October 22, 2021
Dear Everyone:
Autumn has arrived.
Trees which only last week were sporting the greenest of greens
are suddenly displaying russets and gold.
It seems like I was just looking at the “Chinese pistachio”
outside my patio fence a few days ago, wondering when its leaves would
start to turn. Today, it’s a
redhead.
And suddenly, we have
rain. Water falling from the
sky. People are dancing in
the streets. After years of
drought, deluge. Of course,
the meteorologists hasten to say, this is not nearly enough.
Nevertheless, it’s nice to have cloudy days and damp walkways, at
least for a while.
Meanwhile…
Some years ago, I had
birdfeeders on my patio. I
even went so far as to get a special free-standing stand to hold up to
four feeders at one time.
Unfortunately, birdfeed, usually some form of seed, is attractive to
more than birds.
Specifically, it can attract “rodents of the un-cute variety”.
Squirrels are cute.
Rats and mice are not.
Some people even
object to squirrels which, you must admit, are cute.
But even they can be obnoxious at times.
Ultimately, my building developed a “rodent problem”, with
scurrying sounds in the ceilings and walls and such.
An exterminator “solved” the issue with poison “guaranteed” to
kill the little demons and all their relatives.
This resulted in
deceased critters inside the ceilings and walls, which led to swarms of
flies coming out through the ventilation system.
In a word: Not cool.
So I got rid of all
the birdfeeders. No one
could prove that they were the cause of the problem, but it still seemed
the prudent thing to do. And
we haven’t had any more problems of which I am aware.
I missed the birds,
and the admittedly cute squirrels.
But I can confess, I don’t miss cleaning up after them.
All that seed and peanut shells certainly added up quickly.
More recently,
someone mentioned hummingbirds.
They don’t make much mess, since they only drink nectar, which
can attract bees; but things can be done about that.
I was of the opinion that hummingbirds were migratory, only
visiting California when enroute to and from somewhere else.
Then I discovered
that some hummingbirds are not migratory, they’re retired.
Right here in the Bay Area.
Lots of them.
I decided to give it a try.
I went to a merchant which specializes in wild birds to find a
hummingbird feeder that would work for the birds, but not attract bees.
Coincidentally, this is the same store that sold me the stand,
which I kept for years after abandoning the original birdfeeders.
I’ve since used it for displaying seasonal floral garlands and
things.
I found a very nice
plastic feeder that is easy to take apart for cleaning and refilling.
I even bought a packet of “instant nectar” to try.
Within a day of my hanging the new feeder out, a hummingbird
found it and was happily sipping nectar.
In fact, he/she
staked it out as their own private feeder.
Hummingbirds are very territorial.
Other birds have tried to sneak in for a quick sip, but Mr.
Hummer quickly drives them away, resulting in entertaining aerial
displays.
After the first two
weeks, I abandoned the commercial “nectar” in favor of a ¼-cup sugar to
¾-cup water combination, popping the glass measuring cup into the
microwave oven for about 2 minutes, just enough to bring it to a boil,
thus eliminating any pesky microbials.
Mr. Hummer is quite happy with the outcome.
It’s been over a
month, and no unwanted attentions from any critters except Mr. Hummer’s
would-be competitors. So
far, so good.
Love, as always,
Pete
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