Friday, January 15, 2010

No birds for me



I've decided to not take part in feeding the birds this month. We live in SW Florida (Cape Coral) in a decently populated area. There used to be only 3 houses in our neighborhood but now there's around 25. We used to have lots of birds and even some foxes that would come by regularly to get a bite to eat. After the area started developing around 5 years ago the wildlife has mostly disappeared. I don't mind that the skunks found a new home but we do miss the birds and foxes.




What we do have is giant Turkey Vultures. I took this picture standing at my back door. The vultures found something across the back road. It must have been a small creature because we had a dozen vultures stop by but only a couple stayed around for a daytime snack.




This one fle right over our heads and ended up coming back to land next to our house. These birds stand 2 feet tall and have wing spans of up to 6 feet across. It is amazing to see them sitting a few feet away.




We've tried all kinds of things to attract birds to our yard. Bird seed, peanut butter items, bread, popcorn, cereal...no visitors. Every once in awhile we will see some smaller birds come by to steal a sip from out grapefruits but that is it.

For my RAOK I have knit a couple hats to send to an online friend that is knitting for her local hospital. She is trying to meet a goal she has set for herself and I want to help out throughout the year. I was hoping to make more by now but have had a few orders that took up lots of my time.

3 comments:

Chickens in the Basement said...

Don't blame you for not wanting to entice the vultures to stay for a while. If you have older neighbors, it might make them a little nervous!

Happy day!
Anna

Yarni Gras! said...

what a great thing to do with the hats! As for the birds, I know what you mean. We moved into our home after Katrina, the neighborhood had lost most of its old growth trees and shrubs. This year we have a few little birds...they have started coming back.

Unknown said...

Hey Robin, we wont make you feed the vultures........