BOF Session in my backyard
Last year, I put up a bird feeder in my backyard. Being in the “greatest city in America”, I didn't expect much; sparrows, house finches, and flying rats, mostly. And that's what I got. Until this last fall, when the goldfinches started showing up around the sunflowers we had planted.
However, that didn't prepare me for the crowd in my backyard this last week. It was a black bird blowout–Red-winged blackbirds, boat-tailed grackles; I thought I was in a salt marsh or something. They were pigging out on birdseed and making a ruckus.
Paula called me from her cell phone and told me to come to the window to see; she was in the car with the kids, and had just pulled into the driveway. They were sitting in the car, watching the mob up close and personal as they emptied the feeder. A few “rock doves” joined in, while the house sparrows watched mostly from the sidelines waiting for the crowd to thin.
We've been in this house for more than five years, and I've been in Baltimore for 11. And I don't recall seeing this many RWB's–or any grackles to speak of–inside the city before. Maybe it's the drought. Maybe we're on a migratory lay-over map somewhere posted by a crow on the bird Internet. Who knows? We appreciated the visit anyway.
Sean M. Gallagher 