To Feed or not to Feed

Hello fellow nature lovers.  I made this blog, with much help from my son, Rob, because I have two unabiding loves: nature and photography, and the two just naturally conjoin.  I included this picture of me so that you would have some idea of the writer. 



I am standing in front of the active volcano, Arenal, in Costa Rica, which I visited in 2005.  Costa Rica, like the other central American countries is a dream-come-true for nature lovers.  But now, back to North Carolina.

iIt's rainy and dreary today, but my feeder is alive with activity.  The usual number of  suspect are feeding.  They are the following: Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, American goldfinch,  purple finches, cardinals, 2 blue jays, 1 red-bellied woodpecker, and assorted ground feeders: slate-colored juncos, several species of sparrows I can't identify, and a couple of wood thrushes.

I am debating whether to feed them this summer.  I probably should take the feeder down around the first of May and let them fend on their own since food is in abundance during the summer and fall months. Some ornithologists recommend not feeding in the summer to discourage dependence.  I love seeing the different summer birds - warblers and such.  But I think I will not feed them this summer.

There is something unusual going on right now at my sunflower feeder.  A goldfinch has been sitting there for close to an hour and not eating.  It's feathers are all fluffed up as in cold weather, but it is not cold today.  I walked close to it and it didn't appear to notice me.  I have never seen a wild bird die, but I suspect there is something wrong with it.  I will keep a close watch on it.

I saw a wild turkey cross my sister's driveway late yesterday afternoon.  She lives up in Ashe county which is around 3000 feet in elevation.  I hunt turkeys up there and will probably hunt sometime this week, as turkey season is open.  I usually kill 1 or 2 a season.  I eat what I kill, both turkey and deer and wild turkey is delicious.

As I write about birds I am reminded about what I witnessed 3 springs ago from my kitchen window. I heard a commotion and looked out into the back yard where my feeder is and I saw a brown bird rushing at something in the grass.  At first I thought two birds were fighting, as they frequently do during the mating months.  On closer inspection with my binoculars I saw that it was a brown thrasher going after a snake.  The thrasher would rush in with its wings spread to appear larger and peck the snake.  The snake would strike at the bird but it never connected. At the time I couldn't tell what kind of snake it was.  After about 15 minutes of this the snake quit moving and the thrasher left.  I went outside to look at the snake and saw that it was a copperhead.  We have quite a large number of snakes here - non venomous ones and a few copperheads.  It was dead, its head a bloody mess.  I measured it and it was a small one, 18 inches long.  I wrote to the Audubon Society and told them of the experience and I got an answer from someone who said that this was quite common with brown thrashers vs snakes.  The snake had probably gotten near the thrasher's nest, which as resulted in its demise.

I never kill the non-venomous snakes - I usually carry them out into the woods beside the house, but they probably beat me home.  I do, however, kill copperheads.  Maybe I shouldn't because it has its own niche in nature, but they can be dangerous.  There are a very few rattlesnakes around here, timber rattlers, but I've only seen two in my life here.  One bit a cocker spaniel we used to have.  The dog survived but it's neck swelled tremendously and the vet saved her.