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February 04, 1988 - Life Outside the WindowPage 8A/The Suffolk Times /February 4, 1988 Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh COMMON GREY SQUIRREL —Once this inquisitive fellow finds your feeder he will become quite a pest. His appetite never seems to be satisfied. 5 _Z0 I I 0 9 4V*\4 8 ; „IV; 16\ 4% T 19'3 11 2 If you missed The Suffolk Times last week am E • You missed Page 1 coverage of the growing movement toward school consolidation on the North Fork. • You missed an exclusive report on a censorship controversy on Shelter Island over a production of the play "Butley." • You missed personal profiles of some of the families who are waiting "impatiently" for Southold's first affordable housing lottery. • You missed a look at the campaign financing and spending statements of Frank Murphy and John Nickles. That's the kind of story you'll see only in The Suffolk Times. To receive THE SUFFOLK TIMES with your mail each week, please complete the attached coupon and mail it with a check or money order to: THE SUFFOLK TIMES, P.O. Box F, Greenport, New York 11944. Subscriber's name: Street or box #: State: Zip: It gift subscription, give donor's name and phone: _ One year in Suffolk $20 ❑ Village: Phone: One year out of Suffolk $25 ❑ Life Outside the Window By PAUL STOUTENBURGH Recuperating from a recent knee opera- tion I've had lots of time to sit and watch what goes on around our bird feeder. It is probably a duplication of most feeders throughout our area during the winter, the only difference being the habitat around your own home. I say this because my mother -in -law who lives just up the lane in an area surrounded by homes and a few Norway maples has different birds at her feeder than we do living in the woods away from other homes. The birds at her feeder are mostly house finches, those little raspberry- colored birds whose ancestors escaped from a pet shop years ago and have now become common. Along with them are other seed eaters the house sparrows that escaped and got their foothold during the horse - and -buggy days when oats and other grains were fed to horses. Since that time this earthy- colored little house sparrow has given way to the house finch in numbers but is still a reliable backyard birdhouse nester. Build a bird- house of any size or any color with a hole at least an inch - and -a -half in diameterand I guarantee you a house sparrow will take up residence and be your friend. Another visitor from across the sea that visits her feeder is the common starling. This big, dark - colored, freckled bird with a rather long, pointed bill is probably the most aggressive bird we have. It makes our native birds take a back seat when it comes to nesting sites and food. The star- ling will fight over and usually win a bird box or a woodpecker's hole or a spot behind the cornice of a bam. As long as it can get in and out, the starling will take up housekeeping. As far as food goes whether you throw our standard bird seed, crusts of bread, or garbage, he'll not be choosy. Should he not find that, he'll invade the chicken yard for corn or even scavenge the shore or invade the marsh or nearby bushes if they yield berries. If it's edible, he'll be the gleaner. Starlings are well organized and travel in flocks. Like storm troopers they work over a field, leaving little behind. They work like a conveyor belt, the birds from the rear moving up to replace the ones in front as they move across my pasture. Birds Near the Woods Around our home in the woods we get these birds at our feeders as well as some of the native woodland birds sprinkled in between: the downy and hairy woodpeck- ers and an occasional visitor from the south, the red- bellied woodpecker. These WEST MILL FUELS, INC. CASH C.O.D. 150 gallons $.829 200 gallons $.799 300 gallons $.789' • Premium diesel fuel available. • Plus tax as applicable. • Prices subject to change without notice. 298 -5146 i Focus on Nature nonmigrating birds live mostly on insects found in trees. For a treat they'll come to our feeders where suet is the big attractor. Here the protein -rich suet supplements their never - ending search for insects. Then there's the mourning dove, that trim bird of the open field that searches out weed seeds fallen on the ground. You'll never see them feeding about on the forest floor but should you put food out on the ground in an open area, whether it's our front yard or my mother -in -law's backyard, they are bound to find it. Song sparrows, white - throated sparrows and juncos will be found feeding on the ground as well. Then there is the noisiest member of our feeder family, one that invades and consumes sunflower seeds by the dozen, Mr. Blue Jay. I'm sure there are many, like me, who can put up with him in spite of his sauciness because of his dash of color. Chickadees and Cardinals Of all the birds that come to our feeder there are probably two that are everyone's favorites. The little and always busy chickadee and the colorful cardinal. My first acquaintance with the chickadee was years ago when my father fed birds at his place. We kids would be amazed when he walked out on the back porch with some sunflower seeds and die little puffs of feather would seemingly drop out of nowhere and feed from his hand. We kids were always a bit impatient when it came to taking the time to give Mr. and Mrs. Chickadee confidence but on occasions with a little apprehension the birds would come and feed. How our eyes would light up! Fifty years ago the cardinal was a rarity in our area but since then has spread throughout the north from its homeland down south. It's become a common nester and probably many of you have had it nest near your home. It surely does love sun- flower seeds and is the last to feed as the light drops off in the late afternoon at our feeder. There is hardly a feeder put out that a cardinal doesn't someday visit. Besides the birds mentioned there are less common ones that visit our feeders as well: tufted titmouse, song sparrow, junco, white - throated sparrow, mocking- bird, goldfinch, evening grosbeak, red - and white - breasted nuthatches, brown creeper, flicker, occasional robin, towhee and catbird. Sometimes you'll draw some un- wanted guests such as the grey squirrel. These cheerful little fellows can be real problems, particularly if you have nut trees that attract them to your area. When they move in then it becomes a challenge to outwit them from getting to your feeder. Dangle feeders on wire or cover them with heavy mesh wire — nothing seems to keep them out. It's all temporary for, given a little time, Mr. Squirrel will eventually outwit most of us. As I sit here with my leg elevated and lookout at our feeder I can't help but think how much enjoyment we get out of the birds that come, particularly when we know a little bit about their habits and where they live. The inside world be- comes a better place to live with them at our feeders.