Golf, the birds, Friendship Homecomers, and more
By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
This year’s ever popular Scramble 4 Animals Golf Tournament in Memory of Robert Hutter & Rick Kane will be held on Sunday, August 11th at the Wellsville Country Club at 1:30pm. If you can’t play golf, you could sponsor a hole for $100 or sponsor a cart for $50…or donate a prize. If you are a golfer and want to put together a 4-person team, you can sign up, by either filling out the form online or the forms are available at the Wellsville Country Club or at the Shelter located at 5440 State Route 19 in Belmont. For more information just call the shelter at 585-593-2200 ext 2. or email scramble4animals@yahoo.com.
It is difficult to maintain a direct train of thought as I sit here in the Sun-Bird room as flashes of movement thru the wall to wall windows causes me to pause and look up to watch the Orioles or Grosbeaks each time they arrive at, or depart from the feeders. A couple of the Orioles are most likely the “older” adult males. Their coloring, even of the black backs, is almost florescent with a much deeper, “richer,” orange coloring. Depending on the age and gender the coloring covers a full spectrum from light yellow to the deepest orange as I have described herein. Our Bird book bible Birds of North America (A GUIDE TO FIELD IDENTIFICATION) written and illustrated by: Robbins, Bruin, Zim and Singer and published by Golden Press, or another reference I often read, claims that the adults chase the fledglings away from their immediate area as soon as they “get their wings to fly.” I’m not sure we agree with that as there seems to still be a mixture of adults and juveniles at the feeders. Early morning, likely before the bees take over the jelly feeders, and early dusk, is the heaviest traffic time for visitations to the feeders. On the subject of bees, they are a real nuisance. One suggested remedy has been to sprinkle, or mix, red pepper in or on the jelly. The theory is that it won’t deter the birds, but the bees don’t like it so will leave. Not true! The bees swarm and hover over the feeders and eat the red pepper right along with the jelly. We have yet to figure out the timing or reasoning for appearance and disappearance of certain bird types. Our Carolina Wrens had been unseen all spring and summer until just recently. When they are here you know it, as ounce for ounce they are by far the loudest birds in existence.
The crop of Grosbeaks and Cardinals has been in abundance this year. We can only hope that most of the migratory birds, like the Red Breasted Grosbeaks will remember our generosity and return next spring. We are most heartened by seeing the crop of new Cardinals as they do not migrate and at least most of them will hang around with us for years. They are, this year, very plentiful.
If I was better known for my photography than my writing, I would have a ton or so of pictures to post. I sit in my Sun-Bird room recliner as I’m writing/typing this and as I see a picture-worthy aviary opportunity, I grab my camera and, aiming through the window, and often through the balusters of the deck railing just outside the walls/windows I try to get focused in/on whatever the object is. Sometimes it works, more often it doesn’t.
Earlier this week I heard a loud thump right behind me and knowing the sound, I knew a good-sized bird had hit.
With so many birds coming and going, occasionally one will hit one of the windows. As I looked over my shoulder there was a good sized fledgling Red Breasted Grosbeak clinging to a plant stand “tower” just outside the window. He had survived but was dazed. I grabbed my camera and twisted around to take a picture of him. I will attach the resulting picture when I submit this for publication but if you don’t see a close-up of a Grosbeak, it’s because the quality was deemed too poor for publication. The bird was less than 3 feet from me as I took the picture, over my shoulder, contorted as best I could.
The last topical comment I make is likely “for the birds” as they say, and it is. A while ago we were introduced to the aviary species of the Gray Catbird. They were said to have earned that name as they had a call that sounded like a cat. As the sleek gray bird that I have seen frequently, recently, came and went I could not distinguish anything that sounded like a cat “mewing.”
Side note: My wife and I play a game called “Can you hear that?” For several years now I have experienced a loss of hearing of some higher pitched sounds. Namely, one is the beeping of my golf cart if left in “reverse,” and some of the other higher pitched sounds like alarm clocks, microwave beeping etc. My wife seems a little challenged in lower “pitched” tones. When one of us hears something, we start the “Can you (or can’t you) hear that” game. The Catbird chirping sound falls into the category of the range of my hearing challenge, or so I thought.
Back on track…On one occasion recently we started the game and my wife said: “Can’t you hear that?” At first, I couldn’t, and then eventually the sound of a soft “mewing” came into my consciousness. Now I can recognize the sound of the catbird. Now, I wish I couldn’t as the one that visits has become a real nuisance. All day long I hear that bird as it visits over, and over, and over again. My wife wants me to shoot it but that doesn’t mean that literally and of course I won’t. Chipmunks however do not get that reprieve.
Chipmunks are rodents and, worse than just visiting the sunflower seed feeders to eat, they fill their jowls with seeds and do so over and over, apparently storing for the winter. We set traps for them and occasionally mix a little lead in with their receipt of a gluttonous visit. As of this date we have disposed of 75 of the little critters.
Over the past few weeks, I have mentioned the “Friendship Homecomers” celebration held annually on the last Saturday of July. That Saturday was last week, and I was invited to attend so as to receive their gratitude for my having published the History of that event in a previous article.
I had formerly written a couple of poems about Friendship focused on the included hamlet of Nile. However, I sometimes reverse that connection claiming Nile as the parent municipality. I had not written a poem specifically for just Friendship so the morning of the “Homecomers”Celebration I wrote a poem which I was in hopes they would let me read. I did, and they did. I will include a copy of that poem herein. Before I do that however, I would like to honor a gentleman who, along with my former English teaching educators, inspired me to write poetry. Every year, Harold Reed, a locally noted insurance company owner, would read a poem. At the very first “Homecomers,” then known as the Friendship Oldtimers,that I attended, I heard and marveled at Harold’s annually written poem. I believe that 1973 was the first year of my actual attendance as they honored classes of years every five or ten years. I wrote and read my poem “The Class of 63.” I won’t share that one here-in and maybe already had, but I will add my newest Friendship poem.
