Birds and cats

We are into that bleak, gray, damp, December period.   George always starts mentioning Miami fondly this time of year.  We decided to put out some bird feeders.

We put separate feeders out with mixed seed, black sunflower seed and niger seed (for the finches).  There is also some suet hanging under the porch roof.   We've seen the following types of birds eating this past week:  chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, goldfinch, hairy woodpecker, cardinal, bluejay, and morning dove.    We are going through seed much faster than I planned.

    Later edit:  12/5/13:  downy woodpecker.

It occurred to us, after the crowds started arriving, that none of our neighbors seem to have bird feeders out, and there is a lot of open acreage around us.  Maybe our neighbors know something we do not.

Our two older cats have been glued to the windows.  Even when Percy can't actually get a comfortable perch to see the feeders, he sits on the floor and watches the fly by action for hours.

We are keeping an eye out the window (and on tracks in the snow) for the neighbor's barn cats.   We may have to adjust the feeders if we see increased mortality nearby.

Our neighbor has good reason to need the barn cats, and outside cats wander.   When we had sheep, we appreciated the free mousing services the cats provided around the sheep barn. 

Wandering cats are extremely hard on bird populations.    But, I view wandering (and working) barn cats differently than wandering pet cats.

During the past week, with a dusting of snow, we are seeing lots of bird and squirrel tracks, but without a mix of cat tracks.   We'll keep watching.  I am the official worrier in the family, and gray Decembers are good practice time.