I miss my bluebirds. They don't come around anymore. Ever since we moved out to the country, I've thought that it would be really cool to have a mockingbird in the yard. They'd come through the woods every now and again, mainly in the winter for a quick drink of water and maybe a berry off the small burning bush we had planted. They wouldn't stick around but would head pack to their home turf at the end of the driveway. There's a wild 'hedge' full of sumac, some kind of round black berry, honeysuckle, black cherry, hickory. This is where they've been for the past two years. They weren't there when we first bought the property a couple of years ago. Then they moved in from down the street. I saw my first juvenile N. Mockingbird at this hedge. I had always wanted one to sing here on a warm summer night, but they never did. Well, that's fine because I had begun to develop a fancy to the wonderful woodpeckers and chicks and nuts and the titmouse. But, most of all for the Eastern Bluebird. The blues took a liking to the peanut butter suet stuff a lot in the winter and have been coming here regular-like since 2000. They'd appreciate it when we'd rake the leaves to expose critters for them to eat. They have nested here and raised their young here. They hang out together and feed together. Everybody seemed to get along. It was a peaceable kingdom. Things changed recently. This winter a mockingbird did show up.and stayed. It discovered the peanut butter suet and now it has completely and totally taken over how things 'operate' at the feeders. It perches on top of the suet cage and lets no one else feed. Or it'll perch on a branch close by and wait to swoop in on an unsuspecting bluebird at the suet cage. Now the group of blues won't come up here to feed. Even by having two suet feeders hasn't helped for it has taken over both of them. No one is safe, not the Red-bellied nor the Downy. The mocker's gone so far as to fly at Morning Doves feeding on the ground and scare them away. So, things have been quite at the feeders lately. One Northern Mockingbird. Anna Varney Near flood stage in. Summertown, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================