Where have all the birdies gone?

I finally had to take all my feeders down when I discovered that my birds were not dying from hitting the windows, but from salmonella!   Apparently, February is a common time of year for birds to contract this disease.  It seems that if you have lots of birds and the feeders are busy, they leave their droppings that contaminate the seeds that fall to the ground.

I do miss seeing my birds, but for now they have dispersed to other feeders while I am disinfecting my own and the deck area where they usually feed.  I'm a bit lonely these days, however, a Downy Woodpecker still visits my suet hanging up on a nearby tree and this little red squirrel has been coming by ever since my birds left.