Go Away Grackels! Where is the Sun and Spring

The birds and squirrels have been out in abundance this past week. This morning a rabbit visited our back yard. We use to have many rabbits in the neighborhood, but they have been rather scarce the last few years.

Of the six or seven squirrels we have one that almost seems human. I continue to seek ways to keep this squirrel out of the bird feeders and he/she continues to find a way to gain entrance. This morning he was not only in the feeder but sitting on top of the seed bin. The feeder tray is at least four feet off the ground and this squirrel leaps up and grabs hold of the edge and pulls itself into the feeder. I have given it the name of Rascal. At first I could yell out of the window, "Rascal you get down!" and down he would go, but now he just glances up at me as if to say "come and make me". To get Rascal to leave the feeder requires going out the door and taking several steps toward the bird feeder.

The grackles are beginning to annoy me as they tend to hog up the feeders and chase off the the more wanted birds. I switched to a mixture of safflower and deluxe mix seed but still have them. Last night I switched to just safflower seed to see if that will discourage them from coming. I will let you know if this works.

This week we have had the usual Downeys, Blue Jays, Cardinals, House Sparrows, and plenty of Doves. Yesterday a couple of Fox Sparrows appeared and we have had a couple of Song Sparrows, and Chipping Sparrows. The Gold Finches are beginning to return, not as pretty as during the summer they are bright yellow and this beautiful color is slowly coming back from their duller winter colors.

Maybe the sun will come out for a few days and warm us up a little, might even get rid of the winter blues that have seemed to hang on so long this spring, it is spring isn't it?