24 PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW

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‘RICHLOCK RENTALS

~ Try to locate your feeder

% oday let’s talk
‘about feeding the
birds, those
: charming | small
crealures that add so much
life to a winter garden.
If you are going on holi-
day and have no one to keep
feeders full, maybe you
should leave it to someone
else, so birds don’t sud-
denly find the feeder
empty and have no substi-
tute route where there’ll
be something good to eat

where it will be kept dry,
and away from predatory
cats, with an easy escape
plan to a nearby bush or
tree. 7

Wet seed tends to
mildew, which is. really
harmful to birds, so, if pos-
sible hang it under the over-
hang.

To attract ground feeding
birds, largely | Juncoes,
sprinkle millet, or ground
peanuts or black oil sun-

~ flower seed on top of the

picnic table, or. on an ele-
vated tray where cats can't
leap out of hiding and
snatch one that isn’t paying
close attention.

Other ground feeders are
Towhees and Varied thrush
who are terribly shy. They
appear to eat insects and
grubs hidden-under fallen
leaves, so leave a few piles
of leaves where these lovely
birds can forage.

Chickadees, bush tits,
wrens, and kinglets love fat.
You can’ buy suet cakes,
available in many stores, or
you can (as himself does)

create a macabre “mobile” .

by suspending a series of
marrow bones, — loosely
joined to-gether with nylon
fishing line. We often have
more than a dozen bush tits

— we're sending |

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*

re. com |

feeding peacefully together,
at least one on each side of. -
a bone. J.J.’s_ creation is
hung under the overhang of
the house so birds have
shelter while they eat.

There is a large Virginia

creeper clinging to a wall
adjoining the deck. One
“mobile” is hung there.

When they've finished
their meal, and it’s still
pouring rain, bushtits
come in, under the over-
hand, and huddle close to-
gether in the twisted vine.
Delightful to see!
Finches seem fondest
of black oil sunflower seed,
although Bruce Whitting-
ton claims that if you offer
them millet in one feeder,
and black oil sunflower seed
in another they will eat
both. If the two seeds are
mixed, as they usually are in
commercial mixes, finches

~.toss out the millet in favour

of the sunflower seed.

We have two Downy
Woodpeckers that visit us
regularly each winter. They
also love fat. We try to hang
it where the crows or star-
lings can’t reach it. We’ve

nailed a large piece on the

Wednesday, October 17, 2001

underside of branches, but,
even there, they seem to
find a way, and we later find
a greatly reduced chunk on
the ground!

Robins prefer berries, but
after these have all been
eaten, usually by the star-
lings, they’ll be happy to eat
apples left on the tree, or
pieces of apple on the
ground.

Bruce W.’s recipe for
wild bird food sounds good
enough to spread on toast.

1 cup of chunky, natural
peanut butter (no ~ salt)
(available at your health
food store)

1 1/4 cups coarse yellow
corn meal

1/2 cup raisins (ground)

1/2 cup shelled peanuts
(ground)

This may be mixed and
pushed into dry pine cones
and hung like Christmas or-
naments, from a nearby
tree.

He reminds us that when
it freezes, birds need a
source of drinking water.
We keep our bird-bath free

of ice by adding warm water —

which the ice further cools,

_ CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

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