If you could choose one, what would be your superpower? When asked the question, so many people choose flying — peacefully gliding through the sky with a view for miles. And avoiding all traffic. All along, we’ve been surrounded by creatures that already have this superpower — birds. So I’m going to investigate.
I used to think birding was too slow and boring for me. A little like watching paint dry. And birds kinda creeped me out (thanks, Tippi Hedren and Alfred Hitchcock), but I’m trying to get over it.
I’ve already seen some pretty interesting color variations this summer and now that it’s finally cold, I’m going to need something to tide me over until March or April. So here’s how I’ve started my first winter of birdwatching.
Bird feeder. First of all, we have a new bird feeder: the CedarWorks Plastic Squirrel-Resistant Hopper Bird Feeder. We’ve had it full and outside for about a week and still no birds. Maybe we have the wrong food for birds in our area. Could it be too close to our house?
Bird food. I sent my husband to the store for bird seed. He came back with this: Wild Blend Bird Seed. According to its description, this seed is good for blue jays and chickadees, and contains black oil sunflower seed, cracked corn and white millet. So far, no blue jays, no chickadees.
Birding webinars. Melissa Kitchen clued me in to some webinars on birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They include guidance on feeding and identification. These are targeted at educators, but are sure to include some good information. Thanks, Melissa!
Bird seed stars. I pinned this one a few months ago. It seems like a really good project for kids, especially during winter. They are made of bird seed, gelatin and water — pretty simple and pretty cute. There are some trees in our backyard that are screaming out for these.
Now that I have the setup, what do I do? Keep a scorecard of how many of each bird I see and when? I can see myself getting competitive really quick.
So how will the birds look from my rear window? I’ll let you know.