What In The Yard’S Going On?

Recently we asked if anything unusual is going on in the back yards of Critter Watch readers. And, indeed, there is.

One Newport, Wash., couple reports having a variegated robin they’ve named Spot in their yard for three summers. They say it’s definitely not a varied thrush, they’ve consulted the bird guides. And, stranger still, it’s had offspring with the same unusual markings.

The resident squirrel at one Spokane apartment complex was forced to run upside down along the phone wire it uses regularly when a bird took a couple of serious runs at it. No one knew what prompted the spat, but the squirrel never missed a beat, running paw over paw hanging from the wire.

A house sparrow has been hogging the birdfeeder in one Spokane back yard for about three years now, chasing away all the other sparrows as well as the quail which come to nibble on anything that’s fallen beneath the feeder.

A group of six wild turkeys eat the kitchen scraps tossed out for them at a home on the east side of Pend Oreille Lake. One of the turkeys, named Burt, is crippled and has a tough time flying into the pine trees to roost. But the handicap doesn’t slow him down when the group comes running for potato peelings and celery tops.

Thanks to all who responded, and don’t be shy about reporting further back-yard wildlife shenanigans.

Backyard journal: The cakes of suet in the wire baskets hung on a fir tree disappeared astonishingly fast. Squirrels, we thought. The suet cakes were different flavors - one peanuts and cornmeal, the other dried orange and cranberry pieces - as an experiment to see which the chickadees and resident downy woodpecker preferred. Actually, it’s turned out the magpies liked them both equally.