The summer of 2017 marks a return to a former practice and a re-found disregard for marauding black bears. After a few years of absence, the hummingbird and thistle feeders are back up. There were a few nights early on when I took the thistle feeder in at dark and put it back out in the morning. I no longer bother. I haven't seen any bear activity in the immediate neighborhood. The next-door neighbor has a dumpster, which would seem to be a prime target in the immediate area. It had been raided by the bruins in summers past. For the summer of 2017, it appears that it is no longer or not yet on the bears' list of preferred dining spots.

An article in today's local newspaper (Ashland Daily Press) reports that 40% of the diet of bears "harvested" in northern Wisconsin was comprised of bait. Hunters can bait bears for 180 days from mid-April through the bear hunting season in late October. The Department of Natural Resources estimates that some 4 million gallons of bait are consumed annually. It could be that hunters are providing bears with the good stuff so dumpster diving for sour food scraps mixed in with the regular household trash, to include cat litter and dog poop, no longer has the charm that it may at one time held.

But I digress. I intended to talk about birds and bird feeders or is it more appropriate to call them bird bait stations? It all comes down to the harvesting euphemism.

In any case and perchance due to a bit of good luck or the lack of bad luck on my part, the feeders have been left for the birds. Hummingbirds and gold finches make for quality touches to the yard. Each, in their own way, is not unlike a flowering plant in the landscape. Unlike flowers, the presence of these two is not limited to a brief period of bloom like most perennial flowers. Each also brings its personal style. The hummingbirds define kinesis. The particular characteristics of their flight remind one of fighter pilots. They may not have the white silk scarf of the movie version of a World War II ace, but the adult males have an iridescent magenta ascot when the lighting is just right. Magenta may not the most accurate color descriptor, but once I read this description of the color in Wikipedia, it just seemed to be so right, hands down.  "Magenta is an extra-spectral color, meaning that it is not found in the visible spectrum of light. Rather, it is physiologically and psychologically perceived as the mixture of red and violet/blue light, with the absence of green." (Wikipedia) Much about hummingbirds is unexpected, that is, outside of the usual spectrum of possibilities that we commonly observe in nature, so why should we not describe their coloring as an "extra-spectral"?

The male goldfinches are decked out in full bling mode--gold leaf tuxedos with black accents. They look stunning in any light--the full sun of mid-day to the half lights of dawn and dusk. The females in their spring gold (Yes, spring gold was a Pontiac Firebird color in 1969.) attire make for handsome couples on the two perch thistle feeder.

There is a single chick-a-dee that hangs around the yard and frequents the thistle feeder. There is a working man quality to his black, gray, and white outfit. It may not stand out all that much on the summer stage flush with greens. I easily recall the contrast such an outfit brings to a winter scene in its stark monochrome. Chick-a-dees and nuthatches are to winter what hummingbirds and goldfinches are to summer. I am more than willing to accommodate an occasional one or more of these winter regulars to stop by during the tourist season. If it insures the return of several when the pretty birds of summer are long gone, I am all the more willing to welcome them to the table of summer treats. I am simply paying forward to the winter of 2017-2018.