eBirdseed.com Wild Bird Feeding Blog

Let's start this post on an upbeat note. Here's a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker coming in for a landing at the local diner. Note the brilliant yellow rachis in the primary feathers.

And with that, so much for being upbeat... Today, I spoke with an old family friend who owns a backyard bird supply shop, and he echoed what we discussed a year ago on this blog concerning the cost and availability of sunflower seeds - it's getting tougher and more expensive to buy quality seed. (See More Spring Cleanup.) Biofuel and healthier human eating habits are putting a real squeeze on the old birdseed staple. We'll keep you updated on that issue.

Deep breath... And the news goes from costly and inconvenient to real disaster... In New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts, the ubiquitous little brown bats (and other bats) are dying by the tens of thousands from a condition known as "White Nose Syndrome". So far, little is known about this syndrome, except that a fungus is involved, and that the illness is causing an unprecedented die off of bats. (See Wikipedia: White nose syndrome. Also "Google" on "White Nose Syndrome" for more information...) The experts are talking about a 90% mortality rate. That's extraordinarily bad. Not only do bats eat the moths and beetles that destroy our crops, they also eat the mosquitoes that carry stuff like the West Nile Virus and in general pester the snot out of us. Couple that with last year's struggle to properly pollinate plants due to the honeybee "Colony Collapse Disorder" (again, see More Spring Cleanup) and we've got trouble right here in River City.

No... The town square isn't going to burst into flames just because bats are dying at an alarming rate... But this isn't good either. It's not good for farmers, it's not good for consumers, it's not good for folks who like the outdoors, and it certainly ain't good for bats.

So there you go... A flicker, and bad news... Let's keep an eye on the latter and discuss it by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan