Daytripping Spring 2024

Lake Huron
The
Daytripper
And we go from town to town... now we’re in HARROW, KINGSVILLE & RUTHVEN
MI
2024
ONTARIO SHOP
NY
LOCAL
TOWN WIDE
YARD
Harrow Full Circle Thrift Store
Sorry, no public
washrooms available.
Horrid birds doing horrid things.
Grackles bring out the nasty in me.
Husband and I love to watch the
birds flocking to the sunflower feeder
throughout the fall and winter months.
We take great joy in the number of
cardinals, chickadees, finches, sparrows,
and nuthatches, waiting their turn or
joining in the feast with the feathered
multitude. It is lovely to see the instinctive
comradery, sharing the feeding trough.
I’ve never figured out how the grackles
know we’ve filled the feeder, having
stopped for a few days because of their
greediness, but suddenly something has
sent them the memo and they come in
droves. There is no better word for it,
grackles commandeer the feeder. The
more timid and smaller birds perch on
nearby limbs or just fly off in frustration.
Only the chickadee dips and dives into
the trough, snatching up a sunflower
seed, whisking it away to hammer it
open upon a tree limb. I love this resilient
little fellow. He never gets discouraged or
bullied by larger birds.
We’ve even tried smaller feeders
thinking a narrow perch to be awkward
for that miserable yellow-eyed creature.
Wrong! The grackles took turns
mastering a side saddle approach on
the perch, gobbling up the seeds at the
speed of light.
Battling the Grackles
By laurie burrowsbreakey, Dundas
So the small feeder emptied quickly
and it too was put away. That left only
the suet cages hanging about from
the shepherds hooks and tree limbs
to attract the various woodpeckers,
nuthatches and that resilient little blackcapped
chickadee. Even robins this
spring have discovered the benefit of a
good suet feed. Alas, this too was not
to last, along came the dreaded black
cloud of grackles, pecking at the suet
in starvation mode. They finished off
four suet feeders. I unhooked the empty
cages and took them inside for a good
scrub in hot water, putting them away
for the summer. One remains hanging
on a chain over the ravine. It is a special
little house type feeder the pileated
woodpecker loves to latch onto in
upside down fashion. The grackles have
not figured out how to access the suet,
perhaps they dislike being upside down.
Oh joy, oh bliss!
Is it any wonder that one day a week
ago, I decided to wage war on the newly
hatched grackles nesting in the tall cedar
right beside the metal arch that needed
scraping and painting repairs?
I hoisted my trusty step ladder and
A little
piece of
heaven!
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I did not apologize to
positioned the wire
either the walkers or the irate
grackles, and went back to the
task at hand, scraping off the
flaking pieces of rust on my
brush on the shelf there
along with the black
paint and a brush to do
the deed. As a second
Photo: Wikipedia.com
aging arbour and brushing on a
protective coat of paint. Every
once in a while I’d spray into
the cedar tree, listening to the
thought, I turned on the water tap and
took the hose with me stepping up and
into easy access of both the arbour and
the cedar tree. I turned the nozzle to a
narrow setting and let rip with a lovely
harsh cold spray of water aimed into
the cedar and approximately where I
thought the nest of fledglings resided. I
was met with a resounding screech of
objection from one of the parents within
the confines of the foliage. The bird came
barreling out of the tree and joined its
mate swooping up and onto the roof of
the house, squawking in angry reproach.
gulping and chirping of the fledglings
and the upheaval of complaints both
from the parent grackles and husband
sitting on the front porch watching my
intended massacre. “You are too cruel!”
husband admonished. I came back with,
“YA think? How about when these bas...
--%$^@ raid nests and eat the innocent
little birds of the pecking order!”
Then I made a huge mistake, pulling
back the cedar limbs, a clear view of
the nest was exposed. Tiny feathered
and very vulnerable, the baby grackles
opened their beaks reaching up to
I sprayed them too. They swung low whatever offering was available.
over my head coming to rest in the tree
behind me never letting up on their
indignant rebuttal of my presence.
So not to be outdone by those darn
grackles, I turned and sprayed them as
they flitted about on the tree limb. The
arc of water caught them in mid flight and
also dampened the people beneath on an
afternoon stroll through our little ‘hood.
Whether it be water, worms or insects I
did not know, but it was enough for me
to put down my weapon of destruction
and leave them in peace. It is up to
nature to balance the scale of life.
Somewhere along the line a crow will
get the grackles and an eagle will feast
on the crow.
Pecking order remains supreme.
/ Windsor
• One-of-a-kind Giſts • Women’s Apparel & Accessories • Baby
• Home & Garden Decor • Bath & Body y Products & More!
o Huron Church
Belle River
Outdoor
Seating
Available
Essex
Have a Milkshake
ke
or Ice Cream
at...
mherstburg
Contact us about our new “Pick Your Own Flower” events!
20
Harrow
13
50
Blue Lake
29
23
Kingsville
Lake Erie
Discover our Fabulous New
Location Leamington
the Winery Route!
Our nostalgic g farm themed Ice Cream m Parlour inside Priscilla’s.
Outdoor seating to relax & enjoy!
1195 Iler Road • HARROW • 519-738-0001 www.priscillaspresents.ca
i
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Don’t live in a town where there are no doctors. - Jewish Proverb
Spring 2024