They're here, they're here. Finally, well it seems like forever, some of my migrating feathered friends have returned to their favorite bird feeders, at least to my favorite bird feeders. The youngest pair of evening grosbeaks were the first to return. I find this interesting because they were the last to leave by several weeks. They brought a friend whom I have never seen before, a variegated thrush. A few days later the rest of the grosbeak flock landed. They are still some of my favorite birds with their bright colors and high pitched whistles. Some of them will even talk back to me if I get the notes right.
Unfortunately along with the song birds come the darn bears so in order to save my beautiful bird feeders from destruction I must bring them in at night. Friday the dogs announced the first influx of bears I ran out and harvested the wooden bird feeders but left one of the less expensive ones out as an experiment. Yep, next day it had bear all over it. Well not really but it had been grabbed and tweaked just enough so that the evidence of large varmint was recognizable. They can do so much damage to the bird feeders it can cost me a fortune to replace them all.
I am still expecting more snow (seems like it snows forever up here) we really only had 2 big storms this year. It might be time to worry about drought conditions again. Wherever you can use grey water to irrigate landscape plants, this really helps conserve. Grey water is the stuff that comes from showers, washing dishes and laundry. If you use a good biodegradable soap it does no damage what ever to the plants or the water table. Make sure it's legal in your neighborhood, if it isn't them speak up and get it legal! There is only so much fresh water and we need to be wise.
Time to get out the garden water fountain, check the pump and scrub the bowl real good. Then the bird bath needs restoring. Until then the pond is almost up and running, well it has fresh water which is a start for me. I think I am going to tell my friends that I want some new ornamental birdhouses for my yard and maybe a few of those fun wooden bird feeders too. I only lost 6 to the bears last fall.
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