My husband has fed the birds as long as I have known him. While the past year was different in many ways, his feeding the birds remained the same. It became more interesting for me though. Cory worked from home most of 2020 and with his being home I saw how much interest he had in what birds came to our feeders and that generated more interest from me. We call the birds our backyard pets and get excited when we see new ones or seasons change and different birds migrate through. I made a list of all the birds we see and from that made Cory a book of watercolor drawings ( using both watercolor pencils and Prismacolor) of all the birds for Christmas.
Cory’s favorite bird is the nuthatch.
My favorite bird is the scrub jay. It is squawky, smart, and will squawk back at you if you try to call to it.
We joke about the bad attitude the Pine Siskins seem to share but recently found out there is a salmonella outbreak in them in Portland. Having found a sick looking one in our yard we quit feeding the birds for now and will put feeders back in a couple weeks after we clean them. Feeding the birds has more responsibility than I knew!
These birds are so hilariously awkward. They hop down tree limbs in reverse to get to feeders.
I intend on adding birds as we find them or if we move and have different ones that come to eat.