MAKE A NEST HELPER

It's that time again to help the birds build their nests!

We gathered our supplies:

-horse hair from grooming the horses, 

-feathers on the ground from the ducks and hens

-mane from the horses

-angora from plucking the rabbits

-yarn that we cut into two inch lengths

-large wire suet feeder


We counted, measured, and recorded our ingredients. At a later date, we can see what has been used by the birds.


Next we layered them in the wire feeder . . . 

                      packing them loosely . . . 

and hung it outside, on a branch, for the birds.

We make these every year. See what we made last year here.
                   
                 happy day! happy nesting!


                 Linked to Barn Hop #6

GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT- FEB 18-21

What birds visit your yard? Take a few minutes to watch them and join in The Great Backyard Bird Count. It starts tomorrow, Friday February 18th, and it lasts for four days,until Monday February 21. It's free, fun and easy and it is quite helpful to the birds. You can spend as little as 15 minutes or as long as you like.

Read how to participate here. You can even print out a bird checklist.

It's a great way to get the children involved, and other adults who are not familiar with birds. 

We take part in the GBBC each year, and it inspires us to keep a running list of our bird visitors the rest of the year, for our own enjoyment.

Why don't you give it a try!


   happy day happy birding!

MAKE A HAVEN FOR THE BIRDS

 Use your empty summer flower pots to make a haven for the birds this winter. . . and invite a child to help.


Collect pine boughs and other greens and insert them deep into the soil of the pot. If it is already frozen just add some hot water until it softens enough to insert the branches and it will freeze again to secure them tight. 

We were lucky enough to make use of a young holly tree that our neighbor had cut down in his yard and had thrown on our shared burn pile to set ablaze in the spring. We were actually quite sad that he cut the beautiful tree and made sure it went to good use . 

So it become part of our bird haven and we will decorate with loads of holly this season.

The haven is in the corner of our deck opposite one of the kitchen slider doors, where we will have constant viewing of our feathered friends while we gather in the kitchen.

Two cattail feeders were inserted into another pot next to the holly and filled with shelled peanuts. The birds love them and it's great energy source for the colder months. The feeders can also hold sunflower seeds. We bought them here. White pine boughs complete the pot offering birds cover and a place to land .

Our haven wasn't even complete and we already had visitors! Peanut lovers!

There was even a "sweet birdy" walking around the pot waiting for any fallen remains. 

We set this up for the ground feeders, filled with Safflour seeds, which squirrels do not like.

Another pot we just filled with greenery for now. The birds can hide in there.

We also used a cedar branch we had saved, 

inserted it deep into a five gallon bucket filled with soil. We covered it with rocks and added greens. We wired it to the deck rails to keep it upright and sturdy in heavy winds and concealed the wire with pine boughs.  And now it holds suet feeders.

It is another terrific spot for viewing and we have easy access to refill the feeders.

I am especially excited to relax in the kitchen with my coffee or tea while watching the various birds.

 The Bird Haven also makes for some great entertainment for others in our household.

See if you can set up a Bird haven at your house!




Below is some helpful information about the different bird seeds and who likes what:

- Black Oil Sunflower Seeds are a premium feed.  Most birds prefer them to the striped sunflower variety. Sunflower seeds a high energy and nutritious food source packed with protein and fat and leave less waste than some other seeds.  

(Gold Finches, House Finches, Purple Finches, Cardinals, Bluejays, Scrub Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Mourning Doves, Buntings, Grosbeaks, Juncos and Sparrows eat sunflower seeds.)

-Thistle seeds (Niger) : nutritious seed  rich in protein and fat.   Thistle feeders with tiny openings limit attracted birds and squirrels do not like Thistle (it's debated). 

 (Goldfinches, House Finches, Purple Finches, Redpolls, Siskins, Juncos, and even Mourning Doves eat  thistle seeds.)

          
         -Safflower Seed: High in protein and fat.


                Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Finches, Grosbeaks, Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Song Sparrows, and White-throated Sparrows like Safflower.   Squirrels dislike safflower seeds. So this is a good option for those wanting to discourage unwanted "visitors".


       
       - Peanuts: Feeding shelled unsalted peanuts isn't messy and they are highly nutritious for the birds that can eat them.    Most birds can shell whole (unshelled) peanuts, with varying degrees of effort.  


Squirrels love peanuts. However, do NOT feed RAW peanuts to squirrels and other animals because it can seriously hurt them. Raw peanuts and other legumes contain a trypsin inhibitor or substance that inhibits or prevents the pancreas from producing trypsin, an enzyme essential for the absorption of protein by the intestine. Squirrels fed a steady diet of raw peanuts, soybeans. other legumes, and sweet potatoes could easily develop severe malnutrition. 


Roasting hulled raw peanuts for 20 to 30 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring them frequently, will destroy the trypsin inhibitor and render them suitable for feed. If that sounds like a lot of work, buy roasted peanuts but be sure they aren't salted. (Salted nuts of any kind should never be fed to wild animals.)


(  Bluejays, Scrub Jays, House Finches, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Magpies, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows eat peanuts.)




                                          happy day!

STICKS,TWIGS AND BRANCHES

We love to decorate with nature , always bringing the outside in. We usually use items as is, for their own natural beauty, but sometimes we *funk* them up a bit like this funky branch in a vase.

We found a fallen limb in the woodlands. It had a multitude of small branches and we knew it would be just perfect for our paint project.

We chose six different colors of acrylic paint and went to task. It was fun! Right now we are enjoying it bare but it will be used for some other things too . . . you wait and see!

There are other ways we decorate with twigs and branches. . . 


like our swan atop a bookcase, made with twigs, thin branches and wire.

as an initial hanging on the wall above the doorway. M for marcia  :)

or as seasonal nature art in our many nature weavings, small and large.

Directions to make them are here.

( yes, the kittens have enjoyed this one)


or just as itself, appreciated as a stick on his own, as in this Walking Stick branch given to us by a dear friend. It sits atop childrens books yet within easy reach for hands to handle... with care.

or as something useful, a tall thick pine branch leaned in the corner of the mudroom, used as a coat rack with many *hooks* to hang things like hats , bike helmets, jump ropes and damp jackets .

(which reminds me I need to get rid of that lemony yellow wallcolor!)


If you like to decorate with nature, and love twigs, sticks, and branches, just bring in what you love and then think about how you can use it in your home.

I'm linking this post to Funky Junk Interiors  *Sticks, Twigs or Branches* theme.

happy day!

LEAF CREATURES

This has been a week of *creating with leaves* before most of them blow away, dry up and become one with the earth. We explored in the drizzling rain, searching for just the right leaves and grasses to create our *creatures* .

Most of the children had an *idea* of what they were going to make, and set out looking for the perfect parts. Others had no idea, but just collected what they liked, and then played with different combinations on the table once we came inside. 


The leaves were wet but we sandwiched them between newspapers and paper towels and put a heavy book on top for about thirty minutes.


We used frosted contact paper as we did making our Autumn Mandalas.


The children put together their creature first and then transferred it to the contact paper, sticky side up. We covered it with another sheet of contact paper, punched holes and hung them. 


They decided to write something about each of their creatures. Some wrote a short description and others a detailed story, and some others are still thinking. They have a choice. 


Their actual creature cannot fit in their binder, but a picture of it arranged next to their story will keep their memory alive.

   The Gallery

of

 LEAF CREATURES

Dog

                           

Horse

Dragonfly

Dog

Person

Horse

Person

Get creative with a child!  Or just with yourself!

Go exploring and collecting and make something with Autumn's bounty! 

There's an immense satisfaction to creating, especially with natural materials!

happy day!