I never thought that I'd be a birder one day, but here I am sitting on the back swing watching the birds.
We live in the Santa Cruz mountains and although Half Moon Bay had plenty of sea birds it wasn't anything i even thought of doing.
When we moved in I noticed there was a platform feeder outback and thought," Hey, maybe I"ll buy some birdseed and see if anyone visits. "
That was the beginning of what is now one of my passions and another opportunity to see God's handiwork in creation.
I am only an amateur , long time birders are great at hearing a bird sing and snap,! they can tell you what it is in a jiffy..Not me,
I am pretty good at identifying the easy ones :) Like Stellars Jays, and Acorn woodpeckers but when you get to the different finches, sparrows and siskins.. I can get them mixed up.
I love sitting out back and now instead of one platform feeder we have 2 and 4 other feeders and hummingbird feeders.Oh, and there's the suet feeders, no birder who knows their stuff would be without them.
So what kind of birds do we have up here In the Santa Cruz Mountains of California?
Lots and lots of chickadees, juncos, House finches, American finches, Stellars Jays, Acorn woodpeckers, the dreaded Ring Tailed Pigeons that can clean you out of your birdseed in one swoop. Mourning doves, California quail, varied thrush, grosbeaks, spotted towees, California towees, pine siskins, Thompsons warblers are seen frequently.
And there are my favorites the gorgeous Annas and Allens Hummingbirds..Wow such colors and such amazing birds.
I almost forgot, we have a large flock of wild turkeys that regularly visit and got used to eating along with my chickens for awhile..Now that the Moms have had their newest brood they aren't coming quite so close. They are good moms to be sure.
Anyhow, Birding is great therapy and fun..Stellars Jays have eaten out of our hands, Hummingbirds have had epic battles right in front of us..and the squirrels keep us busy trying to out trick them .
Anyhow, Irecommend birding highly..Get a feeder and black oil sunflower seed and be patient, it takes a few weeks for the word to get around your neighborhood that there's a new restaurant in town.It's great for an easy homeschooling science project too. And, if you have squirrels ,get some peanuts and corn..they can share it with the jays and woodpeckers, then everybody is happy.
Happy Birding....Deb
