It's Better in My Backyard

High: 40
Low: -1
Conditions: Winds 15-20 mph with wind chills approaching -15

The Audubon Backyard Bird Count has begun!

We’ve spent the past week or so getting reading for this weekend. By getting ready, I mostly mean bribing birds to alight on one of our feeders long enough to be counted. This is considerably more challenging than one might think.

When I was a student, I always prided myself on my ability to reject peer pressure and social trends. This was no doubt compensation for my inability to catch onto trends—or peers—as they happened. But I remained stalwart in my opposition to those in the flow nevertheless. The same held true for my 20-something life. Then I got married and bought a house (or bought a house and then got married, to be precise) in the upland forest of Central Maine. And that’s where my personal resolve shattered.

People move to places like Waldo County because they want to be close to nature. But, in truth, we want more than that. We want to be able to see nature living close to us. We work hard to crane our necks in the direction of corn fields, to walk quietly through the woods, or (in extreme cases) to follow a juvenile dog on a tour of the landscape. When we’re too lazy for these measures, we lay food traps in the hopes that wildlife comes to us.

The minute Greg and I bought our house, one of my first acts was to hang multiple birdfeeders from the decrepit pole outside our kitchen window. I poured a hearty supply of mixed commercial seed called “Flyer’s Choice” that I selected from the elaborate display at the local hardware store. How could any self-respecting bird turn its nose up at a brand like that? Birds fly, right? So they’ll choose this feed, right?

Throughout that first year, I waited. And waited some more.

No birds.

I didn’t understand the cause of this predicament until I visited our nearest neighbor, Risto. Risto doesn’t bother with mixed seeds. Instead, he puts out premium sunflower seeds. Hulled sunflower seeds, so the multitudes of birds landing at his feeder don’t even have to bother with the shells. They love it. Forget flocking to his feeder, they stampede. Why settle for takeout when haute cuisine is right around the corner?

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So you can understand my problem. If I was going to woo these birds, I needed better seed than Risto. I needed seed that represented the coolest-car-hottest-new-outfit-all-the-rage-hairstyle seed. I finally found it last month—and paid more for it than I do a bag of Ari’s food. On the mornings when I replenish the feeder, Ari follows me to the hall closet. She puts her snout deep in the bag of extra-super-premium sunflower seeds and inhales deeply. She eyes the suet, complete with freeze-dried insects, with what I’m certain is a twinge of envy. There’s black gold in that closet. She knows it. And probably resents it.

I'm not proud. But I am determined.

Is my campaign to one-up our neighbor working? I think so. This morning, two humans, two sister cats, and a caninaturalist spent the breakfast hour peering out the dining room window. And happily, our daily special finally seems to have rivaled Risto’s.

Below is our count for the day. We'd love to hear about the birds in your neck of the woods (so to speak). Don't forget to send your tallies, stories, or trendiest bird food our way--we'll keep a list compiled here for the duration of the count!

7 Common redpoll (Carduelis flammea)
5 Black-capped chickadee (Parus atricapillus)
1 Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
1 Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
1 White-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
1 Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
3 American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
8 Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)