The Little House on Creek Road

Bird Blog  -  8/16/12

Honestly, I never intended this to be a Bird Blog.  I ashamedly must admit that I used to snicker at the birders in Arroyo Verde Park with their khaki shorts, knock knees, and binoculars.  I was unkind and uninformed.  Little did I appreciate their passion for our endearing feathered friends.

A Flicker

Yet here I am writing a blog that is supposed to be about our little house refurbishment, and instead seems to be all about birds.  Finches, Juncos, Hawks, Orioles, Woodpeckers, Spotted Towhees, Titmouses, Starlings, Doves, Ring Neck Pigeons, Scrub Jays, Flickers, Grosbeaks, Quail, Owls, and Swallows, and others yet to be discovered.

A covey of Quail clean up the spilled seeds.

So today is no different.  However, today I am not so very pleased with some of my little bird friends – namely a renegade band of Goldfinches.  Oh yes, they are quite innocent looking no doubt.  They put on quite an act of “look how cute I am” when they are perched at the bird feeder.   And their likability factor is off the charts when they are splashing in the bird bath.  But I am here to tell you everything is not as it appears.  DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR CHARM AND JOIE DE VIVRE!

I have documented proof that there is a band of Goldfinch hoodlums who are terrorizing my sunflower plants.  And I don’t mean the flowers, I mean the plants.  For some mysterious reason these Goldfinches take delight in shredding the sunflower plants of every ounce of leaf on every single stem.  No, they are not eating bugs on the leaves, they are eating the leaves!!! 

                              

And I have come to find out this is not an isolated incident.  It is epidemic on the world wide web.  People are afraid to leave their homes.  Children live in terror of walking to school.  The elderly fall victim to their attacks.  Ok, I’m exaggerating, but it really is a problem and they really are eating everyone’s sunflower leaves.

             

Trying to look innocent.

Evidently one of the tried and true antidotes is spraying them  with Concord Grape juice – the leaves, not the birds.  It seems it is not agreeable to the Goldfinch palate.  I may try this although the image of my lovely flowers dripping with sticky purple grape juice is not very appealing.

If any of you have a suggestion or alternative solution, please let me know.

Batman, the neighbor's cat, would love to take care of the problem.