Spring is in full swing. The promise of rebirth and renewal for all of the earth has begun.The evidence of so many springtime signs are showing up all around us.New sprouts, shoots, tree leaves, flower buds, and baby birds are popping up everywhere. .
International Migrating Bird Day was celebrated on the second Saturday of May. This excellent
Boulder website explains a little about it.
http://www.birdday.org/
And on this same day (Saturday May 12 th) the first baby House Finch came to my flat feeder. You can spot them, because they are about 2/3's the size of their parent, and they have a bit of white down remaining on the top of their heads, usually in two little peaks. I have dubbed it their "Einstein hair" because it is a white, fine, flyaway baby down and stands straight up. My littlebaby birdwas withit's father, the red House Finch. A parent will always stand nearby while their fledglings learn the ropesabout life outside the nest. Can you tell my favorite bird is the House Finch?
If you'd like to start feeding the birds, or to begin watching them in earnest, now is the prominent season to do so. Wannabe fathers are singing their songs, and showing off their bright colors, to attract mates. Beautiful tweets and chirps are in surround sound. What an orchestra of nature'smost inspiring sounds.
This Colorado County Birding website is very useful for picking your
Colorado birding stomping grounds:
Birds don't change, but once a person begins to learn about birds, an interesting change happens within them . Once you identify birds, you have begun an experience that will only grow with more wonder and amazement. Soon, you will surely choose your "favorite" bird... It happens to everyone. And, if you have an opportunity to teach children about birds, your knowledge and excitement will grow and extend beyond your own years. Birdwatching is more than a hobby, it's an ongoing and tremendous life experience.
My 6-year-old granddaughter,
Lexi, recently moved to a new country house. She's been watching birds, and building and painting bird houses since she was two years old. Her first "find" at her new home was a nest full of robin eggs. My son lifted her high on his shoulders so she could take her first glimpse at a real nest. The egg-watching miracle for her has begun! Now, she is learning more and getting to see it live, outside of her many paper books on birds and nature.
Children seem to be brighter these days, or perhaps we are smarter by teaching them more. They quickly absorb anything and everything that is introduced to them. How exciting, to see children become versed, enthralled, and in reverence of the living sights and sounds of the great outdoors.
Hummingbird feeders are up and running. Be sure keep them scrubbed with hot soapy water, and rinse well each time you change the liquid inside. And, if the little jeweled visitors begin to arrive and consume slowly, change the liquid at least every 10 days. It must be fresh.
Hummingbird feeders are usually available for around $10.00 (and up) for a sturdy glass one, and there is no need to buy special nectar.
The simple recipe is to add/pour onecup (1 C) of sugar (beet or cane varity) into 3 cups of boiling water. Dissolve by stiriing thoroughly (until clear) and let cool.
That one recipe is enough for two feeders. Or, you can store an extra fill in the refrigerator, tightly capped for a week. There is no need to color it with food coloring. Usually, the feeders sport all the "red" you will need to attract hummingbirds. If you can place the feeder near a flowering bush, or some potted plants, that adds inviting foliage (and protection from preditors) to their feeding spot heaven.
The emergency wild bird feeding season isover. During our past blizzardous winter, when natural seed was totally burried in snow, we birders poured it on to protect the flocks. Now, a lighter amount of feeding will suffice, yet attract.
The American Goldfinch are now losing their brown winter feathers, and returning to bright yellow. They are one bird that totally changes color in the winter. You may mistake them for sparrows! Goldfinch must like to show off their bright yellow springdresses and feathery yellow suits in the spring!
Certain seeds draw certain birds, and according to the amount of yard space you have, you can determine which is best. Nijer seed (aka thistle seed) is a favorite of The American Goldfinch, The Lesser Goldfinch (an olive colored, similar bird), and the House Finch. Most other birds won't touch it. It can be fed in regular thistle seed feeders, or thistle socks, made of mesh.
Sunflower seed is a favorite of a lot of birds. Blue birds, blue jays, chickadees, juncosand others. It's a little messy, because the black sunflower seed leaves a hull.
My feed of choice is the sunflower chips, which is only the pure "nut' of the seed, with no hull, or messat all.
Cardnials love the Black OIl Sunflower Seed, too. I was told at the Youngfield Wild Bird Store, that cardinals are beginning to appear in
Colorado. This is due to some damning of waterways here. That is what is (finally) drawing them to our State. .
Always choose good bird seed, and avoid feeding bread. White bread has little nutrition for birds, and if left out for food in the winter, can cause a bird to freeze to death over night.
Even if the seed leftovers leave a little mess ... many wild, four legged critters are johnny on the spot to clean it up! Squirrels and chipmunks will frequent spots under feeders in the daytime, as do nocturnal wild animals such as fox, raccoon, skunks, and mice, at night.
It all goes down the food chain. And. if a fox happens onto a mouse eating birdseed, he'd much prefer dining on the mouse. So, make a fox happy and healthy; feed the birds!
