[TN-Bird] Molting hummers,et. al., ripe wild grapes & saving suet

Greetings TN Birders,
 
Molting season is definitely here in Charlotte Park, West Nashville,  
Davidson County, with the "stars" bring the male ruby-throated hummingbirds 
with  
forked tails, the forks varying from not very deep as in the broad-billed  
hummers to strikingly deep as in the barn swallow.  In all my years of  
birding, I 
do not remember ever noticing forked tails in ruby-throats before, so  the 
first one REALLY threw me.  He was perched where he was backlit, so I  could 
see 
no markings and thought I had a "rarie."  I wrote to a couple of  our experts 
who assured me it was, indeed, a molting male hummer.  Since  then, there have 
been several this week with some perched out in the light so  that I could see 
that they ARE gorgeous male R-T's.  Right now, one is on a  favorite perch on 
a sprig of dead grape about 8 feet away where he is surveying  the territory 
and "watching me type."  His tail is a medium deeply forked  one.
 
Crestless cardinals, blue jays and titmice abound, so they really look  
"undressed" and scruffy.
 
An abundance of wild grapes are the preferred food of many of my birds  which 
stay hidden deep in the foliage of the thick grape vine, so it  is hard to 
tell what all is in there eating the fruit.  With over 90 feet  of heavy vines 
all around the deck and across the back wall of the house, there  is plenty for 
the robins, starlings, cardinals, blue jays and mockingbirds which  leaves 
plenty of peanut butter and other food for the titmice, chickadees,  doves, 
rock 
pigeons and other birds.  I haven't seen the immature Cooper's  hawk take any 
more birds lately.  It does stay hidden in a tree quite often  from which it 
swoops down upon a mouse.  
 
Since suet is rarely available from the butcher shops in winter, I have  been 
"hoarding" fat that I trim from roast meats that I do in the summer.   I wrap 
it in individual packets of Glad Press 'n Seal and freeze it to use this  
winter.  With those packets and by making recipes of Martha Sargent's suet  
mixture, I think I can keep my birds pretty well fed through the coldest of  
winters.
 
Cheers, prayers and super birding,
 
Dee Thompson
Nashville, TN
 
 

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