Wednesday, March 10, 2010

It's Not Officially Spring Till the Mockingbird Sings

Yesterday, the first of our daffodils bloomed, coaxed out of their bud casings by several warm, sunny days in a row. Sitting on the steps for quiet time, I realized I haven't seen or heard any mockingbirds since moving in. Mockers are my all-time favorite bird and are normally seen here year round. So, I googled to find out how to attract them to our yard.

Mockingbirds typically eat insects and love fruit. Including raisins. So I bought and hung a suet holder with a sticky cake of raisin suet.

Today it rained, a good soaking rain, making me wonder, 1) will the rain melt my suet, 2) how long will it take for the birds to discover it, and 3) once they find it, how long till the mockingbirds are notified.

So far, questions one and two are answered. The rain did not melt that greasy, sticky mass of gooey suet. And, the birds found it this afternoon, about 24 hours after it first appeared in the front yard. So far I've seen one black-capped chickadee and a court of (several) gray kingbirds. Or eastern kingbirds, I'm not exactly sure which. Oh, and there was one kingly male cardinal.

I am delighted with the visitors. And sent them forth to call all mockingbirds to come.

For breakfast. For lunch. For dinner. To move in to the neighborhood, hopefully, for good.

Mockingbird bird picture courtesy of BirdsForever.com.

3 comments:

Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O.J. Barré said...

Okay, either the Kingbirds came and went or I seriously need new glasses. There are several Titmouses, umm, Titmice?, though, and I'm thinking they were here all along. The look like tiny 'Kingbirds' with tufted heads. How in the world did I miss those tufts?? (Need new glasses...)

We also have a pair of nuthatches and a pair of cardinals, as well as several titmeese, chickadees, but, as yet, no mockingbirds.

Come on, guys, get the word out! :)

Lennox Fleary said...

this is awesome, learning about your nature appreciation side. Didn't know that. That's why I'm in Oregon and hoping to learn about birds and wildflowers and lakes and trees and on and on.

Olivia J. Herrell, writing as O.J. Barré said...

Just spied a mockingbird in my side yard, looking around as if to say, "Hmmm, I know someone called me. I'm here. Now where's the grub?"

And, amazingly, it's snowing again today after a week of beautiful, sunny weather. Yesterday, the high was 73. And tomorrow, 70 is predicted. Today? It's in the high 30's.

Springtime in NoGA. Gotta love it! :)

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