Birds everywhere

You can see the birds up close, just click on the pic

This picture of my front porch is taken from the ground level. We are on the second floor, but I wanted to show some of my readers why I don't worry about wet birdseed. We have a pretty decent overhang that causes the snow and wind to miss the hanging feeders and only mess with what's on the porch floor.

I feed these birds because in many ways I feel responsible for them. This may be a silly reason to some people, but most of these birds would not be here if I hadn't provided food for their parents during breeding season. Lately, with the cold weather, many more goldfinches are visiting me. I imagine them telling their friends about it. I also belong to a birding listserv, so I know from emails that there are many, many other people like me who worry about our feathered friends during the cold.

The dark material in the upper right of the picture is to block the light from that huge and very bright light that is supposed to keep us safe from burglars. The light reflects back onto the porch and makes it hard for me to sleep when I need a nice dark room. The material helps.

You can also see the suet feeder on the left, which is a favorite of woodpeckers, flickers, chickadees and bushtits. The sparrows aren't interested, which make me happy. Here's a picture I took of the front porch as I approached it:

You can see that the snow has drifted onto the floor of the porch, but the hanging feeders have not been touched.  The birds are gone for the moment because they heard me coming. I'll slip back into the house now so they can resume their breakfast. I also have a birdbath that gives the birds water so they don't have to eat snow when it's very cold out. I use a heater to keep the water from freezing. Birds need water to digest the seeds, so it's important to make sure they have a source somewhere.

It gives me so much pleasure to feed and watch all the birds that visit me, but my very favorites will always be the chickadees, because they seem to know me and talk to me when I come to fill the feeders.
:-)