By KAREN MADORIN
One of my favorite movie quotes is the Field of Dreams “I you build it, they will come.” This mantra works in more places than an Iowa cornfield.
We recently returned to western Kansas after a six-year hiatus in northwest Wyoming. Both landscapes offer open space, inspiring western skies, and lots of bird species. In Wyoming we lived near a river and creek that made it easy to recruit species including grossbeaks and tanagers to our tall spruce and cottonwood trees and our big lilac bushes. Our new home has an old ash and several tall pines, but other than sparrows, robins, and grackles, we saw little variety during our first months calling this home.
That’s where the “If you build it, they will come,” quote comes into play. We put 5 bird bathsaround the yard, planted bushes to hide them once the seedlings grow, and we put in a big garden. Initially, that was for us, but we’ve discovered that our squash, corn, and tomato plants serve as perches that provide the birds with tasty insects as well as observation posts. Yesterday, a hungry robin offered natural insect control when she spied live protein crawling near a cabbage plant.
Hoping we had orioles in the neighborhood, we served grape jelly in an easy-to-perch on dish and oranges sliced in half on a sturdy log. It wasn’t long til we saw not one species but two of orioles visiting our offerings. Pairs of bullock and orchard orioles visited our diner several times a day, taking turns snacking on sweet stuff and picking at orange flesh. Following their meal, they flitted to a bird bath mostly for a drink but sometimes for an entertaining splash bath. The dining room window offers a perfect view of their antics where we can spy undetected.
In Wyoming, hummingbirds called our yard home from late June to late August. We found out that house finches had a sweet tooth and could siphon sugar water from our feeders every bit as well as hummingbirds could.
Here in Kansas, once we offered water, bird seeds, and protective perches, multiple house finches relocated to our yard. We may not have a humming bird feeder out, but they like grape jelly and oranges every bit as much as orioles do.
Though they aren’t interested in our oriole food or bird seeds, western king birds have discovered fresh meat flitting above the garden. These saucy, flying attitudes perform dazzling aerobatics while squabbling with one another before they snag their dinner. I’m glad they joined the menagerie because the bullying grackles don’t intimidate them one bit. In fact, I’ve watched more than one nasty black and iridescent blue tyrant hightail it to a distant neighbor to avoid these airborne warriors.
Now that It’s mid-July, we watch fledged young learn from their parents as they visit the garden, feeders, and bird baths. One juvenile oriole perched unsteadily on waving corn tassels was bound and determined its parents would hunt and put insects in its mouth. Dad cared for the little squawker that day, but my money says free meals end soon.
We still hope to hear a cardinal’s lilting song and see red flashes through pine branches. Based on the number of new birds that have shown up so far, it will happen. When it does, you’ll read about it.
Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.