He's On...In The Can

 

 

Day 45: "I'm sorry, Mr. Dee can't speak with you at the moment. He's in the can." The phrase takes on a whole new meaning in my yard (indeed, perhaps a better one than the original vernacular). Not only do they take food from my hand, but if my open palm is already occupied, the braver souls have no compunctions about landing on the rim of the can or even getting down inside to select their lunch. I have to admit I'm spoiling them rotten. I usually only put a cup of seed in the feeder at any given time to prevent the blackbirds from hogging it all, so as soon as I notice that the 'dee-dees are scrabbling for the last bites, I go out to refill it. This also gives me the opportunity to continue hand-training...or can-training, as the case may be...but the Nuthatch still has reservations. He will land on the feeder inches from my elbow but has yet to dare the hand. He's hovered above it a couple of times as if testing the waters, but has yet to actually touch down. The 'dees have no such compunctions; in face, they compete for first rights, one bird pushing another off in order to land. Sometimes I offer "lazy seeds," i.e., hulled sunflower seed sold for human consumption. Nothing is too good for my little 'dee-dee friends!

'Dee-dee Training

Day 351: After having a 'Dee-dee sit on my hand for thirty seconds while sorting through the black-oil seed to find the Perfect Seed (and discarding every other one, I might add), I decided it was time to take it to the next level. There were a few considerations I felt might cause the experiment to fail: one, that they normally eat out of my right hand, and two, that I would have to use my flunky little Sony point-and-shoot because I can't operate my "real" camera one-handed. Using a tripod was out of the question. The 'dee-dees would surely be frightened by it. As it turned out, my little friend here was very cooperative, not only staying in place long enough for me to get several photos, but coming back for seconds. I now know for certain that I have at least two 'dees who will come to my hand, having twice witnessed the second bird's arrival just as the first flew away. Meanwhile, the Nuthatch is becoming curious, sometimes hanging upside-down from the feeder to my left as the 'dees bravely perch on my thumb. So far in my life, my wild avian contacts include Grey Jays (unavoidable if you spend any time in the backcountry), a hummingbird who helped me water the garden by alighting on the hand holding the spray nozzle, Pine Siskins, and Chestnut-Backed Chickadees (no Black-Capped yet). A Nuthatch would be a real coup!