Warning: This entry has absolutely nothing to do with Mystery Books, Cozy or Non Cozy!
For the last few weeks, I have noticed the crowds around my bird feeder getting smaller and smaller. I thought that unfortunate incident with the Cooper Hawk might have had something to do with the diminishing traffic, but it has been at least a month since he/she used my yard as his/her private hunting ground.
I have mentioned that since Sprite (our beloved dog) is no longer with us, I moved my computer desk out to the kitchen. >>> Actually, I had my husband and son move my desk… but there’s really no reason to be that technical about it! I felt that as long as we have large windows in the kitchen, I wanted to be able to enjoy sitting by one of them – so that I could watch the birds at the feeders in our back yard.
Unfortunately, the Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, and Carolina Chickadees don’t frequent our feeders very often, but we do have a whole lot of House Sparrows. But as I said, they seemed to have stopped congregating around the feeders a few weeks ago.
However, two days ago I found out why! I looked outside at the feeders and saw dozens of Sparrows out there. They were engaging in their usual activities, pecking at each other to get the best places at the feeders, spending a lot of time making sure no other Sparrows encroached on their “territory” (wasting time not feeding while doing their guarding!), and dropping a lot of seeds on the ground.
Last weekend I mowed the ground in order to mulch the acorns and leaves. >>> Actually, I had my husband mow… but again, there is no reason to be that technical about it! (The reason I mention this it to make sure you don’t think we had super long, over-grown grass.) Getting back to two days ago – I thought I saw movement in the grass, like the grass was sort of hopping and bopping. I got my trusty binoculars out (YIKES!!! I think bird watching with binoculars is the first sign of “old age”!!!) and there, amongst the short grass blades were the most adorable, little, itty, bitty Sparrows I have ever seen. They are so tiny you can barely see them, until they hippity-hop-bop while vying for the best location to get the bird feeder’s falling seeds.
It has been years since I took Biology, but for some reason I thought of Spring as the “official” newborn season. Of course, even though we are still technically in winter, our weather is so spring-like, it borders on being almost insanely summer-like. Either way, I am going to enjoy these little fellows… They grow up so fast…
Ann Philipp says
What a sweet story. Thanks for sharing Danna.
And yes, there’s no reason to be technical about it…
Ann
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ann, I knew there would be others who agreed that there is no reason to be technical about it!
Margaret says
Danna, what a great story. We just had our first real snowfall last week, only 3 inches and we had another small one today only about 1 inch. I just started really filling my feeders. I try not to fill them too much too often when there are other sources of food. But I wanted to make sure I was ready for the GREAT BACK YARD BIRD COUNT (http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc). I love to participate and since you have your desk right in front of the window you may enjoy it as well. Besides it is a good excuse to use the binoculars, since you have to positively identify the little birdies for the count!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret, your Great Back Yard Bird Count sounds like fun for people who live in areas where they get a lot of different types of birds. In my case, the majority would be those House Sparrows, with the White-Winged Doves coming in a close second…
susie says
So there’s a mystery here. The question is, which of our intrepid cozy sleuths would do best handling this mystery? Any bird-lover sleuths who can solve the case of the missing birds? 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susie, I would say Ann Cleeves’ George and Molly Palmer-Jones would be the ideal sleuths for this birdwatchers’ case…
linda says
The fact that you are able to “mow grass” in January is big mystery to me! i know danna that you are in texas but hey, here in Ohio we won’t “mow grass” until April, at least! As far as birds go, the only birds I have seen have been sparrows, hundreds (it seems) of them.. They can be mean little critters to each other. I guess food is just to scarce for them. I love watching the birds.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, “our” mowing was more to just mulch the acorns and some scattered leaves from our neighbors’ houses. But our winter has been totally crazy this year.
linda says
Danna, Because I have so many close relatives that live all over the country now I watch the National Weather channel quite a bit. You Texans really have been having your share of differrent weather patterns. Just try to be safe.
aurian says
Lovely post, I so enjoy birdwatching in my backyard too! Unfortunately, I think they have all migrated lately. The only guest I see enjoying the treats, is a little mouse!
And I think that birdwatching-counting thing is international, as it was here in Holland too! Yesterday did not see one in my backyard, only in the air.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Aurian, thank you for joining us… all the way from Holland!
I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t seen birds in my back yard since I put the bird baths out there. Also, we have a lot of tall bushes that they enjoy using as their take-off ramps.
