Birdfeeding: Friends of a Feather Flock Together

Today is cloudy and cooler, but still unseasonably warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male house finch.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I saw a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I refilled the hopper feeder.

I raked off the leaves from the goddess garden. There I found one lavender crocus in bloom along with many more sprouts.

Oddly the honeybees are not visiting the crocuses as usual. Instead they are nosing around the seeds in the hopper feeder. Go figure.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I started raking leaves off the daffodil bed on the east side. So many shoots now!

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I finished raking leaves off the daffodil bed on the west side. Just as I wrapped up that activity, it started drizzling rain. *sigh* I was hoping to gather up leaves later and put them somewhere, possibly behind the log garden.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

My seed starting kit arrived! :D What makes this awesome is that it comes with its own light system. That means it's not restricted to window use; it can go anywhere -- within reach of an outlet if we use a USB wall wart, or wherever else with some sort of battery pack. It will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.

While I was heading to the mailbox to fetch that package, it started raining again. There are puddles in the street. But then the sun came out, so I looked around -- and glimpsed part of a rainbow to the northeast. Naturally I trotted up the road in pursuit of a better view. It was a bright, full rainbow with a partial double on the outside. :D 3q3q3q!!! Definitely one of the better ones I've seen. I got a lot wetter than was strictly necessary, but I so don't care.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- The rain let up.

I did more work around the patio.

I raked up the leaves left from the rain garden and dumped them behind the log garden.

EDIT 2/19/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I raked up the leaves left from the daffodil bed, filling the trolley twice, and dumped them behind the log garden. Then I raked the leaves away from the front of the log garden and dumped them behind. This revealed a lot of shoots, mostly grape hyacinths with some crocuses mixed in.

I heard honking overhead and saw a skein of geese flying north. :D

I am done for the night.

Today is sunny and actually warm, with a light breeze -- it's 69°F outside.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows, and a mourning dove flying around.

I put out water for the birds.

The crocuses are blooming in the rain garden! :D I'm pretty sure this is the earliest I've seen anything bloom here. The snowdrops don't even have their buds up yet. I took a few pictures of the crocuses.

EDIT 2/18/26 -- While we were out, I spotted 2 red-winged blackbirds. They are waaayyy too early. They won't find much to eat yet. :/

EDIT 2/18/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/18/26 -- I trimmed the dead stems from the 'Autumn Joy' sedum in the septic garden.  The garlic chives are already sprouting there too.

I've seen a flock of sparrows, a male cardinal, and a male house finch.

EDIT 2/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Human noise is stressing birds worldwide - but we can help

Birds don’t just “put up with” our noise. A new analysis suggests that traffic, construction, and other human-made sounds are changing how birds behave, how stressed they get, and even how well they reproduce.

Some of these shifts look small on their own, but together they paint a picture of animals constantly adjusting to a louder world.


Anthropogenic noise is bad for many kinds of wildlife. It is also terrible for humans. There are things you can do about it.

( Read more... )

Today is cloudy and dim, chilly and damp.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and a female cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/17/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/17/26 -- I raked the leaves off the rain garden.  Underneath I found not just a lot more shoots, but the first tiny lavender buds of crocus!  :D

EDIT 2/17/26 -- I trimmed off the dead stems from the 'Autumn Joy' sedum in the maple garden and purple-and-white garden, plus peonies in the purple-and-white garden.  I still need to trim the sedum in the septic garden.

EDIT 2/17/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I am done for the night.
 

Today is partly sunny and cool.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/15/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder.  I've seen a sparrow.

I also saw a honeybee in the forest garden!  I went to the bee tree and saw a honeybee fly into it.  This is waaayyy too early for bees. There is liquid water, but absolutely nothing to eat. :(  Use to be, the bees only appeared after the last frost.  It's months too soon for that.

EDIT 2/15/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 2/15/26 -- I spread a bucket of mulch under the golden rain tree.

I am done for the night.

Today is cloudy and chilly.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a small flock of sparrows.  I heard a cardinal singing but didn't see it.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/14/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I put out more birdseed and a fresh cake of peanut suet.

EDIT 2/14/26 -- I spread a bucket of mulch around the apricot tree.

EDIT 2/14/26 -- It's been drizzling here, just enough to wet things, not enough to leave puddles anywhere I've seen.

EDIT 2/14/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

It is now raining enough to leave a few tiny puddles on the patio.

I am done for the night.

Today is partly sunny and chilly.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/13/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/13/26 -- I spread a bucket of mulch where the contorta willow tree used to grow.

EDIT 2/13/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a flock of sparrows, a mourning dove, and a male cardinal.

I am done for the night.