It's not really necessary to feed birds in the summer and fall. There is plenty of food out there for them. But if I didn't put out peanuts and sunflower seeds, I would never have discovered this poor guy. I thought maybe it was a full-grown chick that started filling out from the bottom up. Or that it was a bird with a big problem. When I posted the picture on the Nature PEI facebook page, someone suggested it was moulting. It's been a few weeks, and this guy's feathers have come in, and he looks just like his brothers and sisters now, so all is well.
As much as I love watching the bluejays, chickadees, and goldfinches that trek to the feeder all summer, there is one down side. If I don't bring in the seed feeder and the hummingbird feeder every evening, racoons invade. They dump the seeds, and yank out the bee guards form the hummingbird feeder and guzzle the sugar water. I can hardly wait for winter, when those masked bandits finally hibernate.
