Tuesday, February 16, 2016

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 



8 comments:

Kezzie said...

This is so heartening Tamara! You have such diversity in the array of birds who dine at Chez Tamara! I'm pretty excited about the garden at my new house, it is beautiful and there are some bird feeders out there which I suspect will be fruitful. I will feed them and I have my binoculars ready!!!x

Christine said...

Your little feathered blessings love to gather & no surprise as you share such a feast for these wee darlings!
I love their cheery chirping so in the trees around my garden!
So sweet of you to care!
Enjoy your day!

Roosterhead Designs said...

They truly are a joy to watch Tamara! Thanks so much for sharing this sweet post~
And so smart to research options, when your conventional seed is gone : )! They sure warmed my little heart today friend~ Hugs, Karen O

Fil said...

The birds are so lovely to watch. My mother has been feeding birds all her life and they flock around her - the robin sometimes comes right up to the door if she hasn't been out in time!
Lovely photos Tamara.

Tamara said...

Thats wonderful Kezzie! I can see that you're excited and I would be too :) Your new home will be a happy little place. I'm sure! I'm looking forward to hearing more about it.

xo

Julie's Lifestyle said...

Wow Tamara how lucky are those birds to have your lovely food! Wishing you a wonderful day and weekend.
Julie

Tamara said...

Thank you Fil..
And that's so sweet that the birds flock around your mom. Wouldn't that be a special moment to catch in a photo?

Best wishes to you..<3

Kelly @ Homespuns 'n Hayfields said...

I thoroughly enjoyed your post on the birds. I love birds also. I also ran out of seed during our extreme cold spell and didn't get into town for more food for a couple of days. I felt AWFUL! I wish I had done what you did and researched it on line. I'm going to have to try the bananas as I have some available, I've never heard of that before.