What is it about moving into a house that makes birds so more exciting? I am considered eventually buying a bird feeder just to have them a little closer to the deck window. At the moment most of our yard’s visitors hang out around in the back corner by the compost pile, which makes them hard to see. I am using the pallet method to wall in the compost, which leaves it totally open in the top. I do not think any bread or fruit I toss in there will ever have a chance to become compost. I have a fantastic pair of binoculars though so while I cannot photograph them, I can try to identity them (’try’ being the opportune word here.) Maybe I should consider a bird field guide too, can anyone recommend one for western birds?

The most frequent visitors yesterday were a pair of pine jays, one of the few birds I know around here, though some people call them Steller’s or Mountain Jays. They are loud and mean, chasing off the little birds who were there before. They ate all the grapes from the pile. Some ravens arrived in the afternoon and chased them off (even bigger backyard bullies?) The ravens are fun to watch, they take their food (stale challah bread I think) over to the puddles in the alley and wash it before they eat.

I think the pine jays might have a nest in our pine tree, if that is the case it makes removing that tree this summer more of an emotional issue then I thought. Just wait until the sunflowers are going to seed this summer, then I am sure I will see a ton more winged critters. I am going to have to bag one of the seed heads so I have some to plant next year.