Good morning! It is a very wet Thursday! We had some thunderstorms last night, a couple of big storms with lots of lightning and thunder. And rain of course. That will help my newly planted flowers nicely. They might get a little too much rain over the next few days though as it is supposed to rain, or have showers, for the next 6 days. And it’s going to be much cooler as well. Sir George and Sir Henry were here for breakfast this morning. The chickadees were here looking for food as well, but found nothing, so sad. So I put some seeds on my hand and all 3 of them came down readily for their breakfast. If I do it right I can still feed certain birds, at least a little.

The blue jays were here too so I put some peanuts out for them, just not too many and when those were gone I put out a few more. That way I can feed the chipmunks and squirrels too, though I’m sure some of them are going to disappear and go elsewhere to find food. Yesterday only 4 squirrels showed up, Jasper, Jasmine, Freddie and Leap. But losing a few squirrels might be a good thing. I just don’t want to lose my chipmunks. Yesterday there was a Northern Mockingbird out here.

I heard a strange call and started searching the trees and finally spotted him in the large maple. That is an exciting bird to see. We seldom get the mockingbirds this far north so any time I get to see one is a real treat. Unfortunately he was just too far away for me to get a picture of it. But perhaps it will come back again, I hope so anyway, that way I’ll get another chance for a picture. I have to admit, it’s really no fun being out on my deck now since I have to constantly watch for that bear. Oh well, I can always sit and look out the window while I have my morning coffee. It works.

Now I need to come up with a bear proof idea for a bird feeder. After all, in order to have lots of birds in the winter, it is necessary to start feeding birds in the fall. At least that’s the way it works here in the north. Fall is also the time that the bear population really starts coming into town looking for extra food to gain as much weight as possible before their winter hibernation. I’m quite sure that Bert will start coming back at that time since sunflower seeds are great for adding a few pounds apparently.

According to our town bylaw the feeder must be 10 feet off the ground and to make it bear proof it will have to be about 5 to 6 feet away from the deck. That’s problematic. I have to put seeds on that feeder. Preferably without falling to the ground. But I have 3 months to figure this out and get it made and if it doesn’t work, well, I will bang my head against the wall. Okay, maybe not. But I might think about doing that. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.