It's for the Birds!

If you love the outdoors, you have to appreciate the wildlife. At this time of the year you need to take time to keep your feeder stocked with the proper food.

This morning it was 13 F. below. Very cold mornings are a critical time for birds, particularly Chickadees. They must find food quickly or they can expire, after a long cold night.

For years I fed sunflower seeds to the birds in my part of the world. As time went on I learned that oil sunflower seed were better than the confectionary sunflowers seeds.

A regular observer of a bird feeder can not help but noticed that Black-capped Chickadees will fly to a feeder, pick up a sunflower seed, then fly off to a safe perch to eat it. First they must pierce the hull and then extract the seed. This can be a rather difficult job in cold weather and with a frozen seed.

Woodpeckers have a similar problem. They will take a seed away, and then stuff it in a crack in a tree and only then can they remove the shell and get to the meat.

Small billed birds such as the American Goldfinch, Common Redpolls and Juncos have a similar problem.

Many years ago I helped the woodpeckers in particular, by using my circular saw to cut grooves in the birdfeeder deck. The woodpeckers caught on right away. They take a sunflower seed, jamb it in the groove, and then can hammer away the shell and get to the seed. This eliminates the flying back and forth, wasting time and energy.

You can buy shelled sunflower seeds but they are very expensive. Another option is to use your household blender to chop up the seeds. Do not overdo it. The idea is to just break open the hulls for easy access.

The best solution is to buy sunflower seeds from  a sunflower seed processor. One is located in Halma, Minnesota. They sell sunflower seeds to commercial bakers. In the cleaning process they are left with broken seeds they clean from the prime seeds. They sell the left over seeds for $14.75 for a 50 pound bag.

In the two photos enclosed you will note that most of the hulls are gone. Small birds just stay on the feeder platform and eat away until they are full. Woodpeckers do the same thing.

Your feeder will be a lot busier. The birds will stay to eat, so they are easier to observe and to photograph.

Some local stores in your area may stock these particular seeds but you need to check it out. The product is produced by KITT-SUN SEEDS INC, Halma, Minnesota. Family Foods in Lancaster stocks them.

I am in no way associated with the company. I just know a good product when I see one.
　

Ground Blizzard

It is official, we are experiencing a ground blizzard.

Strong cold winds in excess of 35 mph, blowing snow with visibility from zero to 50 feet, but no fresh snowfall worth mentioning.

Snowshoeing on the woods trail was not too bad as the trees broke the strong north wind. I did notice three Blue Jays and three Hairy Woodpeckers taking shelter along the south edge of the woods.

This is my third trip and because of fresh snow the trail needed packing down again.

Yesterday, accompanied by the dog, we broke trail to the north about half a mile and then turned around and headed back home. That was an enjoyable trip compared to today.

This time we broke a brand new trail to the western edge of the woods. The closer we got the stronger the wind and blowing snow. At the edge of the trees the wind had built up the soft snow almost three feet high so it was a bit of struggle to get up and over it. The dog tried then gave up and waited for me to break a trail.

I thought I would be able to get a photo of the snow blowing across the open fields but it was a complete white out. Instead I took a shot facing south so the wind was behind me. The photo fails to define the strong wind battering my back, filled with driving snow, seeking any opening in my coat.

The resulting photo has more merit in showing what you can’t see, rather than what you see. The wind was so strong and cold, the digital camera shut down, so we quickly retreated back into the woods.

 Even the dog was happy to get out of the wind and back on the trail home.