With another snow storm predicted for today, I stopped at the grocery store before leaving Tulsa yesterday. One of the first things I noticed was the packed parking lot, then the absence of shopping carts. Not a problem, I thought to myself. I’ll buy only as much as I can carry. When I rounded the corner I could see the far wall frozen food section. The last freezer was empty. Tulsa residents must be having frozen pizza for dinner every night this week. Again – no problem for me. I wasn’t at the store for pizza. Only one thing was on my list and it wasn’t Tombstone, DiGiorno, or Totinos.
I’m stocked up on human food, but our last trip to the store only yielded a few days worth of food for our feathered friends. Generally I buy the big bags of birdseed and have plenty of options…wild bird blend, black oil sunflower, song bird, thistle…
Many people are feeding birds right now in Oklahoma, and that’s a very good thing. Between last night and this morning we’ve got another six inches on top of what was left from last week’s blizzard, which means natural foraging for seeds and berries is dang difficult.
I can’t name all of the birds we have on our farm or even on our winter feeders. The usual visitors include cardinals, robins, nuthatches, finches, chickadees, woodpeckers, and even the occasional squirrel. Chris moved the feeder that is visible from the kitchen window further down the tree branch thinking it would be more difficult for the squirrel to reach. For a week, the squirrel scampered down the trunk level to the feed and debated whether it was within reach, decided no, then scuttled back up the tree. I thought the fuzzy tail thief was foiled for sure.
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| Bird feeders are not supposed to look like this! |
Then this morning I spied the little beast while I was making breakfast. I yelled. I banged on the glass. I called him foul names. He didn’t budge. Chris finally went outside and chased the fiend away. It’s strange to see how polite the birds are while the squirrel eats all of their breakfast. See how many are patiently waiting their turn? I’m not sure I’d be this polite if someone dumped me from my chair and sat down to eat what was on my plate.
The grocery store had, again, been out of big bags of seed. They were also out of my usual preference, wild bird blend. I came home with four smallish slippery bags of black oil sunflower seeds. It was all I could carry in my arms.
After we finished pancakes and bacon this morning I went out to fill feeders. It was cold. Just carrying one bag was hard enough while wearing gloves in freezing temps this morning. I almost dropped the entire contents. I’m certain the fluffy tailed thief would have loved it.
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| The Buffalo Gal mitts didn’t have much of a grip! |
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| The wind was whipping up a frenzy. Maybe I should have tied a knot in my Fiore di Melanzana. |
I waited until last to fill the feeder the squirrel had been dangling from. For the first time in a week I didn’t have to bring it inside to thaw by the fire so I could get the top off and pour the seeds inside. I’m not giving that crazy squirrel any credit for keeping the feeder warm with his fuzzy body though, not one smidge of credit.
With another snow storm predicted for today, I stopped at the grocery store before leaving Tulsa yesterday. One of the first things I noticed was the packed parking lot, then the absence of shopping carts. Not a problem, I thought to myself. I’ll buy only as much as I can carry. When I rounded the corner I could see the far wall frozen food section. The last freezer was empty. Tulsa residents must be having frozen pizza for dinner every night this week. Again – no problem for me. I wasn’t at the store for pizza. Only one thing was on my list and it wasn’t Tombstone, DiGiorno, or Totinos. I’m stocked up on human food, but our last trip to the store only yielded a few days worth of food for our feathered friends. Generally I buy the big bags of birdseed and have plenty of options…wild bird blend, black oil sunflower, song bird, thistle… Many people are feeding birds right now in Oklahoma, and that’s a very good thing. Between last night and this morning we’ve got another six inches on top of what was left from last week’s blizzard, which means natural foraging for seeds and berries is dang difficult. I can’t name all of the birds we have on our farm or even on our winter feeders. The usual visitors include cardinals, robins, nuthatches, finches, chickadees, woodpeckers, and even the occasional squirrel. Chris moved the feeder that is visible from the kitchen window further down the tree branch thinking it would be more difficult for the squirrel to reach. For a week, the squirrel scampered down the trunk level to the feed and debated whether it was within reach, decided no, then scuttled back up the tree. I thought the fuzzy tail thief was foiled for sure. Then this morning I spied the little beast while I was making breakfast. I yelled, I banged on the glass. He didn’t budge. Chris finally went outside and chased the fiend away. The squirrel couldn’t have eaten much though since the feeders were low. The grocery store had, again, been out of big bags of seed. They were also out of my usual preference, wild bird blend. I came home with four smallish bags of black oil sunflower seeds. It was all I could carry in my arms. After the human consumption was completed this morning I went out to fill feeders, which thankfully weren’t frozen closed this time. I’m not giving that crazy squirrel any credit for keeping the feeder warm with his fuzzy body though.
