{"id":4478,"date":"2017-03-16T23:14:09","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T23:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kelolandblogs.com\/lundatlarge\/?p=4478"},"modified":"2023-07-20T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T21:00:00","slug":"birdman-of-walker-way-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/birdman-of-walker-way-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Birdman Of Walker Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMommy, who is that guy that looks like Santa Claus and is always standing under his tree putting seeds in those green things?\u00a0\u00a0 Honey, that\u2019s the ‘Birdman of Walker Way’ \u00a0I read about him on the internet. He\u2019s always posting pictures of his hobby on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Oh so that\u2019s Mr. Lalley?<\/p>\n

No, Honey, Mr. Lalley\u2019s obsessed with bicycles. The Birdman is nuts over luring our feathered friends to his window where he reportedly sits for hours a day just staring at them waiting for the next photo opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, I am \u00a0\u201cBirdman.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a title\u00a0 I\u2019ve sought but, after ten years retirement, I needed to feel needed and, even though I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll be able to handle all the responsibility, I have knowingly and willingly become caretaker to hundreds..perhaps thousands.. of birds in our neighborhood; providing them with daily sustenance free of charge asking only that they let me watch them eat.\"birds<\/a><\/p>\n

All are welcome regardless of race, color or creed.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed and yellow, black and white, they\u2019re all precious in his sight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

(Well, I confess to having little or no patience with bully birds like Crows and Blue jays.)\"bird<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A Downy Woodpecker dines at some seed spillage.<\/p><\/div>\n

I was motivated by the desire to attract Cardinals to my man-cave window..not only because they\u2019re beautiful to behold in their scarlet splendor, but regular followers of this blog and my Facebook page know that Cardinals have a spiritual significance as well.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Cardinals..both<\/a>

Cardinals..both male and female have become regulars at the Birdman’s bed and breakfast.<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyway, since hanging my first feeder several weeks ago, a pair of Cardinals have shown up to dine \u00a0almost daily.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The day after hanging the first feeder, this cardinal stopped by. I called Linda into the room as I reached for the phone camera..snapping a photo just as he flew away. I was sure I’d missed him until checking the gallery. Linda and I were both amazed.<\/p><\/div>\n

Yes, I said first feeder. Last week, I stopped by the Wild Bird Connection on S. Minnesota to pick up more seed and wound up buying a vertical feeder that the Finches, (of all colors) Chickadees, Nuthatches, Sparrows and Juncos love. It\u2019s clear, too, that after watching for a while, you understand where the term \u201cpecking order\u201d comes from as these guys regularly do battle over a spot at one of the four dining perches.<\/p>\n

I used to have a feeder hanging from our big maple tree in the backyard. It was fun for a while but the darn thing soon attracted more squirrels than birds. I tried several measures to keep the furry rodents off..but was out smarted every time which is rather intimidating.\u00a0 But now, both my feeders are guaranteed squirrel proof and it has given me particular pleasure to see them stumped in their continuous attempts to crack the code. At least so far. But I can see the wheels turning in their little hairy heads and won\u2019t be surprised if they eventually have the last laugh.<\/p>\n

\"I've<\/a>

I’ve gotta hand it to them. They’re persistent. He now knows that if he puts any weight on the perch it will close the food gate. I suppose now the SPCA will be calling with claims of animal cruelty.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Others<\/a>

Others have resolved to settle for the leavin’s below.<\/p><\/div>\n

Now, you can\u2019t offer up just bird food without providing a source of water for drinking and cleaning up after dinner So I\u2019ve been searching the web to find a perfect birdbath that will best suit the needs of my feathered friends and be clearly visible from my perch in the house without having to strain my neck.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to have one that\u2019s heated for use year round and multi-tiered with a running waterfall.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m getting a little push-back from Linda on that one, especially after admitting that it might dig into our savings a bit having to hire both a plumber and electrician to make this luxurious avian spa possible.<\/p>\n

Hey, I told her. Let me get a dog and we can forget about the \u201cFour Seasons Hotel\u201d bird bath.<\/p>\n

She then explains once again the pros and cons of dog ownership in which the cons are more logical.<\/p>\n

And, she\u2019s right, of course. We do like the freedom to take a few mini vacations each year whenever and where ever our hearts desire and having a pet would be a problem.<\/p>\n

Which means, I guess, I\u2019m going to have to find a bird sitter if we ever want to leave the house again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMommy, who is that guy that looks like Santa Claus and is always standing under his tree putting seeds in those green things?\u00a0\u00a0 Honey, that\u2019s the ‘Birdman of Walker Way’ \u00a0I read about him on the internet. He\u2019s always posting pictures of his hobby on Facebook. Oh so that\u2019s Mr. Lalley? No, Honey, Mr. Lalley\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11519,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions\/11519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jodystaples.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}