I woke up a chilly February morning, grabbed my phone, and surfed through my emails in bed. This is a typical routine for the weekend as I look through my rare bird alerts. One of my emails was from the National Audubon Society advertising a pretty blue bird feeder from Lowe’s. A few hours later, I was the proud new owner of a feeder.

I’ve had bird feeders in the past. A finch sock for thistle attracted House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches, but after the roof was redone on our apartment building, we decided to remove the feeder since it made a mess and could have affected the new roofing from our third-story location.

Then I had a hummingbird feeder for a while. Sadly, I forgot to refill the feeder for several days and it was outside cooking in the hot sun. Really bad mold grew inside the glass tube, and despite multiple rounds of bleaching, I couldn’t get rid of it. I didn’t want to harm the hummers, so I threw it away.

Now I’m using a feeder that can attract multiple types of birds. I filled it with no-mess sunflower seeds, and waited.

And waited.

And waited…

February comes and goes. March comes and goes. What the heck? Daily I would stare at the bird-less feeder, jealously hearing all the finches calling outside. Why won’t they come?

With the stay-at-home orders in place, I’m now working from home. No commute means I have some extra time before I start work. I’m spending that extra time in the mornings watching the crows build and tend to a nest and listening to the morning chorus of songs and calls. And watching the bird-less feeder.

On a warm April afternoon, I was in the living room and heard a Lesser Goldfinch sing. It sounded close! I snuck into the kitchen to look at the feeder through the window. Aaaand nothing. Bummed, I went back to the living room. But wait, I heard it again! I repeated my slow approach, and spotted it – a male Lesser Goldfinch hogging at the seed and singing. It was later joined by a female.

I’ve been watching this pair visit the feeder sporadically throughout the day. I’m happy to finally have some bird action at the feeder.

(No picture of the feeder because the windows are dirty. I tell myself that dirty windows will help prevent bird crashes – at least that’s my excuse!)