Worm Police

Yesterday I visited three stores dedicated to the feeding and housing of our feathered friends. At the first store, recently opened up by some friends but way far out of my way (I probably won't be visiting there much), I purchased a new thistle feeder since our old one was shot. This store, owned by two nice women, made a commitment to stock with only things made in America. While there, I asked about mealworms. Did you know that there was a nationwide shortage of mealworms now? One woman said, there is only one place in town that carries them, and named the store I generally get them from. And, she added, they will only sell to you if you have already bought mealworms from them. Well, I answered, no problem there because I am in that category. I went to the second store to get a particular brand of feed. If you think gas prices have gone up, you should see what bird feed prices have done. I paid $38 for 20 pounds of seed that 3-5 years ago i think i bought for $23. But you get different birds with the feed than you do with just the regular sunflower/millet and there is no waste and no hulls. Then I went to the third store and asked for my mealworms. The fellow asked, have you bought them here before? I thought, you doofus, YOU are the very person that sold them to me! (and they do have their regular customers, and he has made special orders for me, so I thought it reasonable that he remember me) Yes, I responded, and he pointed to a sign that they had posted by the register- Due to a nationwide shortage of mealworms, we will only be selling to our regular mealworm customers. What if I had lied? He apologized for the worms being smaller than usual, but hey, I figure the bluebirds won't care. I would hate to have to ask folks if they were my regular customers and then turn them down if they weren't.

I come by it naturally

My father went out one morning and saw that the robin's nest which had been perched rather precariously in a rose bush had the side broken out of it and all four of the little nestlings were spilled out onto the ground. Dad wasn't sure it would work, but he took the remains of the nest and put it in a flower pot, put the babies back in the nest and wired the entire thing back into the rose bush in approximately the same spot it had been in. Mom and Dad Robin never missed a beat. Last week when I was up, I got to see all four babies in the nest, and one by one they fledged and were gone. When I got too close for comfort, the mother would fly up on an overhead wire and she must have been sounding some sort of alarm call to them, because they would hunker down and get very still when she did it. Dad also had a clutch of chickadees in one of his boxes. I bought him another hummingbird feeder so he could place it farther out in the yard and not have the battles over the one by the porch. He has a bully.

Bluebird 2

This is her again, setting on top of one of the feeder poles- she comes down to within five feet of you. They are really not bothered by folks. You can see one of my squirrel boxes up on a tree behind the feeder. That is the tree that has the hawks in it.

Bluebird

As you can see, I am not so great with the camera, and she is always moving. You can sort of see the mealworms that she has gathered in her mouth. This is sort of at dusk, I tried taking some during the noonday, but the pictures were all washed out.

Last Show

Yesterday down in Columbia, SC, I attended my last show of the Spring Season. It was 94+ degrees- absolutely sweltering. A passing rain shower did nothing but make it more humid and miserable. I had to get up at three to load up my car (the new xD) and drive down 230 miles to get there by 8:30. Loading takes me about an hour. I am not an overly fast driver. I tend to try and go exactly the speed limit with the help of cruise control. Had two shows and then I drove home. I was so tired I was just this side of nauseated. Do you ever get that feeling? I find it very hard to sleep before a long drive I know I am going to have to make- granted this one wasn't that long, I just was worried about being late. So I had very little rest Friday night. Anyhow, I did good, not great. Did have one reserve in show with TM Tumbleweed,, a pretty damn nice little cream satin boar. The judges have liked him all spring. Time now to find him a girlfriend and make little tumblelets.