Out of the Night, When the Full Moon is Bright

After setting up feeders and waiting for days for the birds to discover a new place to dine, we finally had success. The Hummingbird feeder was humming, the Finch feeder was serving 5 star Nyger Thistle seed, and the regular feeders were drawing a varied list of clientele, from Bluejays to Indigo Buntings to Tufted Titmice... (or is it Titmouses?????)  Sitting at the table in the sunroom every morning was a joy as we watched our avian friends chow down. Then tragedy struck.
One morning I discovered the Hummingbird feeder lying on the ground. Thinking it may have blown down, I hung it back in the tree, but wired it to prevent a repeat of the previous night's calamity. The next morning the feeder was twisted upside down, still wired to the tree but empty. Not ones to be deterred, we moved the feeder to a crook and put a baffle on the pole. Again the next morning the feeder was drained dry. We decided to set up a game camera to see exactly what was draining our feeder.
Having a bit of fun, since I needed to get the cam set, I told Jill we had caught the perp.

  

Needless to say, she had more fun posting this on her Facebook page. 

That night we did catch the perp, as the first photo at the top of the page shows. Now, to devise a plan to foil his nightly raids. We suspended the feeder on a 10 foot wire from a branch high in the tree where we previously had hung the feeder. It was about 6 feet off the ground and 5 feet out from the trunk. Far enough to discourage any jumpers. It worked. This morning when I came out the feeder was full, and the "Hummy Cam" took no photos. But.....

Lying about 20 feet into the woods was one of our regular seed feeders. Pulled down from its crook stand and discarded like a schoolboy's lunch pail on the playground. 

Obviously we were the victims of Raccoon Revenge. So tonight, I will point the 'Hummy Cam" in a different direction to catch the villain that comes like a thief in the night. Not that I can do much about it, but more for the thrill of the chase........ and I am okay with that.

I'll See You in the Forest

I’ll see you in the forest
And I’ll meet you in the forest
Come to the forest with me
Where things are always happening
There’s plenty of things to see
So don’t go far away
Come back, come back every day
Back into the forest with me

If you are of a certain age, then you should have immediately recognized the lyrics above. If you are slightly younger, you probably said to yourself, "Eeeewwwwww, these are just a bit creepy."
They are the lyrics to the theme song of, a children's show from the 60s, "Pixanne." Broadcast weekday mornings on channel 10, WCAU here in the Philadelphia are, it was not a mainstay at our house when I wa growing up. We were a WFIL, Wee Willie Webber household, on Channel 6.
Nevertheless, this song comes to mind every morning as I sit down with my breakfast, of a cup of coffee and a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.

The above view is my PBJ panorama and is filled with a cast of characters that Pixanne could never match. There are usually no less than 4 squirrels plundering and pillaging the bird feeder. A half dozen Goldfinches work out their rotations on the finch feeder. A Ruby Throated Hummingbird flits around his bottle of nectar. These regulars are joined by Black Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice (Titmouses?????), a pair of Northern Cardinals, Sparrows, a raucous Blue Jay, Downey Woodpeckers, and an elusive Pileated Woodpecker. 

A few weeks ago we put out our feeders and were disappointed for several days when they remained untouched. Then the squirrels discovered a never ending food source. Climbing poles, leaping from trees, and providing us with plenty of laughs at their antics.  Finally the birds started to discover the feeders and began to come in. The Titmice were first, followed by the Sparrows, then the rest of the cast assembled.  With camera at the ready we can usually get some pictures of all of our breakfast buddies.

  All except for the Pileated. His laughing call followed by his drumming on a convenient dead tree announces his arrival. I grab the camera and try to get a picture of him. He usually chooses the back side of trees and occasionally pokes his head around the trunk just long enough for me to see him but not photograph him. I think he mocks me. 

Our latest mystery is finding out what is draining our hummingbird feeder overnight. Every morning we come out and it is empty. A couple of times it was on the ground. Another time it was twisted up into the tree it was hanging from. Yesterday we put it on a pole with a squirrel baffle on it, but once again, it was empty this morning.  I've ordered a game camera that I will set up and try and get some pictures of the perpetrator. Stay tuned.... film at 11. 

In the meantime, I'll watch the crazy squirrels plunder and pillage, the Blue Jay try to take over, the Goldfinches systematically take turns, and I will continue to stalk the elusive Woody the Woodpecker. It's a great way to spend the morning.... and I am more than okay with that.