Backyard Birding

I recently joined an internet forum for birders in my state. A recent discussion turned up the fact that red breasted nuthatches seem to be turning up in larger numbers than normal. I am quite excited about this because I am yet to attract one of these perky little fellows to our feeding station. Apparently, this is not occurring only here in Nebraska, but in other parts of the country as well.

“Red-breasted nuthatches are here in huge numbers,” which is unusual, said ornithologist Mark McKellar, who operates a feeder supply store and tracks bird trends through customer reports. Kansas City Star

While this fact may be exciting to those of us anxiously awaiting our winter visitors and the increased activity at our feeders in inclement weather, the reason for the increase is not so pleasant for our wildlife.

People may see more of hungry birds, bears and mice this winter, experts say.

A late freeze in April and drought in August zapped the nut, fruit and seed production on many trees and plants. Ibid.

Our pear tree did not blossom this year. The late freeze killed the blossoms on our crab apple tree, and it never produced any crab apples. In fact, it barely sprouted any leaves. Even many of my perennials did not come up this year and I fear the freeze may have killed them. Some of the plants which did survive likely did so because we laid newspaper over them when we realized it was going to freeze again. Plants in the wild do not have such advantages.

Obviously, more is suffering than just the looks of our backyard. With natural food sources in shorter supply, many animals will be tempted closer to humans. It may be more important to keep your feeders stocked this winter than normal, and to take proper measures to care for your birds while away. If you have not yet set up your feeders, now is a good time so that birds will add them to their daily route before the weather turns harsh.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

birding, backyard birding, birdwatching, red-breasted Nuthatch