Video: A Bouquet Of Hummingbirds Are Among The Critters One Listener Has Visit Him
When listener John Stanton isn't tuned in to the radio station from his app or streaming us live online, he's tuning into the natural world around him. This music lover also enjoys the great outdoors, and often the "great outdoors" makes an appearance on the almost 3 acres of land in Brookfield, Mass, that he calls home.
When he's not working for thehe spends time tending to the space around him. He's got 20 orchard trees on his property, and those trees sure bring in the critters.
"Especially deer; they love eating the bottom half of the branches because of the tender limbs. The rabbits are so used to me, that they don't even move. "
Staton says while he has houses all around him, right behind his house is a giant chunk of land. It's that land that borders all of the other residences, that's created what he calls a pinch point and sends all the wildlife into his yard.
"All the animals don't want to go in people's back yards, so they sift through the swamp. It's a pinch point; all the deer, all the bear come up here. "
Stanton says he sees all sorts of wildlife in his backyard...
While he enjoys watching the bigger critters make their way across his land, one of the things he enjoys the most is feeding the birds.
He says he gets all kinds of birds visiting his feeders...
"I've been feeding birds since I bought this place almost 20 years ago."
Feeding birds is a habit Stanton picked up from his grandmother, with whom he had a very close relationship.
"It's one of my grandmother's favorite things was birds, especially hummingbirds, that's why I do it."
And from the looks of his busy bird feeder, word gets around, and these tiny birds flock to Stanton's house at feeding time.
"If you look really closely I think some of the hummingbirds are babies. I only say that because they’re a little bit smaller and sometimes their feathers aren’t fully formed yet."
Stanton says he's been feeding these birds for such a long time that he knows just when to expect these little guys and when they'll head away to escape the cold winters.
"This goes on every time this time of the year. I have it written on the calendar when they actually leave Brookfield Massachusetts where I live!! I’m kind of old fashion and still write things on a calendar. They usually leave September 15-ish.
Stanton has had to go so far as to create a special hook inside his garage to hold his collection of feeders each night, just to keep them out of reach of other animals.
He says he's very grateful to have such a cool place to get such a close look at the nature around him.
Thanks for sharing, John! What a great place you've got there.
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