Bird Brain

Did I ever tell you about the peacock that we kept?
This is not necessarily the best backyard choice.

WASTE FREE WILD BIRD SEED 10 LBS.
I've been feeding birds since I could stand up, being the daughter of a Mom and Dad who liked to watch our back east West Virginia birds. My favorites there were cardinals, indigo buntings, grosbeaks, bluebirds(rare indeed), chickadees, wrens, scarlet tanagers and the lovely orioles and I even miss the rather harsh blue jays. Now I live in Oxnard, CA with a feeder outback and this particular mix of seed seems to best address the needs of the neighborhood birds. I'm not in the gorgeous variety I once knew, mostly finches, morning doves come calling, some sparrows at times a wren, I'm challenged to ID what is out there, a canary being the most fascinating so far.
Close to the ocean I slip over to the shore in the AM to watch the most marvelous of sights. There we have the glory sightings of water birds.

I call this my heron, he visits us and nests every year, ok, that would be a she....

This seed mix has shelled out sunflower seeds and produces less waste. I just noticed experimenting with different brands and types this went very fast and clearly was the preference.It's an easy enough thing to do and I know this sounds silly but if we all remembered it would be a good thing.

I'm an elementary teacher and next year planning three different bird feeder projects with my class. One will be a feeder we locate at the school and watch, fill and record what we observe with digital pics and journals. Easy and probably getting kids into good habits.I keep spice finches and parakeets for the class too. I'm currently housing these in my house, waiting for next year.

That's Kiwi and Skye

Second I'm ( they) going to make a recycled feeder from a large plastic soda bottle, found a good pattern ( see here too, and here, Recycled Craft Projects, How to make a birdfeeder with a plastic soda bottle - by Roan ...,Hanging Birdfeeder | Scholastic.com , ) and then will send that home filled with this seed. 1st graders will enjoy this. (I'm also doing a ship in a bottle project with a recycled bottle or a terrarium.) (At my centers.) The next bird feeder will require a bit of scrap lumber. I'm (they) are going to build feeders. Well, actually no, I'm going to get kits together so that they can build feeders while I help with the hammers and nails. I'm convinced the lack of doing things like this has seriously hurt our kids.

I learned something. A very close friend has a daughter who is 5, she has been watching birds closely awhile, binoculars, books, the works. She's an active, cheerful, excited and lovely learner. Miss Kimmie has some nice things here to watch, a Cooper's hawk, Red Tailed hawks, water birds like herons that are close to us, swallows plaguing her mom at the house,and these smaller land birds. Now her working vocabulary includes discussions
of native versus non-native, flight, shape of beak, nesting habits, wing shape, aero-dynamics, uplift....it goes on and on. Now I'm watching that as a teacher thinking, how can I build observation, interest, inquiry and the kinds of vocabulary and especially understandings of classification, a bridge into science. And there is Miss Bird woman right before my eyes. A class set of binoculars is not too expensive. In fact they are remarkably affordable. Good identification guides for birds, also affordable. Projects to build bird feeders and to establish a place to feed birds in the school grounds and at homes, easily done. And then the oportunity to grow language, enthusiasm, natural connection to this kind of interface will help my inner city kids to connect.

So this said, I do buy this particular seed mix. It serves me well. I do not like huge bags of seed, though cheaper it hurts my back to lift. I'm recovering from a "procedure" in my tummy and I can't lift so I need something reasonable to deal with as I totter out. I'm sure that others in different areas like other kinds.So it helps to experiment with your population. I found out something I especially enjoy. When my feeder runs out they actually kind of tell me off about it. I was greeterd yesterday up on my roof out front ( feeder out back) by a particularly indignant fellow. He was shrill and angry so I went out back, sure enough the feeder was empty. And don't forget to put out a bit of water.

Great seed. You can find seed very reasonably in your grocery or pet store, in drug stores...dollar stores usually. So go and watch as they gather to eat, great to see.

All of this by way of wanting to show off my newest bird pictures. I'm going over today to get better shots...