Re: Great Tailed Grackles, Mourning Doves, and Me

On Fri, 09 May 2008 21:15:35 -0400, Boron Elgar
<boron_elgar@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> On Fri, 09 May 2008 17:59:03 -0700, "Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary
> Shafer)" <reunite.gondwana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
> >The developed areas of the Coachella Valley are home to a surprising
> >variety of birds.  We regularly see ravens, hummingbirds, roadrunners,
> >California quail, great tailed grackles, mourning doves, rock doves,
> >tanagers, and orioles in our yard.  I hadn't been paying much
> >attention to them, except to notice that we have mourning doves
> >nesting in our lemon tree.
> >
> snip
> >
> >As I write this there are four grackles picking up bread and a fifth
> >sitting on the edge of the waterfall.  There are a couple on the roof,
> >too.  Dinnertime, I guess.
> >
> >I've ordered tray feeders and bird feed that all the birds we have
> >(except the roadrunner) are said to like.  These should show up on
> >Monday.  I'm very interested in seeing how the birds transition from
> >bread cubes scattered on the concrete to seeds and nuts in a tray
> >feeder.
> 
> Oh, boy, you've got yourself another fun hobby. You better get that
> puppy soon.

You're telling me.  Not only are the birds distracting, but I scored
an incredible bargain on Jaggerspun Zephyr wool-silk (50-50) lace
weight, in violet, and I've fallen in love with it, too.  I've got a
great pattern for a lace shawl and I've spent the last three days
knitting, ripping back, and re-knitting a swatch of the lace pattern.
This yarn is just gorgeous, with the silk giving it a beautiful sheen.
It's pretty sturdy, too, because there are sections of the swatch that
have been knitted three times and they look just as good as the ones
that have only been knitted once.

> The only drawback to the seeds is the mess that is left behind. And if
> you've got so many grackles, you will be amazed at how quickly they
> can empty the feeder.

I bought a so-called wasteless bird feed.  Everything is already
shelled and there's none of the cheap little seeds that are usually
added as filler.  Needless to say, it's more expensive than the feed
with shells and filler, but not a lot.

I know what you mean about grackles.  They go around in small flocks,
which are particularly noticeable when they're working over the lawns.
I think we've seen about a dozen here once, on the roofs and the wall
and in the courtyard.  I'm not trying to be their only source of food,
because I don't want them to rely on the supply in case it drops off
over the summer.

> I've mentioned this before, but I've a suet and seed feeder attached
> to one of the kitchen windows. I have a lot of fun watching bird TV.

My husband has a wonderful view of the feeding area and the waterfall
from his office.  I have to stand up to see the feeding area from my
office, at least until the Arabian jasmine stops blooming and gets cut
back radically.  The best view, though, is from our bedroom.  The
grackles show up early and make a big racket over breakfast, so I'm
awake to watch the show willy-nilly.

Mary "The bird woman of Coachella Valley"
-- 
Mary Shafer   Retired aerospace research engineer
We didn't just do weird stuff at Dryden, we wrote re****ts about it.
reunite.gondwana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 or miliff@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 my blog at http://thedigitalknitter.blogspot.com/