Open Garden Tour

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Saturday, June 15th from 9am to 12pm.

Join John Douglas and Leslie Matthews at their home.

148 Cheek Rd.

Nashville, Tn 37205

Windsong Garden is a retreat where we have created an environment focused on reflection, serenity and relaxation. We have combined over 350 varieties of hosta and over 400 varieties of daylilies with perennials and hydrangeas, as well as our new introduction of native azaleas for spring color and summer texture. Our garden has been featured 4 different times on ‘Volunteer Gardener’.

This year we have completely fenced the backyard and added two more gardens. The first one is at the lower end of the garden with mostly interesting shrubbery. The Second one is a small one on the far side of the house with perennials in deep shade.

          We offer water and food for the birds that reward us with the gift of beauty and entertainment all year long. We provide flowers for the pollinators, especially the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. One of our favorite gardens, the "secret garden", is tucked away in the upper corner providing deep shade for ferns, hosta and spring woodland wildflowers.

Wind and song are present anytime in these gardens. Come and enjoy with us.

If you have questions please email: matthews@harpethhall.org

Where are the Goldfinches?

We field this question a lot this time of year. Goldfinches are quite different than many of our other feeder birds in that they are frequently on the move. Goldfinches you see for a few days or a week may be miles away tomorrow only to be replaced by a new group shortly thereafter. These movements are even more prominent in the spring. We tend to see more Goldfinches concentrated at feeders in winter as northern populations move south. With migration all but over here in mid-TN we should begin to see good numbers of Goldfinches settling back in to bird feeding stations. So, don’t think that you’ve done something wrong, or think the seed in your feeder is bad, it is normal for Goldfinches to be on the move. Here are a few tips to improve your success with Goldfinches.

Ø Keep your feeders full. Goldfinches prefer to feed as a group and will not find a feeder attractive if it only has one feeder port available to feed from. Top them off regularly.

Ø Check your seed for dampness particularly after rain showers. Simply shake your feeder up and down to see if the seed is dry and loose, or gotten wet and clumped together. Remove only the wet seed. The Aspects brand Quick Clean feeders are a great choice of finch feeders for easy maintenance and cleaning.

Ø Keep feeders clean. Mold is a bad thing to have on your feeders and seed. Really dirty feeders can be detrimental to the birds and be a source for spreading disease. Not to mention making them less desirable. Keep in mind Goldfinches are totally vegetarian. They do not eat insects. So with lots of seed choices available in nature the seed at your feeder better be in tip top condition to compete.

Ø If you have multiple finch feeders we recommend grouping them. Again, they prefer to feed as a group, so it pays to give them that opportunity. The more the merrier.

Goldfinches love sunflower whether in shell or out. Check out our Finch Blend which is Nyjer seed and Fine Sunflower Chips, and the Fine Sunflower Chips which can be used in any finch feeder.Be advised, if using the Finch Blend or Fine Sunflower it is recommended you present the feeder in a squirrel proof manner, like a baffled pole system, for example.

Ornithology Vocabulary Lesson.

Since we are in the breeding season for birds here are a couple of ornithology words to expand your knowledge. They may even help you with the next NY Times Crossword.

Altricial and Precocial

Almost all of us have seen baby songbirds in a nest.We know they are completely dependent on the adults to keep them warm as they are featherless for the first few days and to bring them food while in the nest developing.They are completely helpless and mostly immobile.The adults continue to feed them for weeks even after they have fledged. This is referred to as altricial. Altricial birds include herons, hawks, owls, and most songbirds.

Eastern Blue bird babies just hatched. No feathers and eyes still closed.

Around day 5 eyes will open and feathers start to be seen.

Day 12 birds are fully feathered and still being fed. They will leave the nest any day.

Precocial means young are capable of a high degree of independent activity immediately after hatching. Precocial young typically can move about, have their eyes open and will be covered in down at hatching. They are generally able to walk away from the nest as soon as they have dried off. They will also begin searching for their own food. Examples of precocial birds include most duck species, Wild Turkey, Quail, and Killdeer. Video of Baby Killdeer

Spring and Summer Bird feeding Challenges

It’s most definitely upon us. The time of year when many of you are faced with challenges certain backyard visitors present. They can really test ones patience. I’m talking about Grackles and Starlings, Raccoons, Chipmunks, and Ring-tailed Lemurs. Well, maybe not Ring-tailed Lemurs.

Your bird feeders are of great interest to all these birds and animals largely due to the breeding season. I did not mention squirrels because we deal with them every day. The others are more of a seasonal issue. One thing worth mentioning about squirrels is they are more likely to eat safflower during this time. We’ve already heard from a few of you that squirrels have decided to start eating safflower when previously they did not. Usually it’s the young squirrels that eat safflower. This too shall pass.

