Feeding the birds...

...is a wonderful past time, although can be somewhat costly.  That is if you feed the such things as hulled sunflower seeds.  People who do that do not want a "mess" of hulls on their patio or whatever.  And some people even feel that it's so much better for the birds, since it's "easier" for them to feed.  Personally, I feel that since they're getting "free food" they can "work for it" a bit.  As for the mess, my backyard is so shaded nothing grows there anyway, so the hulls are almost a type of mulch to walk on.

But the upside is seeing all the different varieties in one place, and on occasion, the oddballs that may be passing through on their migration and find a free meal.    I think I may have covered some of that in an earlier post. 

The picture below show a small part of the number and type of birds coming to the feeder on this snowy afternoon.  I took the picture through the kitchen window.  Every time the curtain moves a bit, the birds have a tendency to scatter.  Therefore, we really have more coming to the feeder, but these were the more bold ones.  All the red spots in the trees are cardinals.  They have a tendency to feed early in the morning and later in the afternoon.  The smaller birds feed all day long.

There are three fill-type feeders, one saucer feeder, and to the left, four suet feeders (suet cakes are back to back.)   I use sunflower seed, safflower seed, canary seed, and thistle seed.  The feeders are filled every morning and every evening.  The suet feeders usually last about a week or two.  The joy is forever!

One man's trash is another man's treasure, or is it just garbage?

Since it's a nice, sunny day, we (the significant other and I) decided to clean up the fence row along the road, of saplings, etc. I was astounded, although I should know better having lived here for over 15 years, of all the trash that people fling from their cars and onto our property. I decided to go back with some trash bags and do my semi-annual pick up.


Some things have not changed. People still think that a brown paper bag disguises a bottle or can of beer. Hey, we all know what's in there! Did you get the bag to keep it cold? And you can still buy beer in big brown bottles. However, there were some more modern ways to get your alcohol, such as small, I mean really small bottle of wine and/or hooch. You can also get hooch in a small bag-type container. Do you think these people figure they won't get as loaded if they drink small quantities at a time?

Speaking of flinging trash, why can't these people take it home with them? Perhaps if you were to visit them, their yards are littered with plastic bottles, Wal Mart bags, Big Gulp cups, etc, etc.

You can't assume that just alcoholics going down the road fling trash either. I volunteer at a Nature center and I took a trash bag out to see what I could pick up walking the trails. There is a stream that runs through there and lots of things get washed down, but the trash I found was no where near the stream. Interestingly enough I found drink containers that are associated with health food and the like. Shows you even the so-called physically fit people don't care where they leave their trash. Everyone is to blame!

I did pick up about a pound of aluminum cans in about 1/2 hour. At the current rate of $.65/pound locally, that's $1.30/hour. Far less than minimum wage, but that's the "treasure" I got out of another man's trash.

On the bright side, we did see two bald eagles down by the river, a mile from our house, and we have two pileated woodpeckers living in the woods directly behind the house.  Cornell bird count, here I come!  But until then, I'll just kick back and have a nice glass of piesporter!