Fran Rutkovsky first started watching birds as a child when she enjoyed seeing hummingbirds come to her mother’s flowers. She got her first pair of binoculars and bird guide in the mid-1970s when she and her husband, Paul, lived next door to a park in New Haven, Connecticut.

When she moved to Tallahassee in the early 1980s, she set up a feeder and bird bath. She wrote, “I kept my Peterson's Guide and binoculars near the window and gradually got to know what birds were around.”

In 1995, Fran took a “Birds of North Florida” course that introduced her to birding sites on the Internet. Through an online chat group, she met a local birder and began connecting with her local birding community. She is now a member of her local Apalachee Audubon Society where last winter she chaired a committee that organized a “Wildlife-Friendly Yards Tour” fundraiser that sold tickets for birders to visit six bird friendly yards, including her own. She is a member of the Birdsong Nature Center in Grady County, Georgia, where she serves as a greeter at special events among other things, and she is a member of the Hummer/Bird Study Group in Alabama, which has sent bird bander Fred Bassett to band the rare hummingbirds that have visited her feeders. Fran also has counted birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, and the Audubon Birdathon.

FeederWatching

Fran first started FeederWatching in 1999 at her home in Tallahassee, Florida. She counts on every other Monday and Tuesday, checking her feeders periodically throughout her count days. She wrote that when she’s away for one of her scheduled counts, she “asks another birder or two to come over and count for at least a half hour on either or both days. Of course this is also when the rare winter visitors first show up!” She also invites any visitors to her home on FeederWatch Count Days to help her count.

The only time she remembers missing a count was after a car accident in Tennessee in December, 2004. She didn't get back home until mid-January. She wrote, “Though I had to use a wheelchair and crutches for over two months, watching the birds kept me sane and entertained during my recovery. Local and visiting birders helped take care of my feeders and birdbaths.”

In addition to using some store bought suet, Fran makes her own suet based on the “Martha Sargent Super Suet” recipe:

1 Cup of Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 Cup of Lard (not shortening)
2 Cups of Quick Cook Oats
1 Cup of regular White Flour
2 Cups of Cornmeal
crushed eggshells (cleaned and dried)

Melt lard and peanut butter in the microwave or over low heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour (or spoon) into freezer containers that fit into your suet basket. Store in freezer or refrigerator until ready to use. Makes 6-8 cakes.

FeederWatch Count Site

Fran lives on a suburban half acre with trees, shrubs, and flowers, some planted, some natural. She wrote, “The main attraction for birds is the sloping ravine in back with its tangled vines, trees, and stream at bottom.” 

Feeder birds

Capitalizing on the birds

Because many people want to see the Western Tanager and Bullock’s Oriole, among other birds that visit Fran’s feeders in winter, Fran has opened her yard to lots of visitors. At the suggestion of one birder, she put up a small sign that says: “Donations are accepted and will be split between Birdsong Nature Center and Hummer/Bird Study Group”. She also puts out brochures for these organizations, Audubon, Project FeederWatch, Great Florida Birding Trail, and other bird-related organizations.