My Backyard Birds

Posted on February 26, 2023 by

18 Comments

In my last post I showed you the thousands of snow birds who call the Skagit Valley home during the winter. To the humans who live in the area, these are their backyard birds!

My backyard on the other hand is smaller but I still have hundreds of birds who visit year-round for the amenities. In addition to evergreen trees, native shrubs and flowers, and nesting boxes, I have several water sources for the birds, including birdbaths and a stream that turns on with the flip of a switch.

I feed the hummingbirds sugar water, paying extra attention to keep the nectar thawed during the cold spells.

Just this year I added more feeders to meet the need of other little birds during the cold winter months, including the nuthatches,

wrens

and chickadees.

I’ll likely take these new feeders down when spring arrives as they don’t stay full for long.

Here’s why.

Sharing with Sunday Stills.

~ Susanne

Category: BirdsTags: , , , , , ,

18 Comments on “My Backyard Birds”

  1. Oh the darn squirrel! I guess they got to eat, too, Susanne! Wow, your hummer shots are fabulous–they sure like having their picture taken. All those swans lifting into the air must be a sight to see (Been a long time for me). Your garden is so lovely–I’m stealing your idea for the nesting boxes to be attached to my she-shed–perhaps the swallows will be more interested this year. Our trees are pretty young but at least the hummers enjoy perching there after a long sip.

    • I should have known they’d take over the seed and suet feeders! 😉 I like squirrels but they eat everything up in a day or two! I’m only going to keep them up during the coldest winter months as there’s plenty for the birds to eat the rest of the year. I’ll keep feeding the hummers year-round as I so enjoy watching them! The nesting boxes have been very popular with the birds! You’ll enjoy having some, too! 🙂

      • I’m excited about the nesting boxes! Just a few minutes ago, my neighbor phoned to tell me some deer were in our backyard. I think they’re attracted to all the sunflower seeds the birds didn’t eat. Too funny, they usually don’t bother with our yard.

      • How wonderful to have deer in your yard! We used to see them around our place more often, but not much since the woods in back of our house were razed.

      • Our neighbors feed them corn and hay in the winter–the other day she had about a dozen of them walking around. We just finished fencing all our trees on the property, not a moment too soon; they’ll eat the bark and buds off the trees!

  3. Ah, the joy of squirrels! They can clean things out in a heartbeat. You clearly have a welcoming backyard going there Susanne.

  4. Your local birds are really lucky to have you and your feeders, and they reward you with some great photo ops! I would love to see hummingbirds regularly but sadly we don’t get them here.

  5. I have no doubt that your water feature is a huge attraction. When I put out even small bowls of water, the birds rush to them.
    Best wishes, Pete.

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