AUGUSTA - The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is strongly encouraging homeowners to not feed birds until July and to take other food odor prevention steps around their properties as ways to deter bears that could become a nuisance or danger. Bears are coming out of hibernation throughout Maine and are in search of food that is not readily available to them at this time of year. They are drawn to bird feeders, garbage cans, Dumpsters and grills - where food or the odor of food is prevalent - or to areas where people believe it's OK to leave food for them.
When I moved to my farm in Bedford, N.Y., almost five years ago, the bird population was not what I had expected it to be. I saw jays, robins, red-tailed hawks, a random woodpecker and lots of crows, but no smaller songbirds -- no finches, nuthatches, chickadees or juncos. In comparison, when I lived at my previous home in Turkey Hill, in Westport, Conn., I fed the birds every winter, and their numbers and the variety of species grew each year. One spring, we counted more than 100 species.
Rat sightings in the Ken-Ton area are up this summer, and it has little to do with garbage. Nine times out of 10, it's somebody feeding the birds and allowing stuff to fall onto the ground," said Peter Tripi, who supervises the Erie County Health Department's Vector Control Program. "One avid bird feeder is infesting the whole neighborhood.
AUGUSTA - Recently, a large number of finches have been reported sick or dead at feeders across southern and central Maine. Contacts outside Maine, and even outside the Northeast, suggest that many other states are affected as well. Such widespread mortality at feeders is not uncommon this time of year but can be alarming to witness and has resulted in a large volume of calls to Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and to Maine Audubon as well as an influx of sick birds to local wildlife rehabilitators.
A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit. - actress Sarah Jessica Parker
It's a good time to be a rat in Erie County. Loosely sealed garbage cans, fully exposed compost piles, heavily used bird feeders and uncollected dog feces amount to a never- ending smorgasbord for our rodent friends.
Duncraft has three new bird feeders that let you get a closer look at your avian visitors. Each of the One-Way Mirror Window Feeders is made of polypropylene, attaches to a window with suction cups and has one- way mirror film (or two-way mirror, depending on what you call it) laminated to the back of the feeder. The mirror allows the birds to see themselves but doesn't let them see you watching from inside the house.
Like most other gardeners, you enjoy watching birds as they go about their lives in your yard singing, raising their young and searching for food. Many gardeners have bird feeders they faithfully fill during the winter months, and some keep them filled year- round. But one important element of caring for our feathery friends is often missing: a birdbath. Birds need accessible sources of shallow water for drinking and cleaning their feathers to remove parasites.
Q Our small front lawn contains two Bradford pear trees, rose bushes, a pink dogwood and various other small flowers during the year. Because we can view it during breakfast we chose to place several bird feeders amongst the trees and flowers that have helped the trees attract many songbirds, which we very much enjoy as we sip coffee and read the morning paper. This has been going on for seven or eight years now. About two to three months ago, a very aggressive mockingbird has taken ownership of this entire area and attacks any of the birds that stop by, even the doves and cardinals, which had been our favorites. He does shy away from the blue jays however. The bird feeders hang full. I feed sunflower seeds, and only by spreading it on the ground can I get any food to the fav...
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