By RAY POPE 
 
Sometimes you don’t have to be a farmer to be able to give good advice.  I received an e-mail from Susie Clay telling me she read where I said to keep Hummingbird feeders out through the month of October. Susie took my advice and had a female Hummer stop by to feed on Oct. 15, pretty late for Hummers! There are always situations beyond their control which could hamper their migration south.

By keeping the feeder out a little late might have saved the life of the tiny flyer. Myself, I have left only one outside just in case of the same deal. My son, Jason Pope, saw a Hummingbird two days before Susie wrote me, checking out a spot where a Hummingbird vine bloomed during the summer and now was dried up. The bird was probably used to finding food there from an earlier visit. I will repeat myself that keeping feeders out late will not cause Hummers to stay longer and might just save a life. 

This past Friday my pair of Bluebirds returned and seemed to be selecting a winter roost. It makes me wish that my table saw was here where I could build a winter roosting box for them. Roosting boxes are very similar to a nesting box, except it has perches inside and the entrance hole is placed on the lower part of the box so that their body heat doesn’t escape upward and out. I do have some plans for them if anybody would like to try their hand at building one. 

My little buddy next door, Andrew Boyd, would sit on the end of his family’s couch watching the Hummers fight around the feeder that I had placed there on their front porch. Now every time I go for a visit, Andrew will see some kind of a bird fly over and point and let me know that there is a bird flying by. He is very smart for being 2 1/2 years old. 

Back in the 1970s, the only time you might find a Canadian Goose was in the fall where they would fly here from the northern states. I remember one time, while attending McClain School, a lone Goose flew down and landed on the outside tennis court where our class was playing. From up in the air it probably looked like a body of water and we looked like, maybe decoys? It’s funny how I can’t remember things from last week, while this story from my past stays fresh in my mind. These days the Canadian Goose is a mainstay here around the southern lakes. 

Birds at my feeders have been the more common kind and my Goldfinches have been very scarce these past several weeks. Goldfinches are about the last birds to nest and probably have plenty food in the wild.

They will soon return and things will get back to normal. The most plentiful bird to show up at my place is the Mourning Dove, who takes his lunch on the ground beneath the feeders. I always scatter some seed where they can feed at their convenience.  

I would love to hear from you as to what’s lurking about in your neighborhood and at your feeders. You can write me at 606 Fairview Ave., Lebanon, TN 37087, or call me at 547-7371, or e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it