Nature's grocery store of the South is definitely still open.
If you go birding, notice the tree or water source the bird is on and/or what
the bird is eating: Slugs, snails, beetles, spiders, bees, worms, gnats and
other flies, even pupal insects that over-winter, haven't gone dormant or into
hibernation. Insects that started to go dormant came back out. Algae and the
insects it (and warm water) attracts hasn't gone dormant.
Birds also still have many available berries: juniper, sumac, pokeweed, holly,
blackberries, maple leaf viburnum, elderberries, magnolia, etc.
If you can't get out and suffer from cold weather bird feeder-viewing
withdrawal, the FeederWatch in Ontario (Cornell's site) may help. They have
regular visitors including Grosbeaks, Gray Jays, and a recent Ruffed Grouse at
the feeders.
Ashley Heeney
Nashville
Davidson County
On Dec 27, 2016, at 11:23 PM, George's McNeil (Redacted sender "mcneilg20"
for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Interesting and was wondering the same thing. I have noticed the same
behavior of a massive absence of birds at my feeder since the drought. Now
the typical birds don't show either. We did have a short cold snap and did
not make much of a difference. Although I did have an early female Purple
Finch show up for about 5 minutes and returned. I hope they come back.
Georges McNeil
Shelby County
Sent from Georges McNeil's iPhone 6s.
On Dec 27, 2016, at 3:44 PM, Richard Blanton <zsleepyz72@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
All,
I would say that the warmer weather is the culprit. 70+ is too warm to have
birds seeking feeders really regularly. A cold snap and I am sure the
activity will pick up.
Thanks,
Rick Blanton
Johnson City, TN
Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 27, 2016, at 1:24 PM, Lyda Phillips <lydap@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have noticed a huge falloff since the drought broke. Before that I had
more birds at my water sources and feeders than I had ever had before in
the eight years we've been here in East Nashville.
Lyda Phillips
(301) 518-7538
lydaphillips.com
From: tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf
of carolynmj@xxxxxxxxxxx <carolynmj@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2016 12:20 PM
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [TN-Bird] low activity at feeders
I was wondering if anyone else is noticing a drop in activity at their bird
feeders. I'm seeing about half the birds that I usually see and I'm
starting to get
worried that their might be something wrong with my seed.
At first, I attributed it to the crazy weather, but I decided to see if
anyone else was noticing this.
Carolyn Johansson
Old Hickory, TN
