Have I Found My Special Purpose?

In Naknek we might say "Oh, I think they got a job keeping the Ravens away from the dumpster out behind the grocery store." or some similar remark to tease or joke about a person. And now it has come true. Except it is me out trying to protect my bird feeder from the Brown Jays - which I have come to believe are Costa Rica's version of the Magpie. And I do feel bad about chasing them off. But if I let the Brown Jays eat all the fruit the pretty birds will never come. And not to say the Brown Jays aren't pretty, but I want some color out there! I see turquoise, orange, neon green, yellow, all the colors of the rainbow flying around in the yard, just not at the feeder. I have taken it on as a personal project to get them to stop by.

This photo shows only one Brown Jay. We've had up to 7 there at one time. They are quite raucous as they announce their presence to the neighborhood. Notice the dead branch it is sitting on? Attaching that branch to the feeder was another of our attempts to make the feeder more attractive by giving the birds something to perch on. The Brown Jays seem to like it.

So after exhausting my common sense coming up with ideas to attract the pretty birds (that didn't take long) I resorted to internet research. And I found out there is a new wildlife protection measure and BigJohn could be in big trouble for this bird feeder. And also for feeding monkeys I bet.

And I found this great blog about birding in Costa Rica. It had this picture. I liked that idea. I could do that! Maybe the birds would like it better if the food wasn't on that flat board. And see that cool bird? I have those in the fig tree in front of our house all the time! It's an Emerald Toucanet. I bet I can attract them to the feeder!

 Grabbed a kitchen knife and headed out to sharpen up the ends of some of those branches. And then cut pieces of fruit to attach. My banana bunch is gone but I had bought one piece of big yellow fruit (not sure if it was a banana or a plaintain) at Whole Foods earlier that day. We're leaving for a few days so didn't want to stock up on groceries. And here is the result.

 

Can you see the little bits of yellow attached to the ends of the sticks? And guess what? It worked!!!! In less than an hour something showed up that was NOT a Brown Jay!

 I love the Capuchin Monkeys but I have to admit that was a little disappointing. There were only two of them but the food didn't last long. They must have been part of the troop that went through the yard before because they went to the feeder first thing to check it out. Those two left and then more showed up. And I was out of bananas. It was kind of like running out of candy on Halloween night and not having anything for the trick-or-treaters. So back to scrounge through the kitchen. Found out monkeys don't like tomatoes. But apples work.

 

 

They also like avocado on toast. That might sound like I'm in the house making little sandwiches for monkeys but I wasn't. I just happened to be having lunch when they came by. These guys are so cute it is hard to remember NOT to smile at them and show your teeth. And guess what else? They can bark just like Hector! Hector was napping so missed most of the monkey visit but towards the end he woke up and was standing in the house doorway when a monkey nearby saw him and gave off a few barks. At first I thought it was Hector barking, but it was the monkey!

The Capuchins can also make some terribly loud screeching sounds when they get into a squabble. That happened during their last visit here. BigJohn was in the house, probably Facebooking, and I was out watching monkeys when the screeching started. Right after that happened I went into the house and BigJohn commented "What was going on out there? I thought the monkeys were attacking you!" Oh really? Because you didn't even get up out of your chair...

And those birds you hear in the background are the Brown Jays of course!