The Ivory Billed Woodpecker is back!

As I perused my NY Times this morning, I see that there has been a verified sighting of an Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Now this bird is believed to have been extinct since the 1940's. You can read the article yourself, as I have linked it here.

Birds are my wintertime joy. I love them during the rest of the year as well since they help me control the insects in my garden. I plant as much "bird friendly" shrubbery and plant material as I can to encourage their presence. Even though I am listed as the Maturing GARDENER, I am a gardener who loves to have birds ALL year long!

We have bears here in northern New Hampshire. During the winter they pose no problems, but at this time of year they are HUNGRY, and bird feeders are very vulnerable, so I usually remove any feeders by the beginning of April. However, there is ONE feeder I leave up. It is high enough that the bears can't reach it, and that's my thistle feeder. I just LOVE watching the American Gold Finches who visit it with great regularity.

The hummingbird feeder is also up as soon as our nights are warm enough that the sugar water doesn't freeze. Actually, I think it may have frozen once this year...but, I don't care. If there's a hungry hummer traversing my garden, I hope he'll stop by for "tea"!

Any gardening questions for me?