Watching TV brings tears to my eyes. Every channel shows pictures of oil-covered birds...so many brown pelicans and other water birds suffering so unnecessarily. And, I read in the Aububon Zoo newsletter about the sea turtles they are rescuing and rehabilitating--28 so far and all of them are members of endangered species. These rescued animals are the ones we can see--how many thousands more are suffering that we can't see? The beautiful Gulf of Mexico will never be the same and it breaks my heart.
On a more positive note, this week I'm watching a young downy woodpecker. This little family (downy woodpeckers are about 6.5 inches long) acts the same as the much bigger (about 9.25 inches) red-bellied woodpecker family. The young one squeaks and fluffs his feathers to get Mom's attention. She's still patiently gathering seeds and feeding him, but that will change. I see red-headed woodpeckers regularly on my walk to campus. Their numbers are declining, mainly because of habitat destruction. They prefer a park-like setting with spaces between trees so Cary Woods subdivision is a perfect environment for them.
I've had to stop filling my big feeder with sunflower seeds since Alvin has figured out how to get inside. And once inside these little guys eat ALL of the seeds. It can't be good for them. I'll have to figure out a way to hang the feeder so that only birds can get to it.
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