Garden Muse: If you feed them they will come

Thursday, May 14, 2009

If you feed them they will come

The bird feeders seem to be working and are drawing in new visitors to the backyard garden. Varied Thrush showed up last month and has returned several times since. It seems to enjoy foraging in the mulch, mostly where seed has fallen.

I believe these are Golden-crowned Sparrows taking a dip in the fountain. I at first thought this was the White-crowned Sparrow I'd spotted awhile ago until seeing that yellow mohawk.

They're inviting their friends. That's a good sign. Meanwhile, I've glimpsed flashes of yellow but have yet to get a good look at the suspects. Hoping for a Yellow Warbler or perhaps a Western Tanager. Will keep you posted.

10 comments:

Dirt Princess said...: I am going to agree to disagree....If you feed them they may or may not come! LOL!! I was feeding mine, gave them birdbaths, and NO birds....ever! I realized Saturday as I worked next door at the neighbor's for our garden tour, that every bird within 10 sq miles was in their garden! Apparently their garden is in the Hilton compared to my Motel 6 next door...LOL!!!; May 14, 2009 7:38 AM
gardenerprogress/Catherine said...: Now, you've gotten such good pictures! I waited for the past 2 days for some birds and hardly any showed up. They must all be in Seattle :) I love the varied thrush, I've only seen them in our yard in the winter. They really are colorful.; May 14, 2009 7:56 AM
Ellie Mae's Cottage said...: They eventually show up... it may take a while but once one bird finds the food he/she tells all their friends! We have a ton of them. We are filling the bird feeders every few days now. I actually had to stop for a few days because it was getting way too expensive to feed them. They eat better than I do! LOL -Jackie; May 14, 2009 8:10 AM
Darla said...: Good pictures and love the visitors!; May 14, 2009 8:26 AM
Outside In said...: What cute visitor's you have!; May 14, 2009 8:29 AM
Phoenix C. said...: Wow, your thrushes are much more colourful than ours! We have quite a few here, but speckly brown colours.; May 14, 2009 12:58 PM
Petunia's Gardener said...: You may be seeing the yellow male goldfinch. I recently saw a very bright one in someone else's garden. Not mine yet. I like the thrush visitors also. Paula; May 14, 2009 1:25 PM
Aerie-el said...: Great photos!
I haven't seen the varied thrushes for a while, but as of yesterday we've had western tanagers at the suet feeder! Hope you get a good look at your bright new visitors soon.; May 14, 2009 4:42 PM
Tatyana said...: You feed them well Melanthia!; May 14, 2009 7:48 PM
Karen said...: I need to wash out the birdbath and get that up and running, I always forget since it's not near the hose. We let the next door neighbors do the feeding, but we can provide water and places to hang out and yak.; May 15, 2009 11:46 PM