Maria (BearMountainBooks) says
It’s definitely spring! I’ve got tomatoes and beans started already and I’m a little late. We get little birds too, but we have cats. Last year I had to make Junior put two little birds down. Oh, he was mad at me! But the little wrens weren’t hurt (yet) and they hopped up the side of a tree. Silly cat.
Cardinals will stop by more often if you provide some bushes. They like to dig about in old leaves under bushes and stay in the bushes spying on things. We have a few in our yard although because of the climbing cats they don’t nest here.
Maybe I should put my hummingbird feeder up!
alfred says
Maria I have a question for you. There is a particular author I like that has 4 books out in Paperback and the 5th one is coming out in Hardback. Who makes the decision to put out a hardback issue of the book – is it the author or publisher or who? I have always wondered why so many authors go for 5 to 8 books in paperback and all of a sudden they throw a hardback in.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maria, I guess we shouldn’t have mulched. I had no idea that Cardinals enjoy the old leaves… Maybe I’ll let our yard become a little less tidy in the future!
Regina says
Danna You have solved one mystery for me. Where do you live? I thought New Mexico or Arizona. Evidentally I would not make a good sleuth. Winter is still here in CT no heavy snow just light snow and freezing rain. Ugh. Did you get to CO yet?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, to quote the 1941 song by June Hershey (lyrics) & Don Swander (music):
The stars at night – are big and bright
Deep in the heart of texas.
The prairie sky – is wide and high
Deep in the heart of texas.
The sage in bloom – is like perfume
Deep in the heart of texas.
Reminds me of – the one I love
Deep in the heart of texas.
The cowboys cry – ki-yip-pie-yi
Deep in the heart of texas.
The rabbits rush – around the brush
Deep in the heart of texas.
The coyotes wail – along the trail
Deep in the heart of texas.
The doggies bawl – and bawl and bawl
Deep in the heart of texas.
linda says
Thanks Danna, The other day I had “Here Comes Susie SnowFlake” stuck in my head. Now I will have “Deep in the Heart of Texas!”
Just teasing. Hope you and your family are safe from the bad weather that the Weather Channel is reporting on Texas.
Petie says
What precious little sparrows you have! I can’t get over how the weather is changing here in Houston too – it was 79 yesterday and now we have a cold front moving through! Of course I enjoy the cooler weather since August and the 100’s will be here before we know it! We’ve seen blue jays & our mockingbirds too – and even cranes !
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Petie, cranes?!? I doubt they would stop around here>>> The only water available is the bird baths, and those wouldn’t take care of even their “toes”!
Regina says
Danna That song sure brought back memories. Who could clap louder? Maybe we should blog about our favorite songs or mystery stories about music. My husband just came back from San Antonio and he keeps talking about the River Walk. Maybe in my next life, I will visit Texas.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, the Riverwalk is really neat… especially when it’s during the tourist off-season…
linda says
Danna, I just read a book by Carolyn Hart last week that had San Antonio and the River Walk as the location for the story. This was a good book. One of the reasons I like to read Cozies is because so many of the storylines are set in different areas of the country.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, as I recall, there is a mention of the very real Remember the Alibi Bookstore in Carolyn Hart’s Death on the River Walk.
Petie says
I know – it’s amazing to see them in ditches in front of schools, houses, etc. – And knowing my sense of humor, Billy (my son) and I have named the Cranes that we see frequently: Martin, Niles, & Frasier!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Petie, I guess Lilith kept her maiden name…
Petie says
And I always forget dear Eddie …
marja says
Petie, I love seeing the cranes and egrets in North FL, where we have a lot of rain collection sites [in my birthplace, Long Island, NY, we used to call them “sumps”], and a little downtown “lake” around which townspeople walk and herons, too [but unlike the people they walk *in* the lake]. I love your sense of humor!
About the birds, I haven’t seen nearly as many cardinals this year as I frequently do, but the yard people at our apt. complex may be doing a lot more raking! I never knew that about cardinals “lurking” in the bushes.
Luckily Danna’s yard does not have any outdoor or feral cats. I am really amazed that sparrows would have their young nesting on the ground — not much of a survival instinct — or is this normal for them?
Danna, I am with you on wanting to see outside as you work on your computer. It’s healthier for your eyes, in fact, so good for you!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Marja, I didn’t mean the Sparrows were fledglings. They can fly… The bigger (parent generation) Sparrows won’t allow the little, itty, bitty ones on the feeders, so they have to make do with eating the seeds that fall on the ground. Sometimes, though, when there is room, they try to land on the feeders’ perches. They are just too cute when they try. A lot of the time they overshoot their targeted perches and keep on flying. I get a real kick out of watching them.
