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Relaxing with the birds

Birdwatching is a wonderful, relaxing hobby. It is great to sit on the deck and watch the birds early in the morning. Listening to all the different songs and calls of the birds is music to our ears. We have 8 different feeders in our garden, hummingbird feeders, a suet feeder, a squirrel feeder and a bird bath. Some of our regular visitors are bluejays, chickadees, chipping sparrows, ruby throated hummingbirds, rose breasted grosbeaks, goldfinches, purple finches, cedar waxwings, purple martins, house sparrows, cow birds, orioles, mourning doves, juncos, nuthatches, cardinals, wrens and downy woodpeckers. We have seen bluebirds, indigo buntings and flickers on occasion.

One spring we had a 'crazy' cardinal at our window for many days in a row.  I think he saw his reflection in the window and thought he had competition, or perhaps he was looking for a mate.  He would fly up and down the window several times a day, and land on the ledge.  I was lucky enough to get a photo of him looking into our dining room.  What a treat it was to see him on the window ledge each day. The cardinals nest up the back hill and are frequent visitors to our garden feeding on the ground under the feeders.    Make a feathered friend happy and put a birdhouse in your garden. We have 3 birdhouses. Another  birdhouse set among a group of sumac bushes has a pair of wrens nesting in it.   A pair of very persistent barn swallows built a nest over the spotlight on our garage one spring - guess they like the built in heating!  They are back again this year, and rebuilding the nest.  :)   The birdhouses at the front and back of our house have year round resident sparrows in them.       A robin family nests in our cedar trees each year in the spring.  Watch the robins eggs hatch.

Two rose breasted male grosbeaks "discussing" who will eat the black oil seeds from the coconut feeder.

Click the photo to see the hummingbirds in the garden.

Here are some unusual visitors to our garden.  There is a flock of wild turkeys that live in the back hills of our property.  You can view these turkeys as you drive along Sidney Street, north from Belleville, in the fields on the left hand side.  One day these turkeys got sidetracked and ended up in our backyard foraging under one of our bird feeders.  Quite the noise they made when the neighbours' dogs spotted them.  Then the turkeys ended up in our back trees.  A Kodak moment for me  :) Birdcake recipe I make my own birdcakes to go into hanging wire baskets for the woodpeckers.  I originally bought one from the store to get the container to use for a mold. The feeder is about 10x5x1 inches.  Each mold is around 5x5x1 inches. Fill the mold with birdseed, sunflower seeds and some peanuts, then cover with melted shortening and peanut butter. Pop into the freezer for a short time to harden.  Remove from mold and slip into the hanging basket. This will attract woodpeckers to your garden.  Read about the winter visitors to our garden.

craftygardener.ca

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