The Dark Side of Springtime

In this part of the country, there are definite goods-and-bads about a month like May. Yes, the weather is warmer yet often not unbearable, and the flowers are blooming and yet the pine pollen is gone, but there's a bad side, too: high risk of tornadoes, and pronounced humidity, and...grackles. I have regularly "welcomed" Common Grackles every early May, and endured regular visits into midsummer. And then they vanish. Mostly they hog the suet baskets, muscling aside even the usual heavyweights like the catbirds and mockingbirds. Some of my correspondents tell me I am lucky. They get grackles to a greater degree and get cleaned out quickly by the marauders. Still, I'm none too happy to see them at our little feeders. And the sooner they move on, the better.