About a month ago I saw a message on social meeting from the Indiana DNR asking all Hoosiers to take down their bird feeders as there was a mysterious illness killing songbirds. At first I didn't think too much about it as the report focused mainly on Monroe County. I figured that the issue had more to do with the cicadas that Meg and Brett had been talking about. Meg had said that a professor of hers talked about squirrels dying after eating the noxious bug, so I figured it was something to do with that.
Unfortunately, the illness spread throughout the state and we finally had to comply with the DNR's wishes and take down all ten of our feeders. I was incredibly bummed, but remained hopeful that the birds would still find our woods attractive enough to remain in our backyard. We've realized over the last few days that that was not the case and that most birds have abandoned our domain.
It makes me sad to think about. I miss hearing the blue jays caw at me for peanuts when I walk out the front door. The front trees seem bear without the orioles, finches and sparrows hanging out in their branches. Even my beloved red headed woodpeckers have been nowhere to be seen. There's still plenty of robins to be found which doesn't make the situation any better as they were my least favorite due to their aggressiveness. I did spy a pair of cardinals hanging around the empty birdbath out back the other day and saw several grey hummingbirds among the front flowers. Those have been enough to keep me hopeful that soon more feathered friends will join our "bird sanctuary." Until then, I'll just keep checking the DNR website for information on when I can hang up my feeders again.
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