Monday's Report

Here's my final November themed stitch.  I'm going to do the Thankful acorn.

With different birds and levels of activity,  I tweak my feeder arrangements in the fall and again in the spring.   

This is my setup in the front of the house. I moved it a bit so we could see it better and the birds had more ways of easily escaping a Cooper's Hawk. It is sited close to a small Acer (maple) and a water fountain.  It acts as Woodpecker Central with two peanut feeders, a suet feeder, and a cylinder feeder.  I also have a small feeder with bark butter to attempt to attract warblers and kinglets.  The arrangement is protected behind the deer fence so I don't worry about bears, though if one wanted to, it could easily climb a post and come over the fence.  

There is a small plastic holder with sunflower seeds for the chipmunks.  The feeder with the green roof on the right holds 'treats' for the smaller birds like sunflower chips.  This is how it looks from the inside.  It is now easy to see all the feeders from the dining room doorway while walking back and forth down the hallway or while sitting at the dining room table. The window decals are to help stop the birds from striking the window.

A new Follower commented:

"Hello! I love reading about your cross stitching and animal watching adventures. I wondered if you have ever done a “big year”. I loved the book “The Big Year” and “Lost among the Birds” and when I read your blog it reminded me of them! I noticed that your blog attracts bird too. I’m the second Robin that has visited!"

Here's my reply: 

Welcome Robin #2!  I've never done a Big Year )that's where a birder tries to see the most birds possible in the 50 states.)  I tend to focus on the birds that I see near the house and larger property area (20+ acres).  My thrill is to see and ID a new Yard Bird or Property Bird. 2017 was a very good year for that, and I am hoping that 2018 brings a Townsend's Warbler my way.  I've not read "Lost Among the Birds" - I need to. Have read "The Big Year" - it's a hoot - I want to watch the movie as well.  I can recommend Noah Strycker's new book, "Birding Without Borders" which is about his big year in 2015.