Did I Just See What I Think I Saw

About five to 10 minutes I saw two chickadees, one climbed onto the back of the other with wings fluttering. I'm not sure if they were mating or if it was part of a mating dance or courtship.

Three Weeks

That day I went into the woods looking for you
It was the first day I had been in there
I knew then why you loved it so much
I was just in awe and beside myself
It felt weird to see a place you had probably been a thousand times
Almost eerie, to see and be in a place you had walked and roamed before
Like I was walking into the past, or even in your footsteps, seeing the same things you had seen
Your old stomping grounds
All the places you had been before
You're nowhere to be found now
Except in my mind
I look out the window, still looking for you
I still see all of your old cat friends you used to play and fight with
Sometimes I wonder why it had to be you out of all of them
I just don't understand why
I can still see you run to me when you hear me
Now there's just tears running
Three weeks ago today I was holding you in my arms, the last day I saw you
Now, I'm just holding onto memories

Chickadee Checking Out My Birdhouse ... Exciting!

I saw for the first time a chickadee enter one of the two new birdhouses I got for Xmas! I was so happy and excited. He went in and out of it several times, would fly away, come back, go in again, perch nearby, etc. Then I saw him trying to tear off a green leaf from a nearby bush. He might be trying to get nesting material together for a nest inside the birdhouse. Let's hope! Here's a video of them at another time:

Here Today, Gone Forever Tomorrow

I remember the last time I picked you up and held you
Not knowing it'd be my last
Oh, why did I let you out that night
Maybe that would have made the difference
Maybe not
Oh, how you loved it outside, in the wild
Free
And that's where you left us
You left happy, in a place you wanted to be
Everywhere I look, you're there
You're still here, just not how you used to be
When I first met you, you were in bad shape
I nursed you back to health and took you in
I couldn't save you, though
Even though I tried
I tried to save you from this cruel, mean world
Here one second, gone the next
Just like that
You may be physically gone, but you're never really gone
Always there for me
Always with me

Today, the Last Day of Winter. Tomorrow, the First Day of Spring

Today I spent a lot of time reminiscing about Mister Kitty. I was sad much of the day, listening to a few of The Cranberries songs. I have a lot of old pictures and videos that I'm not sure I'm ready to look at quite yet of my cat's last spring. And tomorrow will be the start of spring, this time for the first time without Mister Kitty.

It will be my first full spring birdfeeding, and now filling residents in all of my new birdhouses. Having birds nest and live in my yard is still very new to me. Wish me luck with that, will ya?

I will miss my first migrants since I've been into birds, most notably, the two Red-breasted Nuthatches. So friendly and so cute. I don't want to see them go... I will also miss seeing the migrant White-throated Sparrows that I've fed and seen roosting in a small tree/bush by my porch. I hope all migrants everywhere have a safe journey home.

One of the migrants that will be returning back here are hummingbirds, which I used to feed. I love hummingbirds. As far as the others, I am not exactly sure which migrants come back here for their breeding/summer migrations. I guess we will have to see, huh!

With that said, I hope every one of you has a great spring providing homes for and feeding the birds.

Happy spring

In Case You Missed It...

I saw this in the news several months ago, but thought about it recently. These birds, called Newell's Shearwater, mistake night lights for the moon and stars and fly around repeatedly, eventually running out of energy and fall to the ground.

Knut the (Sweet) Polar Bear Dies

I was cryin' my eyes out looking at the pictures from an article on the HuffPost of this sweet polar bear that was rejected by his mother at birth. The pictures that tore me up most were the ones where a girl is holding a little stuffed bear up to the glass and he looks like he's kind of kissing it. So sad that he died.

How to Offer Peanuts to Birds

Well, the truth is, any way is fine. But birds crack and eat peanuts differently, and so they prefer different ways it's offered to them. For instance, some birds hold peanuts between their feet and peck and eat it. Those kind of birds can pretty much open and eat it in any way it's offered, with or without the shell. The only problem is that sometimes the shell or large peanut half will fall to the ground and become wasted, maybe just temporarily, until another ground feeder finds it, but it could still be wasted permanently and go bad and get wet and moldy. So here is how I offer my birds peanuts.

For the small birds that hold food with their feet, like chickadees and titmice, I usually like to break a peanut half into four to six pieces, so in case they do drop and waste it it's not that big of a loss. With the bigger birds that hold food with their feet, like Blue Jays, etc., they are absolute masters at being able to crack open anything and not dropping or wasting much. They always go for the peanut halves, and if there's not any, will go for the smaller peanut pieces, which they sometimes swallow on the spot since it's about the size they tear off and eat when they peck at a peanut half. They would also readily eat whole peanuts in the shell, but I don't offer that option much anymore. I've even seen the tiny little chickadees and titmice fly off with a huge peanut shell. It's so cute.

