely empty, one thrown on the ground, the other had been drained all the little yellow screens removed. There were strange footprints in the sand that John had been using to adjust the patio stones, these weren’t those of the Chipmunk tribe or those of Raccoons - consulting the Handbook of Tracks they looked very much like those of the Flying Squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus .
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We have had at least one Flying Squirrel resident in the attic that we have seen while doing renovations, the noise disturbed their slumber and brought them out.

"Their fondness for maple sap has often led to their tumbling into sap buckets in spring and drowning."

It appears that they do have a sweet tooth - which may offer an explanation of what happened to the missing eight ounces of sugar water …