Doing our part to feed the birds...

15 m.p.h. winds usually don't even phase the birds around here, but when they are tied in with a winter temperature of -2 degrees, that usually equates to a wind chill of about -15 degrees or so.  So even the birds are probably shivering under those feathers.

One of the things that we can do here is to make sure they get the opportunity to eat and keep up their energy.  In order to do that, I have made several of my homebrew feeders.  I saw these at the Columbus Zoo in one of the nature areas and thought this would work here.  Besides, it's also cheap and gives me something to do with all those water bottles that would normally just get recycled.  Check this out.

 

These are really easy to make.  Cut a little slice in opposite ends of the bottom of the bottle and push a stick thru there which will serve as a perch.(click on the picture and you can blow it up to see them better).   Just above that, cut a little triangle in the bottle (it works best if the triangle base is on top as this allows a wider area for the bird to eat and less of the seed will fall out on the ground).  Then fill them with wild bird seed and hang them on a tree.  It normally will take a little while (maybe as long as a month) for the birds to overcome any fear of them, but when they do it is interesting to watch.  We have these hanging just outside our pentagon windows.  The birds do their part by eventually overcoming their fear of something new and eating while we watch them.  

With all of these hanging in the tree, it kinda looks like some huge cocoons hanging out there, like some alien bird or bee left them there.

Of course, we also have the more conventional feeders for birds who can't overcome their inhibitions, who can't live on the wild side.  The first one is a store bought feeder hanging from a limb on "Colonel Oak." (far right).  And there is also the sunflower seed container (green thing in the center of the picture).  And there is also the feeder which my dad made for us many, many years ago.  We had this when we lived in Troy and brought it here in '96. It's been hanging on the fence ever since then.

Every year, the bottom of this one sags a bit and requires some maintenance in the spring, but it is still hanging in there.

And, last but not least, is the newest feeder -- what we like to call "The Red Roof Inn."  Unlike the bottles and the other feeders, this one requires little maintenance.  Just a piece of duct tape to hold the roof closed in the winds.

We tried to put the suet cakes in the side , but they sat there all winter and were never eaten.  Don't think the birds cared for them at all.  There is also a pretty generous amount that falls or is thrown out of this one to the ground below.  That works out just fine for the morning doves as they have a really hard time perching on the narrow edges of any of the other feeders.

So that is the way we wake up here in the winter at Bailey's Harbor on McCartyville Road -- a cup of coffee or juice, the binoculars, and our friends the birds.

If one were to visit this area for the first time, one thing would quickly stand out  ... there are lots of farming fields everywhere around, and that means there is no room for trees.  There are plots of woods scattered here and there to serve as wind breaks, but they are generally a long ways from our houses and it makes it hard to watch and hear the birds.  We have planted quite a few trees here and really enjoy watching the birds all year 'round.  They give us song and color for most of the year, all at no charge.  So the least we can do for them is to give them food when they are shivering. 

 A bird does not sing because it has an answer.  It sings because it has a song. 

Hooah