Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wilbur (psst, i also cross some things off my 28 list)

Earlier this month Hubs and I decided to do some yardwork... and unfortunately when I say "Hubs and I" I mean that Hubs worked really hard hacking up an old grapevine and replanting our roses and I supervised from the kitchen window.  I was actually rearranging our living room (I know, again!!). I am strange.  But anyway, we decided to get a small little bird feeder and see if we could attract any birds. 
Trying to get birds to eat free bird seed is a lesson in patience.  We had birds in our trees and birds flying above the feeder and sitting on our fence but for almost two weeks! No birds!

 See? Full and free for the taking. I almost pitched this thing into the trash.  I know, two weeks doesn't seem like very long but like I said, lesson in patience.
And then one day, Hubs heard a little twittering.... and it was the bird.
I'll call him Wilbur.
 Wilbur had officially arrived and my heart soared to see our feeder being used by such a pretty little thing.  (sorry for the awful photo~ I took it sneakily through a dirty (oops) window)
So Wilbur has arrived and our story is complete.
Or is it?
It seems Wilbur is quite the fiesty little fellow.  I'm not sure if I should be happy about our little guest or not.  Wilbur is very territorial.  We have never seen another bird eat at our feeder and in fact, we have seen some pretty serious "bird fights" in our backyard.  I'm afraid our feeder is advocating for birds to draw up gang lines and I'm not sure we want to stand for this.
So not only have we encouraged gang lines but we are also encouraging picky eating.
Wilbur will ONLY eat the sunflower seeds in our feeder and knock everything else in his way onto the ground.
What are two kind-hearted people to do with a gang associated, picky eatin' bird on their hands?
I really don't know.
But I'll be sure to let you all know when something happens.
Chances are Wilbur will tire of our boring little feeder and go find some new backyard to terrorize.  I hope we haven't scarred all our other birds for life.


On a lighter and random note: I completed #5 and #13 on my list of 28 things to do this year.
I took blueberry muffins to my neighbor and Hubs and I bought a drink for the girl behind us in the drive-thru at Starbucks.
But the way I see these two, I'd like them to become habits more than just a one-time deal. So although I'm crossing them off the list, I hope to introduce them into my lifestyle.

2 comments:

Ed said...

You will be very glad that little bird is visiting your home when he starts to sing.

That looks to me like a male "Scarlet Finch" (or "House Finch") ... and I do not know of a prettier song I have ever heard from a domestic songbird than from this little guy.

He will stop you in your tracks when he starts to sing.

I'd let him have his territory, and do all I could to keep him there.

Joanna Kay said...

Duly noted, Pops! Thanks for the advice. I guess you can't judge a bird by the way he guards his feeder. :P
Thanks for letting me know.