European Starling

Common Grackle

When Grackles and Starlings are on the nest they seek quick, easy food sources and will visit in droves, eventually bringing their babies, too. We recommend a variety of strategies to lessen their impact:

· Offer nothing but Safflower seed rather than sunflower or blends with shelled seeds, shelled peanuts, and fruit. Safflower is smaller than sunflower and has a different shape, and a hard shell that Grackles and Starlings cannot crack open.

· Limit opportunities, and opportunities available should be difficult for a large bird like a grackle to use. For instance, small bird only or caged type feeders. Yes, this will also limit Cardinals but they would be happy to feed on whatever falls to the ground. If you have a tube type feeder with straight perches consider cutting them in half. They are usually made of aluminum and easy to cut. Half a perch will present great difficulties for a Grackle and Starling but small birds will use them easily.

· We also suggest shutting down feeders for a while, perhaps a week or two. This can cause these sudden intruders to move along to find a reliable food source. Usually the Grackle/Starling pressure recedes by mid to late June when breeding is concluding. Birds you like to see will typically return to feeders in little time.

· Suet is a favorite food source during this time because it’s soft and easy to take large chunks. Again, removing the food source for a week may cause the problems to move along. Another thing to try is take note of the timing of their visits. You can offer smaller amounts of food, like a third of a suet cake at a time, so your desired visitors have a consistent food source for part of the day. When the problem visitors show up there is little food remaining.

· Squirrel proof suet feeders are very effective at keeping squirrels out but not always the Grackles. Only the largest Squirrel proof suet feeders provide enough distance between the food source and the outer cage to stop Grackles and Starlings.

Raccoons

Chipmunks

Next to Grackles and Starlings there’s a tie for most complaints between Raccoons and Chipmunks. Raccoons are expert climbers, they have great dexterity in their paws, which are really like hands, they can grow to be quite large, and their strength and brain power far exceeds that of a squirrel. Many of you find your feeders on the ground in the mornings damaged with squirrels gathered round feasting on the exposed seed. This is a sure sign that a raccoon has been “working the night shift” as they are mostly nocturnal. They will take feeders off hooks and hangers with ease, take the lids off and eat until they are satisfied, and leave the scraps for the squirrels. Here are some suggestions for reducing raccoon problems:

· Bring feeders in at night that are accessible to raccoons. It may take a few weeks to condition the raccoon to not to show up. After a few weeks try leaving a feeder out one night to see if they have gotten the idea that no food would be available. Continue taking the feeder in if you see evidence they’ve been there.

· The “limited amount” strategy works well here, too. If it’s suet they are getting put only a third or half a cake in the feeder. By nightfall when the raccoon shows up there would be little if anything left.

· Raccoon baffles for pole systems, which are much larger than squirrel baffles, are very effective. Follow directions and you will have success. A squirrel baffle will not likely stop a motivated raccoon.

· This is not my favorite strategy but some people will make food available in places away from feeders. They might offer table scraps, corn, or cat food to satisfy the raccoons. I see evidence of raccoons getting in my compost pile where I put everything from coffee grounds to old fruit and vegetable scraps. In my opinion this strategy just encourages their desire to visit.

Chipmunks are challenging in that they can squeeze through caged squirrel proof feeders and they are not heavy enough to activate most weight activated feeders. And they like safflower. However, any squirrel baffle used properly will stop them cold.

Be patient. We need to try and be tolerant of all wildlife even when they are pesky.

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Spring Feeder Birds

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Rose-breasted Gosbeaks

Every spring we are fortunate to see Rose-breasted grosbeaks visit our feeders for an all too brief time as they make their way north to breeding areas. The male is very handsome, sporting black and white plumage, with a v-shaped splash of vibrant red on the chest. The female’s plumage is primarily brown and white, with its underparts heavily streaked. On females you may also see the yellow wing linings. Both males and females have a large, triangular shaped bill. Some years they are scarce at the feeders but others we see small flocks of these birds settle in to feeding areas and seemingly remain for as much as three or four weeks. It’s very likely that you are seeing a daily exchange of at least some of those grosbeaks, though. Birds you saw yesterday may already have moved on to be replaced by new arrivals. They readily accept a variety of seeds, mostly sunflower and safflower, and most tube, hopper, and platform feeders accommodate them nicely. Let us know when and how many you see.

Male Indigo Bunting

Female Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting

Another very nice bird, although not as common in numbers at feeders as the RB Grosbeak, is the Indigo Bunting. A breeding male Indigo Bunting is blue all over, with slightly richer blue on his head and a shiny, silver-gray bill. Females are basically brown, with faint streaking on the breast, a whitish throat, and sometimes a touch of blue on the wings, tail, or rump. Immature males are patchy blue and brown. One may see them feeding on sunflower, safflower, millet, and finch feed. They are apt to visit hanging feeders as well as forage on the ground.

