Saturday July 30

[MandysMom]

Sandi, its so dry here, so many of their natural food sources are gone, there just aren't any birds. In late spring, normally my fruiting mulberry out back is swarming as berries ripen. This year I only saw maybe 2 birds the entire fruit season. I used to have a whole bunch of squirrels, rarely see them now. Had turkeys each day, not seen them but once this year. Entire wildlife population seem to be diminished. Have had the lovely bird bath with its bubbling fountain, refilled at least once a day, run by solar pump- not a single visitor. Even if they didn't prefer this special seed with its variety made for here, if they were around I would think I'd at least have a visitor to the bath or hear one, but it's gotten quite silent.
Velda

[snowball]

that is too bad Velda... hopefully fall will bring them down from the mountains...
I had a neighbor out in the desert that each fall would inform me that there are no birds she has put out feeders and no takers... insisted on the bought hummerfood I would put out my feeders and a couple day later there they were and the hummer's preferred the home made stuff...
I wouldn't give up on them yet keep the water going and hopefully they will find you... I think it takes awhile when they aren't used to having food in a area
sheila

[Cudedog]

Sandi, its so dry here, so many of their natural food sources are gone, there just aren't any birds. In late spring, normally my fruiting mulberry out back is swarming as berries ripen. This year I only saw maybe 2 birds the entire fruit season. I used to have a whole bunch of squirrels, rarely see them now. Had turkeys each day, not seen them but once this year. Entire wildlife population seem to be diminished. Have had the lovely bird bath with its bubbling fountain, refilled at least once a day, run by solar pump- not a single visitor. Even if they didn't prefer this special seed with its variety made for here, if they were around I would think I'd at least have a visitor to the bath or hear one, but it's gotten quite silent.
Velda

Velda, I concur with all that you say.

When I first moved here twelve years ago, birds were abundant. Birds were everywhere! I hadn't been in my new-to-me home a week when I heard a commotion out in the back yard, looked out to see that a hawk had stooped a pigeon!! (I live in a residential area in the middle of "downtown").

And I had never witnessed a hawk do this in all the years I had lived in the rural Sierra foothills!

There were MANY species of birds here ALL the time - and now there are mostly none. I see one or two now and again, but not the abundance of before. And I could watch red squirrels (yes, they were red - not like the gray foothills squirrels that I knew there) running up and down my back fence all day long. (SO entertaining!) I haven't seen any kind of squirrel here now for at least three or four years.

Part of the problem may be, at least in my area, are feral cats. There seem to be cats everywhere in my neighborhood. Not a day goes by when I don't see two or three cats prowling (hunting?) my back yard. They come over my 6 foot wooden fence to use my yard as their private hunting preserve and as a cat box. My next door neighbor also complains about the amount of cat poo she picks up in her yard, it is a battle for her to keep her yard clean because she has small children.

Food for thought: "Nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared across North America since 1970 — a 29% decline."

https://www.businessinsider.com/birds-disappearing-in-north-america-2020-1

Anne

[Cudedog]

Sandi, its so dry here, so many of their natural food sources are gone, there just aren't any birds. In late spring, normally my fruiting mulberry out back is swarming as berries ripen. This year I only saw maybe 2 birds the entire fruit season. I used to have a whole bunch of squirrels, rarely see them now. Had turkeys each day, not seen them but once this year. Entire wildlife population seem to be diminished. Have had the lovely bird bath with its bubbling fountain, refilled at least once a day, run by solar pump- not a single visitor. Even if they didn't prefer this special seed with its variety made for here, if they were around I would think I'd at least have a visitor to the bath or hear one, but it's gotten quite silent.
Velda

Velda, I concur with all that you say. (I live a bit north-west of Velda, in about the same climate - think HOT and dry - general extended area).

When I first moved here twelve years ago, birds were abundant. Birds were everywhere! I hadn't been in my new-to-me home a week when I heard a commotion out in the back yard, looked out to see that a hawk had stooped a pigeon!! (I live in a residential area in the middle of "downtown").

And I had never witnessed a hawk do this in all the years I had lived in the rural Sierra foothills!

There were MANY species of birds here ALL the time - and now there are mostly none. I see one or two now and again, but not the abundance of before. And I could watch red squirrels (yes, they were red - not like the gray foothills squirrels that I knew there) running up and down my back fence all day long. (SO entertaining!) I haven't seen any kind of squirrel here now for at least three or four years.

Part of the problem may be, at least in my area, are feral cats. There seem to be cats everywhere in my neighborhood. Not a day goes by when I don't see two or three cats prowling (hunting?) my back yard. They come over my 6 foot wooden fence to use my yard as their private hunting preserve and as a cat box. My next door neighbor also complains about the amount of cat poo she picks up in her yard, it is a battle for her to keep her yard clean because she has small children.

Food for thought: "Nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared across North America since 1970 — a 29% decline."

https://www.businessinsider.com/birds-disappearing-in-north-america-2020-1

Anne