Re: Sparrows
- To: bett mctigue
- Subject: Re: Sparrows
- From: r*
- Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 13:17:54 -0700 (PDT)
Bett, what a lovely message. Thanks. I live not far north of a wildlife
sanctuary--in fact, the entire central Rio Grande Valley is such--and the
winter skies especially are alive with all sorts of birds. My favorites
have to be the great stork-like Sandhill Cranes--thousands upon thousands
of them. They swoop in and wheel around the skies all
winter and feed in adjacent fields. Their raucous chatter
annoys many people, but I wouldn't be without it. I couldn't begin to
enumerate the great number of birds that takes over in summer,
too, and I've noticed that since I have encouraged weed trees such as
Ailanthus altissima, Ulmus parvifolia, and Robinia species to fill in
among the extant mulberries, Black Locusts and others that the birds only
increase. Having 8 outdoor guard cats, often joined by visiting ferals,
and a big black Lab, assures the birds mind their manners and don't much
bother vegetation close to the ground. Even the big Roadrunners that
prefer moving about on the ground stay high up in the trees. Someone
mentioned an increase in crows: that occurred here up to a few years ago,
when they were so numerous I'd find them even stalking the cats. However,
over the past few years for some unknown reason, the population seems to
have thinned out considerably. They're such intelligent creatures, I
loved to observe them and now rather miss their antics.
On Thu, 14 Oct 1999, bett mctigue wrote:
> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 08:11:34 +0100
> From: bett mctigue <bett@mindbomb.net>
> To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: Sparrows
>
> We have one of the much maligned big leylandii hedges, which buffers the
> garden from the North Easterly winds that sweep across the Nene Valley
> straight from frozen Northern realms, (feels like it anyway). It provides
> shelter to a flock of sparrows my husband calls the Pump House Gang. We
> feed them and anything else that comes by in the winter and although they
> can be a pain (esp with things like newly emerging peas - the battle of
> wits to dissuade them is a another story) I would hate to be without them.
> Likewise with the Starlings, they were an object of dislike - they were so
> noisy and aggressive - until they disappeared. We have a few now but I
> miss the drama of watching the huge flocks that gathered to roost on winter
> afternoons, and I miss their chatter. The birds bring the garden to life.
>
>
>
