Preparing for winter bird feeding

Winter can be a difficult time for birds in New England. Days are short, windy and cold and nights are long and even colder. The abundant vegetation of summer and fall has withered or been consumed and most insects are dead or dormant.

If you don’t already have a backyard feeder now is the perfect time to set one up. It will make your feathered friends lives easier and yours more enjoyable as you observe their beauty and antics.

 

What To Feed Them

Most songbirds feed on insects and spiders during the spring and summer months. However, in the fall and winter non-migratory songbirds must shift their diets to fruits and seeds to survive.
 
Black-oil Sunflower: Different birds prefer different types of seeds, but the seeds that attract the greatest variety of species are black-oil sunflower. These seeds are nutritious and high in fat plus their small size and thin shells make them easy for small birds to eat.

Thistle or Niger Seeds: Thistle seeds are a delicacy for goldfinches, siskins and redpolls. It is best to offer these seeds in a special thistle feeder which has tiny ports that prevent the seeds from spilling out.
 
Peanut Butter or Suet: You can attract insect-eating birds such as Chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches to your yard by offering peanut butter or suet. Peanut butter and suet are both excellent high energy foods.
  
Fruit: Thrushes, Mockingbirds, catbirds and waxwings will come to a feeder which offers fruit. Try dried fruits such as raisin and fresh sliced fruit on a platform feeder or plate.

Tips For Winter Feeding
 
Keep some extra feeders for use in bad weather. It will not only give birds more places to eat it will cut down on your trips outside to refill the feeder.

Make sure the seed is kept dry. Hopper and tube feeders will protect seed from wet weather and platform feeders should be swept of any snow.

Scatter seed in underbrush and sheltered places. Some birds prefer to feed in thicket and brambles so be sure to scatter seed in hedges, bushes and along wooded areas or even under your deck.

Use high energy food such as suet and peanut butter.

Use your old Christmas tree for shelter and as a windbreak near your feeder.

Prepare your birdhouses for winter roosting. Make sure the houses are clean and then use three to four inches of clean dry meadow grass or wood shavings. Then plug the air vent holes with removable weather stripping.

Keep your feeders clean. Take advantage of good weather to clean and disinfect your feeders.  Use one part bleach to nine parts hot water. 

Offer a fresh source of water and consider the use of a birdbath heater. If you do not have a birdbath heater, keep the water ice-free if at all possible. Empty the birdbath in the evening and fill again in the morning. NEVER use chemicals such as antifreeze to keep the water from freezing!

 Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: Winter, New England, songbirds, birds, Christmas tree, feeder, birdhouses, birdbath, birding

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Good day for birding

 Today started out miserable for yours truly. To make a long story short, I waited outside of a business in Portland for an hour and a half waiting for them to open, of which they never did. Opening time is to be 9:00 a.m. When I returned home, phone calls to them went unanswered.

So I spent the better part of the rest of the morning chasing squirrels off of my bird feeders. I decided to do something more constructive.

With camera and tripod in hand, I headed out for some birding. Arriving at Granite Point, it seemed that the only thing going on out there were butterflies.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Monarch Butterflies were flitting around everywhere! But to get one of them to sit still long enough for a photograph was futile. I nearly went over a bank trying to get a good angle on one. After all of that nonsense, he flew away, but not before coming right at me as if to say, “try to get me now big fella.”"

Working my way out to the “point”, activity was excellent! Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, Cormorants, Kingfishers…. oh my!

The following is a list of birds seen at Granite Point:

11 GBH
14 Snowy Egret
2 Great Egret
3 Belted Kingfisher
9 Blue-Winged Teal
5 Green-Winged Teal
20+ Double-Crested Cormorant
1 Eastern Towhee
1 Ring-Billed Gull
4 Mockingbirds
20-30 Dark-Eyed Juncos (First I’ve seen these this fall)

Did I get any pictures? Not this time. Either the subjects were too far away or flying into the sun. But it doesn’t matter, it was fun none-the-less.

What I plan to do is to purchase a portable blind to take along on our birding trips. Set this up and just wait for the birds to come to you. And come to you they will.

Earlier this summer, we saw a blind set up at the Scarborough Marsh and there were literally hundreds of birds around it. Everything from Glossy Ibis to Greater Yellow Legs, big birds and little birds. I can guarantee the person in that blind took some great photographs! All it takes is the proper placing of the blind and patience.

I eventually left Granite Point and headed toward Fortunes Rock Beach. A Great Blue Heron with what seemed to be a broken wing was seen near the intersection of Route 9 and Fortunes Rock Road, in the marsh. I made some calls and found someone who was willing to take it to a Wildlife Rehab Center. I asked them to call me back on how it went, and when they do, I will report here.

Across from Fortunes Rock Beach, at Etherington Pond, I got buzzed by a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird! He then landed on a rose-hip…. I tried to get a picture, but he did not linger long.

Speaking of lingering long, this fella should have left the area by now. It is not unheard of for hummingbirds to linger in an area well into fall. I even heard a story of a hummingbird at Old Orchard Beach in December while there was snow on the ground.

Another highlight of my birding adventure was the sighting of 2 male and 2 female Wood Ducks in Etherington Pond. These beautiful ducks were just out of range for good photography. My spotting scope was plenty powerful enough to brings these ducks up close and personal. Must get that adapter to attach my camera to my scope!

All in all it was a beautiful day with plenty of beautiful birds to watch.

Happy Birding!

Technorati Tags: bird, birding, butterflies, birds, Wildlife, Hummingbird, photography, spotting scope

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Some photos taken with the Rebel XTI

Cooperative weather greeted my wife and I on our first day out with the Canon Rebel XTI camera Saturday. We witnessed a beautiful sunrise over Casco Bay at the Portland Head Lighthouse. Although chilly and windy, the rise of the sun warmed our hearts and souls and marked a beautiful sun-splashed day ahead. Most of the photos taken Saturday were landscapes.

Sunday was cloudy and cool, and was not the best day for photography. We decided to do some birding with the camera, and although the lighting was awful, I did manage to pull off some good shots.

All photos shown in this article can be seen in larger sizes in the Birding In Maine Photo Gallery.

All in all, we are very happy with the new camera, although it will take time to get used to the many functions, and more importantly, how to use them. When Adobe updates the ACR in Photoshop CS2 to recognize the Rebel XTI, I will shot my photos in RAW format and then post-process for the best images possible.

Enjoy the following photos and please comment by clicking the link at the end of this article.

Happy birding!

A USCG Cutter cruises past the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse just offshore from the Portland Head Light.

 

The Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, aka the Bug Light, in the early morning light.

 

A mallard poses in the empty pond at Deering Park in Portland, Maine.

 

View from Jockey’s Cap in Fryeburg, Maine.

 

Another spectacular view from Jockey’s Cap in Fryeburg, Maine.

 

A Great Blue Heron feeds in the marsh at Granite Point.

 

Snowy Egret feeding in the marsh at Granite Point.

 

Another Snowy Egret feeding in the marsh at Granite Point.

Technorati Tags: weather, Rebel XTI, Lighthouse, landscapes, photography, birding, photos, Adobe, Photoshop, USCG, Portland, Maine

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