Musings: The birds are back

After a couple of lackluster winters, feeder-wise, our cabin is once again surrounded with all manner of delightful and happy winter birds. Maybe it’s the early snow and cold, or perhaps the less than optimal supply of natural feed left in the bushes, but the outcome here is truly an early winter gift.

For as long as I can remember, we’ve kept track of how much bird seed we’ve put out each year. The biggest year was 20/21 when we scooped some 755 pounds, followed the next year by 716. But since then we’ve been as low as 120 pounds in 2023-24. The volume started to climb again last year, which gave us hope. Winter birds are simply wonderful to see.