Stick Bird

 This has been a year of very few feeder birds. Juncos have been the only backyard bird that I can count on. Regular visits from two Northern Flicker brighten up the yard a bit.  For the last week or so, I have seen a couple of American Goldfinch and a few Purple Finch early in the morning.

Three or four Robins have been passing through in the early morning hours, too.  Last year I was getting a lot of finches, including large flocks of Pine Siskins.

In the absence of all of these visitors this year, maybe I need a Stick Bird!

On Saturday when our birding group reached Portugal Cove South we checked a feeder that is known to attract a lot of great birds, but it was empty....except for this Stick Bird. It was bright, colorful and happy, as it had the feeder all to itself.

I wonder if this little Stick Bird attracts birds to this feeder. I think there are two important things that I need to add to yard this summer:  hedges and a stick bird. Then, even if no birds show up, I can enjoy the cheer of always having a colorful little bird in my yard.

Time to top of the feeders to attract as many birds as possible for the Backyard Bird Count coming up this weekend. Great fun and contributes to science, too.