Birds Everywhere

This morning I was made aware of a bird migration because of the sounds coming from our back yard. Robins, starlings, sparrows and flickers were having a feast on our small blue berries from the Boston ivy. These birds were not too friendly to each other and as the idea of sharing it was not in the cards. The robins were most protective of the food source and made every effort to keep the other birds from feeding on the plentiful supply of seeds.

When the leaves fall from the ivy it exposes the blue berries and the birds flock to the food source. The usually timid robin seems to have a monopoly on our vines as they take great steps to keep all other birds away.The robins who live in our yard all year except during the coldest weather get fat on the natural foods found here. This appears to be a good year for birds as they look healthy and ready for their trip south.

Some of the sparrows stay here all winter and a pair has taken up housekeeping in one of our bird houses. I just cleaned it out this week and the sparrows are filling it once more with dead grass and fodder from the garden. We had a visit from a red shouldered hawk the other day but it never stayed long.It seemed to be staking out its territory for the winter. Birds add a lot of interest to we who are nature lovers and we hope to see many more birds on their way south during

the next few weeks.