The Junco Wars
We have to careful when we plant our garden. If it's too early in March, it coincides with the arrival of the Oregon Juncos. They're cute little birds, but they have a voracious appetite. And a favourite food is just planted seeds.
I learned the hard way early in my gardening career. It was mid-March. We noticed three Oregon Juncos at our cabin. We didn't think much of it at the time. They only seemed interested in the wild bird seed we had strategically placed by our bird houses.
Three days later, the Juncos multiplied into twenty and attacked our garden with a vengeance. We quickly pulled bird netting across the just planted beds. That didn't stop them one bit. They squeezed through the small holes in our plastic fencing. I got some some plastic lawn borders and closed every gap. The Juncos continued to search for openings, and when that failed, they bounced on the netting like a trampoline. It was quite a sight.
We called that experience "The Junco Wars." Since then we've had Junco's visit our cabin every year. But we've found if we wait to plant later in April they aren't so aggressive. But we keep our bird netting, lawn borders, and clothes pins on hand and ready just in case. -- Margy
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Such neat little birds. We only have them here in the late fall and winter. Their arrival tells us that the weather is changing in the mountains and their departure reminds me it will soon be time to put out hummingbird feeders.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the very interesting info. I did not know that.
ReplyDeleteNeat story - pesky little birds. You are quite resourceful.
ReplyDeleteThe junkos are so cool to watch like little chickens scratching under our feeder. I really enjoy them - but like you say not great for gardeners :)
ReplyDeleteThey're so cute, Margy, and their trampoline-jumping must have been quite a sight. Glad you figured out when to plant in order to avoid the invasion, because I know how much your garden means to you.
ReplyDeleteK
Wow! Never knew little birds like that could be so voracious!
ReplyDeleteLeslie
abcw team
They don't LOOK like evil birds!
ReplyDeleteYour Juncos look like ours with the addition of that little brown patch. Ours are just black and white. From a Juncos perspective, a seed is a seed, right? They remind me of the little red squirrels we have that invade my bird feeders, I'm chasing them away all the time and I doubt any squirrel netting would deter them...they'd just gnaw right through it!
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