THE EFFORT-LESS BIRDFEEDER

Last week our daughter and two grandaughters took an Everglades airboat tour.  It’s something I had wanted to do since childhood and it only took over sixty years!  It is truly an unforgettable experience!  The Everglades expands to hundreds of miles, but we were in the closer segment called Belle Glades.  The water is still and dark, and you just know all kinds of things lurk beneath. The alligators are everywhere, some swimming with their heads glilding above the water and their eerie eyes staring at you. Others, the elders, just lie on their territorial banks, sunbathing and ignoring us humans with a “ho hum”. The younger ones will scurry from their banks and disappear under the water.The tall grasses, lilly pads and hundreds of flora dance around as the boat glides through. Most wonderful were the smells-smells from vegitation, wildlife and the fermentation of the soil below the water.  It was funny to observe literally hundreds of Great Blue Herons, everywhere, swooping above our heads and hiding in thickets, and we back in New Jersey go crazy when we see Blue Max- the one and only Great Blue in our neighborhood! Along with the Herons, all sizes, shapes and colors of fowl thrashed around us-White and Glossy Ibis, Red Winged Blackbirds, Purple Martins, Falcons of all varieties and hundreds more!  My favortie was the Purple Galinule, a duck sized little thing that seems to fly above the surface of the water. He is beautiful with long yellow legs a red beak and feathers like a rainbow! Then there was the Purple Salt Hen-bigger than the Galinule and more agressive. Presumably this bird was in captivity in a large zoo aviary.  With the last hurricane the aviary was destroyed and the Hens escaped . Now they have made the Everglades their new home. We will return again and again, as each trip affords a new and exciting treat! I highly recommend it.

Well, it’s almost Thanksgiving.  How did that happen?? The birdhouses are cleaned out and closed up.  Amazing that the “prettier” birds have left their nests neat as pins.  We were able to simply pull everything out, like little bricks of grass and mud.  Much like the little pig fairy tale.  Unlike the sparrows, whose nests were a mess and disheveled.    Is there a message here?  These naughty birds are not only unattractive and aggressive, they  also reek squalor on their neighborhoods. 

But we must not be prejudiced. They ARE little living things.  My quest this spring is to allure more pretty and proper birds, and of course, the ever elusive blue birds.  I have written a book about these precious little beings- their trials and triumphs.  Perhaps I may take this little novel to market.

We call him Blue Max.   We met, so to speak, some twenty five years ago while perusing the property that we would be building on.  The ponds and the environment were beautiful.  A haven for flora and fauna and we knew we had to live there.  It was Blue Max who clinched the deal.  As we were walking around we heard a prehistoric squawk, looked up and saw this giant and beautiful Great Blue Heron.  As the days went on and we were on the site daily, he would literally swoosh above us and bid us a welcome.   Over twenty two years he became a sort of giant pet and we communicated in bird and people greetings.   We decided to name him Blue Max.  

There are many memories of “Blue” from his landing often on our pool cover, to his prancing around the lawns, to the two weddings we held on the property when he showed off flagrantly to all the astonished guests.

They say a Great Blue Heron may only have a twenty two year life span, if lucky. Well, we STILL see him almost daily.  And if it isn’t him, suppose it might be one of his children!!