Blue jays also catch mice, especially in the spring, when they are feeding their young. They are up at the crack of dawn looking for a meal for their babies. I'd much prefer seeing them feed on mice, than having to rob a nest of other baby birds. And, that's what they do, if their young risk starving. Yes, sometimes, sadly but
nature-ly, it's a bird eat bird world out there.
Avoid putting rat or mice poision, (or traps) outside. If a non-target animal or bird gets the posion, the poision continues downour entire food chain
Keeping wild life safe, healthy, and abundant starts and ends with us.
This Cornell educational website is a good place to begin some discoveries, as you set your feet into the woods to begin this wonderful journey of sound and colored feathers.
For me, the most important lesson I've read about feeding the birds is simply to keep all the feeders and feeding areas clean. It's important to scrub feeders often, because if they are left dirty, birds acquire an avian conjunctivitis, much like pink eye in humans. In the following Cornell website, you can see pictures of birds that are infected. (Not pretty, but necessary to learn.)
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/recognizing.html*See Post Script Warning at the end of my article for an update on the avian eye disease in Golden.
A visit to a wild bird food store can bring a wealth of knowledge. The experts there are always well informed, and can tell you about anything you need to know about various seeds, suet, bird feeders, bird houses, birdbaths, and more.
Also it's so very important (and NICE) to leave fresh water out for birds. Nothing is more appalling to me than to see wild birds drinking from pits in the street that are filled with water containing gasoline, motor oil and dirt. I keep little colorful metal buckets and a few bowls of fresh water near my feeding stations. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so refreshing..." said the robin!
Oh, and that robin will LOVE your leftover grapes! (Or Bing Cherry's if one should be so lucky to get your leftover fruits.)
Did you know? ... that hummingbirds eat bugs and spiders for their main diet? The nectars we put out to lure them into our sight, are only a sugary treat they enjoy, but could do without. Also, hummingbirds make their nests mostly from spider webs. So, if you can, at all costs avoid the bug sprays and weed poisions. Grass feeds/weeds preperations are available in non-toxic formulas! Insist on the safest and the best!
Here, the
Sierra Club offers 10 best non-toxic ways to lawncare.
And, again, my favorite bird watching website, a busy forum where you an enjoy posts, stories, wild bird photography, and ask any question you may have about birds. Example: What is it? It hit my window! Where's it's mother? What should I do?") There are pros there who will help you with it all, and identify any bird you see, that you can describe. This bird site is a section of Gardenweb.
http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/bird/ It's a tremendous, interesting site, frequented by the friendliest and most knowledgeable and helpful bird watchers in the world! There are newbies there, just beginning the birding experience, and experts who have been into birdwatching and studies for years, and generations.
An important tip for beginner birdwatchers is to learn to quickly memorize what you see when looking at a new bird. For instance, if your eyesight and memory says "Bigger than a robin, beige breast, with black spots, big black bib, long beak, light colored legs and feet, red streaks on cheeks." You will soon know that you have just identified a "Red- Shafted Northern Flicker", a type of woodpecker that loves to hang out in Golden's
Lyons Park!
It's fun to keep a little notebook to list your identified birds. Soon, not a chirp or song will go unnoticed, or a feather seen, not associated with it's owner.
Also, there are a lot of good books in the library which will help you to identify bird species. You can decide your favorite there, before you purchase one.
There is more than a ton of information about bird things on the web. You can learn how to identify birds by their song, or how to whip up a wonderful recipe of birdie corn bread, or peanut butter suet.
http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa031300a.htmAnd, here, learn about England's "Ban the Bang" which identifies the problems of loud fireworks that kill baby birds, and other new born wildlife. Even if your dog has ever bolted away from home during a fireworks event, this should interest you.
http://www.veggieglobal.com/campaigns/
This article from
The Denver Post from early May, lists lots of nature things to see and do. If the event has passed, just bookmark, and wait'll next year! Many events are still upcoming.
In
Colorado, we are fortunate to have such an abundance of birds, wild flowers, and unmatched natural beauty.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, when asked to describe
Colorado, "The scenery bankrupts the English language."
Teddy, we couldn't have said it better!
Happy Springtime!
*POST SCRIPT WARNING: After just writing yesterday that I'd never seen House Finch with an infectious eye disease, I have to edit this remark. This morning, I spotted two House Finch with the eye disease. I've contacted Cornell and will report my findings to them. In the meantime, I will follow the instructions given in this report:*
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/hofifaqs.html
* Most importantly, keep all bird bird feeding areas clean! Keep the bird seed containers well washed with hot water and soap. And, thoroughly disinfect them often, but especially when sightings of illness deem it necessary.If you see infected birds and want to contact Cornell, here is the website address:
cornellbirds@cornell.edu Sharing this information aids them in their vital studies.
Why get involved with the birds anyway? Click here, and you will be amazed to find out why:
http://ebird.org/content/
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