BITS & PIECES: For The Birds

Being a much lighter sleeper than Yours Truly, The Spouse has lately had numerous interruptions to her slumber lately thanks to the constant nighttime serenades of a juvenile mockingbird. The young males apparently will sing throughout the night when they have been unsuccessful at attracting a mate. The Spouse shook us awake once or twice recently to locate the source of the sound. We shooed it away from the crepe myrtle outside our bedroom window, but it keeps coming back for more.

As we sat on our back porch at dusk late last week, a barred owl lit on the limb of a pine tree at the edge of our property. We let out our deepest “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” — and even tried that weird monkey sound they make — in hopes for a response. It took the winged predator a minute or two, but we got the answer we were hoping for. Then it flew away.

That got us to thinking, “Where did we put that locator call?” While we’ve spent many hours afield over the course of several springs in the past 15 years, we’ve not yet been successful at harvesting an Eastern turkey. Perhaps this could be our year. The season opens Monday.

We’ve got to buy a better camera tripod than the Onn brand currently carried at Walmart. We are on our third tripod, as this brand simply cannot handle even the lightest abuse. In fact, our past live-streams have been brought to you in part by duct tape — not the Duck brand, mind you, but it got the job done.

Tis the season for hummingbirds! We intended to put out our feeders in mid-March but have yet to get around to it. This weekend, maybe? Here’s a reminder that you don’t need to buy the “red stuff” from supermarket shelves to feed hummers. All you need is 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, let it cool, and voila. We use ice cubes to expedite the cooling process. No need to add dye, as hummingbirds are naturally attracted to the red feeders (assuming your feeder is red).

The eclipse threw off our grocery shopping routine, so we haven’t planned any meals this week. Guess it’s chicken tonight.

Joel Phelps is publisher and editor of arkadelphian.com. He’s not responsible for any mockingbird that might have flown from his home to yours in the middle of the night. Contact Phelps at editor@arkadelphian.com.