The squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis ) literally chewed the last suet feeder to bits, so we're striking back with a new one, made of recycled milk jugs and plastic bottles. We also switched to a plain suet, from one that had nuts in it. Charmaine discovered that birds don't have a sense of taste, so the nuts were just a crunchy surprise that attracted the rats with fuzzy tails (squirrels.) Barely able to contain himself is the nuthatch ( Sitta carolinensis ) eyeing up the new feeder.
That's the ticket! "The upside down bird of nature" is a quaint little bird that's a joy to watch as it clambers about in an untiring search for grubs, insect eggs and tiny spiders that hide deeply in bark crevices away from searching eyes of most other birds. It is just as much at home coming head first down a tree as going up and often climbs entirely around a horizontal limb. It is stub-tailed and long billed and has feet equipped with sharply curved claws that enable it to climb around in all positions. It is a friendly bird and comes readily to bird feeders if a small chunk of suet is provided. This one flew in while I was just a few feet from the feeder.
The name nuthatch is derived from the bird's habit of wedging a nut into the bark or crevice of a tree. Here it is hammered on with the sharp beak until the nut kernel is exposed and devoured. Something must have been hammering on President Bush's head, considering his comment at his press conference this morning where he predicted that the GOP would win the White House in 2008 and regain seats in the House and Senate. In your dreams, Iraq war starter! Bush went on to say he wouldn't be dragged into the presidential race when asked about the comments of fellow GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, who criticized the administration's foreign policy as "arrogant bunker mentality."
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