We had been trying to figure out which birds were eating all the food we were putting out, but this morning I finally realized the food is being consumed by a lot of birds of every kind you will find in a New England woods. Spring is here and the Goldfinch are changing to their breeding colors — bright golden sunshine yellow.

We thought maybe the raccoons were stealing the suet, but between yesterday and today, we watch the finches and the titmouses consume almost an entire fresh cake. I wasn’t kidding when I said our neighbor across the street — the other bird feeder in the area — passed away. Not only do we miss him, but his birds miss him.

As a group, they have all migrated to our side of the road. I don’t know how many feeders he had up, but he sure had plenty of birds and now we have all our birds plus all of his birds and that, my friends, are many, many birds.

We have Bluebirds, Tufted Titmouses, Blue Jays, Goldfinch, Cardinals, Doves, Chipping Sparrows, Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, Nuthatches. There are Downy and Hairy woodpeckers and a big Pileated Woodpecker that doesn’t come to the feeder, but likes to munch on insects in the oaks. We have Flickers and sometimes, Grackles. We see Robins but they don’t like feeders. There are Warblers, but I can’t tell one from the other.

So, in the end, it’s not flying squirrels or – raccoons, though they certainly contribute to the eating frenzy. The local red and gray raccoons eat more than enough without any outside assistance.

They are all hungry and we feed them. I hope I’m here for many more years to keep them fed because I’m sure they will never lack for appetite.

Categories: Anecdote, Animals, birds, Birds, Blackstone Valley, bluebirds, flying squirrel, Gallery, Goldfinch, Grackle, Nature, Photography, Spring, Squirrel, Wildlife, Woodpeckers