This small bright blue bird spends its winters in central and southern parts of South America, and can been seen across eastern North America in the spring and summer months. Indigo Buntings eat small seeds, berries, buds, and insects. They are common on the edges of woods and fields; along roads, streams, rivers, and power line cuts; in logged forest plots, brushy, and abandoned fields where shrubby growth is returning. A great local spot to see Indigo Buntings is along the Harpeth greenway that runs behind Ensworth high school and Warner parks where the field hits the tree line along the Harpeth River. They can be seen darting in and out of the tree line foraging for insects and small seeds in the fields and trees.

Like all other blue birds, Indigo Buntings lack blue pigment. Their jewel-like color comes instead from microscopic structures in the feathers that refract and reflect blue light, much like the airborne particles that cause the sky to look blue.

Baltimore and Orchard Oriole

The Baltimore and Orchard Oriole are not really common spring feeder birds but worth mentioning. They migrate through TN on the way to their breeding destinations, which tend to be north of TN. Some of my bird store associates in Iowa and Ohio do a very strong “Oriole” business because they are in the heart of Oriole breeding territory. Both species of Oriole are insect, fruit and nectar feeders.

We often encounter a customer that reports a Baltimore at their seed feeder which would be extremely unusual, but not impossible. After a few questions and shared pictures it is usually determined to be a male Eastern Towhee. There are similarities but when seen side by side very distinct differences.

Male Baltimore Oriole

Male Orchard Oriole

Male Eastern Towhee

The Baltimore is the more familiar of the two and is known for its bold orange and black plumage. Females are olive to brown above and burnt orange-yellow below. White wing bars are very noticeable. Baltimore’s are about 8” in length, long tailed, and have sharply pointed beaks.

The Orchard Oriole is slightly smaller. The male is a rich chestnut color on its underparts and black above. Females are an olive-green above and yellowish below, much like female Tanagers, but have distinguishable white wing bars.

Over the course of 25 years I have tried various proven methods of attracting Orioles to my yard with little success. Available information about Orioles suggests orange halves and jelly are the two most common food choices to grab an Orioles attention. None of my attempts with these offerings ever produced results.

The years I did attract them I did nothing specific to make it happen. A few times I had multiple male Orioles visiting hummingbird feeders, and other years it has been the moving water source (fountain) that is very popular with all birds. The times they decided to come to hummingbird feeders were likely a result of a lack of natural food sources they would normally be drawn to during their spring travel. Over the course of the few days Orioles were visiting my hummingbird feeders I also presented orange halves in plain view, because that’s what you always see pictures of them feeding on, but they showed no interest and seemed to be content with the sugar water nectar.

Happy Easter Everyone!

It’s one of the most rewarding times of the year for bird feeding enthusiasts. You may have noticed a bit of a slowdown at your feeders recently but keep in mind that birds on the nest tend to gravitate to insects for a while to feed young.  I have seen about a 50% slowdown in the last few weeks, but that’s about to change.  Recent sightings of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings at feeder’s means feeder activity will again pick-up with their arrival.

We tried to pull together an informative blog for this week but just ran out of time.  So we’ve compiled a few minutes of spring bird feeding video for you to enjoy.  Just yesterday morning I saw at my feeders the first male Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the season.  Hopefully all of you have your feeders full and ready because they are pouring into this area now and will continue for the next three to four weeks. 

In the video you will see multiple Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, male and female, at a platform feeder full of sunflower, and a lone Indigo Bunting that seems unconcerned about being totally surrounded.  You will also see a Pine warbler that has been coming to my feeder filled with our Woodland Blend.  It has visited suet feeders as well.  It may look a little like a Goldfinch at first glance but at the end of the clip you will hear its distinct Pine warbler call. 

Bluebirds love mealworms and the one in the video can’t seem to get enough in his beak.  Most Bluebirds are likely involved in their first nesting by now but if you want to attract them there is still time.  Bluebirds may nest up to three times per season.  Always start with a nest-box first.  After they discover the nest-box you may want to consider feeding them, although it’s not necessary for success.

And check out the mass of Goldfinches on the long tube feeder.  Goldfinches are in full breeding plumage now and really light up the backyard.  Note the differences in male and female coloring.  During spring migration Goldfinch numbers at your feeders can literally change on a daily basis.  Be patient and check the quality of seed in your finch feeders regularly.  Wet weather can really have a negative effect.  And finally there’s a little video of a Carolina wren feeding babies at a nest-box on my back porch.  

We at The Wood Thrush Shop want to wish you all a happy spring and Easter.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the wonderful backyard birding of spring in middle TN!

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