Feeding the Birds.. A Winter's Delight

Hello..

I'm so glad you're here and I hope that you

enjoy your visit.

I'd like to share with you one of  my greatest delights.

Feeding the birds. 

I must confess that I enjoy their sweet company so much,

that a few years ago, I began feeding

(and watering) them all year long. 

They are my little friends.

Guess who's coming for breakfast..

dinner.. a mid-day snack

and a sip of refreshing, cool water.

Pine Siskins

Mountain Bluebirds

Pinon Jays

Purple Finches

Sparrows

Juncos

Robins

Grosbeaks

Cedar Waxwings

Flickers

Red-Bellied Woodpeckers

The Tufted Titmouse

and sometimes others...

We go through A LOT of birdseed!

Depending on the temps,

I sometimes feed them as many as 4 times a day.

At times, there are between 50-100 birds at one time.

The surrounding yard and sidewalk are thick with

sweet, hungry creatures. 

I enjoy hearing their chirping and chattering

and sometimes scolding each other.

They are such a joy and I get 

great pleasure out of knowing that I'm helping them

fulfill their basic needs of gathering food. 

And in this dry, harsh country, it's not easy

for them to find water.

A few weeks ago, during a very cold snap, I

ran out of seed!

I was not going to let my friends go hungry

and so I did a little online research

to come up with some alternatives to seed.

It was interesting and enjoyable to 

put together a healthy assortment of 

food for them.

  Here you see:

 peanut butter and jelly

chopped pecans and walnuts

chopped banana

cornmeal mixed with quick oats

And since the cornmeal and oats are so dry,

I drizzled a bit of coconut oil over the mix.

  Chopped banana is one their favorite foods!

Sometimes, I take a frozen one out of the freezer,

thaw it, split the peel open and just set it on the

sidewalk. They eat it up! I'm sure the natural sugar

is a treat and gives them a little extra energy to burn in 

that cold weather.

 The next round was popcorn...cat food and chopped

up sunflower seeds.

 ~On a winter's morn, joy flies in on the wings of birds~

I'm sure if you feed birds on a regular basis,

when you come out, your little friends are waiting for their

food. Some folks may use feeders, I tried that but I find them 

too small for all the bird friends and families to 

gather around. And it's so convenient to 

just walk out my back door, and scoop and toss. 

"Come feed the little birds, show them you care

And you'll be glad if you do.

Their young ones are hungry, their nests are so bare

All it takes is tuppence from you"

  Mary Poppins

 

It's a simple gift

to be still and watch these gentle, little

creatures find their way to my back doorstep.

And to have them stop and take a rest from their flight, wherever

they're going.  The water flies from the bird bath and

the pan as they dip and splash and spread their

little wings to shake off the water.

I just LOVE to watch them bathe. 

It's so sweet and serene and they look SO happy.

Then they hop out and make room for

the next one!

Well friends. 

I hope that life is being good to you

and that you're finding your own

delights on this winter's day.

I'd love to hear! Please, do tell.

Thank you so much for coming by and may the rest

of your week be filled with good things.

Tamara xo