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October 2007

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From:
Margaret Bowman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Margaret Bowman <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 7 Oct 2007 08:02:10 -0400
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Rob Thorn mentioned the large number of blue jays.  They have been coming to
my feeders the past week, which is pretty unusual.  There have been more in
the neighborhood than I ever recall seeing.  Several of my neighbors do have
oak trees, but I see them in the white pines as well.  One of my neighbors
feed squirrels, and the blue jays steal the squirrel food - corn, large
sunflower seeds, etc.  (He puts out dried heads of the very large
sunflowers.  Both the jays and the squirrels love it.)



The red-breasted nuthatches did not stay long.  They were here maybe a week.
I haven't seen or heard any since last weekend (Sept. 29-30).  Yesterday I
sat in my kitchen and graded compositions all day, and had a good view of my
feeders.  Besides the blue jays, I had a lot of house finches, but most of
the goldfinches seem to have moved on.  I haven't needed to fill the nyger
feeder for four days, while just last week I was filling it every day.  I
did not see a single cardinal yesterday, which is also pretty unusual.  Did
the blue jays intimidate them?



I'm getting a lot of Carolina chickadees, an occasional tufted titmouse,
less frequently white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, and a very vocal
northern flicker.  I haven't seen my red-bellied woodpecker is quite a
while, but then I assume he's finding food elsewhere.  I hear the Carolina
wrens, but they haven't felt the need to visit my feeders anytime I've been
watching.



A week ago, I shopped for my Saturday groceries around 6 am, and was
awestruck by the emerging chimney swifts at the old North Elementary school
on Deo Drive.  They bubbled up out of the stack in noisy waves.  There were
hundreds of them.  I don't know how long this had been going on before I
came out of the Kroger store, but I was immediately aware of them by the
sound.  I watched for several minutes, until the emergence slowed to a
trickle.  I did not notice as many around when I walked this Saturday about
6:30, so perhaps they had moved on as well.



I have had deer in my yard recently, and see them quite frequently now on my
early morning (5 am) walks in the neighborhood.  Considering that I live in
a fairly high-density older residential neighborhood with small lots, this
is somewhat unusual.  I came home Wed. to find the glass in the door to my
breezeway had been shattered.  When I took it to be repaired, the glass man
said it looked to him like a deer had tried to run through it.  He says he
has had many such cases recently.  I only bring this up, because it suggests
that a shortage of food in less populated areas is bringing the deer into
town.  If there isn't enough food for the deer, then likely the birds are
facing similar shortages.  This is shaping up to be an unusual feeder
winter, I suspect.  What will show up, and when?



Margaret Bowman

Licking Co., OH


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