When we had Sprite with us, we didn’t have the feeders up, just the bird baths. There wasn’t a lot of overshooting targeted landing places back then…
Regina says
Danna maybe those of us who are not ” bird watchers” should keep a cozy mystery list rather than a bird list.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, I don’t keep a bird watching list, but there is no way I would keep my Cozy Mystery list updated… Before I did, I read (and bought) the same books more than once…
Ricky says
It would be nice to know what state a person lives in when they say something like it is late to plant and it is still Jan. (Wi)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ricky, that would be Texas…
linda says
Danna, Once more I have a topic that I want to comment on but don’t know where to post it. So, I will post it here. This book that I have just read is not a “Cozy.” I couldn’t find this author on your list anywhere.
I just finished reading “The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club” by Gil McNeil. I was hooked on this book from the first page. I thought this was going to be another “can’t put down book” and it really was. I read this book into the wee hours of the night and got up early to finish the book. The fact that the story is written in the present tense didn’t bother me too much. But then after a few pages the bad language started. The bad language did not need to be in this story. The **** word and the taking of the Lord’s name in vain was used just way too much and it just did not belong.
I am really not offended by the **** word. I don’t like it but I can usually skip past it in other books that I read. I do not like the Lord’s name taken in vain but again I can try to pretend those phrases are not in whatever book I am reading. But this language really spoiled the book for me\
This book had a wonderful story of a woman who had to reinvent her life and the lives of her children in another town outside of London. The lives of the other characters in the book were great. I loved all of these characters. This is another town in England that I would dearly love to live in. I would dearly love being friends with the characters in this book! There we parts that I laughed out loud several times. The English slang was, at times, very funny. The antics and expressions of this woman and her children and the other characters were very heart warming. But the language just didn’t need to be in this book! This language did not belong in this book!
Why do some writers insist on using this language when it is just not needed for the writer to tell the story? It just takes so much away from the story. To me this just down graded this story. By using this language the writer is going to eliminate a large portion of readers.
There are some authors that I have come to expect this kind of language and I am not really offended I don’t like it but I know when I pick up a book by some of these writers that this stuff will be in the book.
I do hope that there will be more books on this series. I do want to know how this woman continues to rebuild her life and those of her children. I just hope the writer can tone down some of the bad language.
linda says
Danna, Something about the birds. Our town has constructed a bike path/ hiking trial that runs particially along the river bank. Sometime around June or July quite a few buzzards will show up setting in the trees. When my hubby and I first noticed these rather scary looking birds watching us I told my hubby to try walking a little faster. I didn’t want these birds to think we were dead yet!
Margaret says
Linda a funny story about Turkey Buzzards; about 2 years ago a flock of them started to hang out front of a Nursing Home on the lawn. They did a story about it in the news paper. It was really making the residents very uneasy. It lasted for quite awhile and then they moved on. Can you imagine with all the places for them to take a break!
linda says
Did any of you see the news story on NBC, I think it was, about the birds in some Kentucky town? We can get very large flocks of those little starlings and yes they do leave quite a lot of evidence behind. So I do sympathyze with that KY town. Maybe they think there is safety in numbers!
Margaret, Those poor residents of that nursing home!!!!!
linda says
Just another comment on the birds! I was watching “Dogs 101” on the Animal planet today. One of the topics was about certain cities in the country using certain kinds of dogs to help chase Canadian Gueese away. We could use some of those dogs in this area. I love the birds but just don’t care for what they leave behind!
Margaret says
Linda, we had a problem with Canadian Geese at a small local lake used for swimming. They had to shut it down do to poor water conditions which became a health hazard. The town wanted to kill the geese, but several Residents came up with the Border Collie solution and it worked well. The dogs scared the geese away the water was cleaned and swimming returned. I understand the birds can cause a mess but they don’t do it purpose. Using the dogs is the most humane way to prevent the birds from staying too long.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Yikes, Margaret! That’s a lot of geese!
(The Border Collies must have loved their jobs!)
linda says
And I love border collies!
linda says
Just another short bird story. My sister said she has had robins in her back yard already. Those poor birds. Mother Nature should have told these robins that Ohio still has the rest of this month and then March to go through! These poor birds will freeze to death!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, it is going to get up to 84* here, and I am so tempted to put out the hummingbird feeders. But, I know we are supposed to keep them down until the end of March. This weather is wacky!
marion says
So sweet. I would love to watch the birds with you!