Nearly three weeks into my new homestead and I cannot seem to get much done because I'm so enthralled with all of these wonderful birds,some of which I have never seen before!!!! Goldfinches,Carolina chickadees,Bobwhites,wipporwhills,Eastern Bluebirds(24),broad-winged hawks,scarlet tanagers,purple finches, Carolina Wrens,Acadian Flycatchers,downey woodpeckers, red-headed woodpeckers,mockingbirds,nuthatches,kinglets,field sparrows,cardinals,HUGE crows,thrushes,hummingbirds,and a whole bunch of Wild Turkey.....I used the riding lawnmower today to get rid of some of the weeds and you'd think that i rang a dinner bell for everything with feathers....I only cut up to about 20 feet from the treeline because i want all of these guys to have alot of cover..The Bobwhites come marching up the driveway in the evening as if they own it, and the bluebirds are so numerous that they swoop under the porch roof chasing bugs !!!!! I was so overwhelmed with the sheer beauty of it all today !!! The hummingbird making his little squeeks while he drank from lillies not three feet from me was glorious!!!I'm waiting for God to say "Cue the eagle"!!!!!! Are there any other crazed bird fanatics here and if so, how on earth do you get anything done?????

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), June 20, 2000

Answers

Lesley: I'm so glad to hear you're happy there, and that you have a welcoming party on wings! I wondered if you would be content in your new home, lots of people move across the country and then wish they were back "home", but you truly sound content. Aren't birds wonderful? Even the hawks are majestic, flying overhead. So far, none have come down to "dinner"! Good luck in your new home! Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), June 20, 2000.

Yes...there are lots of us crazed bird fanatics in Alabama!!! I have hummingbird feeders outside my office windows and some times I catch myself spending precious minutes watching them instead of working....then I realize watching them might be the most important thing I do for me all day!!!

Enjoy your new homestead! If you have any "Alabama" questions, I'll be glad and try to help. We have about 13 acres, about half wooded and about half soon to be pasture. We raise Angora rabbits and hope to soon have Angora goats. And we have a big garden!!!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), June 20, 2000.

Will you accept a crazed bird fanatic from Illinois?! We have several hummingbird feeders on our wrap around porch and one on the shed. We have finch and regular bird feeders scattered here and there. We leave as many deadfalls as we can, although we do cut standing dead wood for heating wood some times. Uncle Ivan plants feed plots for wild critters in all the little odd bits of land - ususally from "old" seed that farmers and etc.. have given him. He plants wheat, milo, cane sorguhm, corn, sunflowers, soybeans - and has on occasion just broadcast whatever was in the bottom of the wild bird feed bag.

Today, we have hummingbirds and orioles at the porch feeders, gold and house finches, red breasted grosbeaks, cardinals, blue jays, grackles, nuthatches, flickers, red headed woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, wrens, bluebirds, robins, barn swallows, killdeer, and of course - sparrows in the yard. Probably others, but that was a quick glance. We also hear the bob-white morning and evening and whip-poor-wills holler all night. Owls and hawks are common sights, as are a version of gull near the lake and various long legged shore birds - herons and such.

I made sure there was a bird feeder outside the kitchen sink window, and I located my hammock near another bird feeder and the wren house. The swallows nests are near the shed, so I can admire them as I work in there!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), June 21, 2000.

Lesley, for Heaven's sake get a grip! Got any buzzards, or bitterns, or cedar waxwings, or snowy owls? You southerners are so weird! Probably don't even have the State Bird of Maine - the Blackfly! GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), June 22, 2000.

So nice to know that there are other "Birders" out there, and Brad,"Mah skeeters ken beat up yur mosquitoes any tahm" (I've been practicing".....I wish I'd moved to Alabama about thirty years ago..I LOVE IT HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!! It reminds me of Maine without the snow...hee hee hee

-- lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), June 23, 2000.