![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nlbarberIn my lapsed month of LJ, I missed the period in which I decided that the newly mounted bird house didn't seem to be attractive to anyone this year. I got it up a little late, perhaps, and rationalized that it might need a year to season, lose the human smell, etc. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in that corner of the yard trimming shrubs, digging up liriope, and clearing deadwood out of the hydrangeas, and saw no activity and heard no noises from the birdpole.
This morning, though, ensconced at my desk to try to work on taxes, I spotted a male bluebird pausing on one of the feeder poles. He flew on, and I watched...to see him head for the birdhouse. A little later I spotted a female bluebird clinging to the outside, poking her head inside. Then she left and the male emerged from the hole. By now bluebirds should be hatching their young, I think, so either this pair is quite late or they've been using the birdhouse for a while and I've just been oblivious. I'll be watching from now on, for sure.
In other morning bird activity (anything to avoid the taxes), the goldfinches are enjoying the thistle sock--maybe 2 pairs, certainly 3 males are around. A downy woodpecker has found the backyard suet block (been working on the front one for a while), a brown headed nuthatch has joined the house finches, titmouses, chickadees, etc. on the tube feeder, and an Eastern towhee pair are scouting for seeds on the ground. The cardinals and red-bellied woodpecker are sticking to the front yard--I think the feeder there is the only one they can fit on. The white-breased nuthatch and the cardinals are also front yard only, at least lately.
This morning, though, ensconced at my desk to try to work on taxes, I spotted a male bluebird pausing on one of the feeder poles. He flew on, and I watched...to see him head for the birdhouse. A little later I spotted a female bluebird clinging to the outside, poking her head inside. Then she left and the male emerged from the hole. By now bluebirds should be hatching their young, I think, so either this pair is quite late or they've been using the birdhouse for a while and I've just been oblivious. I'll be watching from now on, for sure.
In other morning bird activity (anything to avoid the taxes), the goldfinches are enjoying the thistle sock--maybe 2 pairs, certainly 3 males are around. A downy woodpecker has found the backyard suet block (been working on the front one for a while), a brown headed nuthatch has joined the house finches, titmouses, chickadees, etc. on the tube feeder, and an Eastern towhee pair are scouting for seeds on the ground. The cardinals and red-bellied woodpecker are sticking to the front yard--I think the feeder there is the only one they can fit on. The white-breased nuthatch and the cardinals are also front yard only, at least lately.