Dear Friends,
I was so happy to receive your kind replies to my Family Tree email. To all who wrote, thank you! I hope to entertain you with more thoughts and photos.
Over the years I occasionally would see a flash of orange in the trees around the house. I knew we had Orioles in the area, but never saw this shy bird for more than an instant. This year, I learned of their love for oranges and other citrus fruits, so I started putting halved clementines on the terrace stone wall where I could spy from my kitchen window. Lo, it did not take more than a few hours for a male and female Baltimore Oriole to become regulars. By evening all the orange pulp was gone, leaving only an orange cup.
It is wonderful how the colors of the bird and the food compliment one another. I wonder if Blue Jays like blueberries, Cardinals raspberries and Goldfinches lemons!
Back in time again, this photo is of Sandy as a young lad feeding peanuts to pigeons during a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. He set up his camera just right, gave it to a friend and got the shot. Seventy years on, he still has the same instincts, and the conversation continues.
Our farm is nirvana for raptors, owls and numerous field birds. Our friend Wendy from Adirondack Wildlife Refuge who rehabilitates injured wildlife has chosen to release birds here when they are again sound. It is immensely gratifying to free them from their crates, hold them while they consider their new surroundings, and await flight. The smaller birds in the trees cause quite a ruckus spreading the word as their territory is invaded.
We plant for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees and hope for the best. City dwellers and country folk, young and old, marvel at how even a little help can make a big difference in repairing the damage we have done to the earth.
Here at the farm, we watch in anguish as the numbers of our feathered friends are on the decline. The swallows previously nesting on our porch have gone. I have not seen a bluebird this year. Six pair of cardinals are down to one. And so it goes. The links below may be of interest and provide you with ideas.
Lastly, please read The Peregrine, by J. A. Baker. Then read it again with and to your children and grandchildren. It may be 50 years old, but it is masterful and ever more relevant today.
Lots of love, and be safe, Barbara
Audubon
Cornell Lab of Ornithology