For the birds that don't hold food with their feet, like wrens, nuthatches, mockingbirds, etc., they generally prefer the smaller, broken-up pieces just like I feed the chickadees and titmice. Now, a nuthatch might be able to not waste a peanut half since they wedge it into the bark and peck and eat it like that, so it's probably easier for them to have a big peanut so they have a lot to peck at, but they are also fine with smaller pieces. A mockingbird prefers small pieces, and I even have a special small sauce cup where I put finely ground-up pieces from a chopper, and the mockingbirds readily visit that one compared to the other small sauce cups with the bigger pieces and full peanut halves. Now, wrens, they will lay food on a hard surface and peck at it to get it into very small pieces where they can swallow it. So, with that said, they would probably prefer both small or big peanuts.

So, there you have it. Those are the different ways you can offer peanuts to your little feathered cuties.

Mister Kitty, This is Gonna be Really Hard Without You

Life without Mister Kitty is gonna be so different. But it seems I've got to go on without him. I couldn't help to think about him when I woke up. No Mister Kitty laying beside me. Everywhere I look is some reminder of him. Last night I found a bunch of old cell phone and camera videos of him. I still can't believe he's gone. Just like that it can happen, one day he's here, the next he's vanished without a trace. So sad. Mister Kitty was one tough cat and now I have to be one to take this loss. He was also the sweetest, friendliest and most likable cat. It's gonna be hard...

Mister Kitty - -,

I had a dream last night I saw Mister Kitty. I think he was laying in a chair like he used to do so much. It's slowly hit me that he could no longer be alive. I can't imagine that, I don't like to, but I guess it's possible. There are coyotes, owls, other large birds in the woods that border my property. It feels so empty and strangely quiet on the street and outside my house where he'd walk. Whenever I'd come home, he'd always run to my vehicle in the driveway and garage. Now, there's nothing. I look around, it's quiet, too quiet, and I always imagine him walking around in my mind. I sometimes wait and reminisce and look around for him to magically appear, but I never get my wish. I just get an eerie silence. This was his block, his street, and will always be... It's just not the same without him. He always liked to hunt and kill little things like mice, lizards, squirrels, etc., whatever he could get a hold of, and maybe a bigger animal got him finally, much like how he got so many before it. It makes me think how there's a food chain and everyone's time comes. I looked in the woods for him a couple times. I don't know if I would like to find him dead. If an animal did get him I don't think there would be much left of him, anyway. Maybe I'd just like to pretend he's still walking around or sleeping and spread out somewhere...

Mister Kitty, Still Lost

It's now been over a week since I've seen my cat. It's hard and sad. Not knowing what happened is the difficult part. Oh, how he loved birds, too, albeit a little differently than me. He liked to try to get them, I liked to feed and watch them. When I first met Mr. Kitty he was very bony and underfed. I guess the neighbors across the street that owned him didn't feed him much. I'm sure that's partly where he picked up a lot of his hunting skills, to get food to stay alive. So, I nursed Mr. Kitty back to health and fed him well and he called this place home for years after. He was very loyal, sweet and friendly. I tried to make him an indoor cat, but he just didn't want to be indoors too much, except when it was rainy or cold, and other times just to sleep and relax. At least I tried, but if I never see him again, he will at least have been where he wanted to be and loved, which was outside, in the wild ... free.

I miss you, Mister Kitty. I always told you when I picked you up and were in my arms that I love you so much and that I'd do anything for Mister Kitty. Well, I kept my promise. I've looked at the pound, asked around the neighborhood, posted Lost posters. Love you, wherever you are.

Mister Kitty

My outdoor/indoor cat that I took in a few years ago in '06 or '07 has been missing for three days now. I have so many memories of him and all the places in my house and outside he used to sleep on. Wish me luck that he comes back or I find him.

Spring is Upon Us... March 1st

Weather is starting to get nice, trees, bushes and flowers will all blooming soon, in a month or so, and I have to put out all of my birdhouses. It's an exciting time of year! My first full spring since I have been into my bird hobby, which I got into about mid-spring of last year. Let's have a good spring everyone.

Update: I saw a Mourning Dove do a mating dance/courtship around another Dove. Pretty funny to watch.