[TN-Bird] Re: wintering birds and our predator imbalance
- From: KD Edwards <sparverius@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Viclcsw@xxxxxxx" <Viclcsw@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:10:33 -0400
The big problem this year at our place in west Knoxville is the nonexistent
mast crop. We have a lot of hickories and oaks, and I have not been able to
find a single hickory nut or acorn on any of them. I don't recall a hard
freeze this spring while they were in bloom, but something seems to have really
affected mast production. Maybe the hail storm knocked them all off the trees.
Most of the fruit and berry crops look good... until the squirrels got to
them.
The squirrels here are going to have a hard winter. Doesn't help them that I
redid our feeder set up this summer to better squirrel-proof it.
Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN
Sent from my iPhone
On Sep 25, 2011, at 19:12, Viclcsw@xxxxxxx wrote:
> For the past ten winters the holly in front of my patio has been abundant
> with berries and these berries have been visited by many different bird
> species during the winter months, including eastern bluebirds, eastern
> towhees, cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, yellow-bellied
> sapsuckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, and others.
>
> The holly produced a huge crop of berries this year. HOWEVER, for the past
> several weeks I have noticed squirrels climbing into the holly and both
> eating the berries while perched there, and chewing off branches to carry
> clumps of berries elsewhere to eat. As of today, the holly is completely
> stripped of berries.
>
> Disappointing and I doubt that this is an isolated event. I'm wondering
> about the competition for food and the impact it may have on wintering birds.
>
> Vickie Henderson
> Knoxville, Tennessee
> South Knox County
>
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