Are you aware that bird watching has become the number one, fastest growing, outdoor recreational quest in the world? Going out and finding our feathered friends is referred to as birding. Watching them in their native habitat is an entertaining pastime that gets you outside and allows you to be one with nature. A recent national survey concluded that birding is the most rapidly expanding entertaining past time in the United States, with a 283 percent growth in popularity over a 20 year period.

Birding as a hobby can be done with very little money spent. The biggest investment will be your time to devote to it. It is a great way to escape out into the outdoors, do some walking and to become one with nature. Birding can be extremely fun and also challenging, rigorous or relaxing, done as solitary or as a group recreation activity. It will be what you want it be for your enjoyment. That is why birding has evolved into one of America’s favorite pastimes with over 46 million people participating in it.

Things you will need are a pair of binoculars, a field guide book of birds in your area, and a notebook to take notes in. That is all you need for the basics to begin your bird watching adventure.

Click here to see a video about bird identification from Birdman Mel.

Irish Garden Cottage

For Christmas, I bought Linda a Miniature English Garden Cottage, that we sell on our website. Now that we have finally had two days without rain here in the Pacific Northwest I was able to make a nice display area for it. I used cedar bender boards to make a terrace to raise the cottage up above the rest of the garden to make it stand out. I held the terrace in place with 1″ wide stakes, 18″ long, that I cut from the bender board on my table saw. I filled in the large area under the garden cottage with sand and then topped it with about 3 inches of potting soil. Linda plans to plant succulents and moss around her cottage. Once she has her planting done I will update with a photo of how the cottage looks with the plants and moss surrounding it.

Terrace under constuction. I used a 5 pound hammer to hammer the cedar stakes into the ground.

I used a level on all the boards and once everything was lined up and level I filled in the terraces with sand which I then covered with potting soil.

Potting soil has been placed in the terrace and the cottage set in place.

View taken in August 2009 of the corner where I placed the Irish Garden Cottage.

Songbird Essentials Clinger's Only is a guranteed favorite Chickadee feeder

Guest Article by Don & Lillian Stokes

Chickadees are cheerful bird feeder regulars from coast to coast. There are about six species of Chickadees regularly seen in North American north of Mexico. Looking like Little League Baseball players, they all have dark caps, bibs and white cheeks. In general, they are dark on the back, lighter underneath, and all about the same shape and size.

Each of our Chickadees has a different range, so check which ones live in your area. Here is a summary:

• Black-capped Chickadee:  Northern States and Southern Canada from coast to coast.
• Carolina Chickadee: Mostly the South – Eastern and Southern – Central States.
• Mountain Chickadee: Throughout the mountains of the West.
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Mostly the West Coast from Central California to Southern Alaska.
• Boreal Chickadee: Mostly in Canada from coast to coast and in Alaska.
• Mexican Chickadee: Just over the border in very limited areas of the Southwest.

In the winter most Black-capped Chickadees form into a flock of 6 – 14 birds that move about a range of 20 – 35 acres and defend it from other Chickadee flocks. A flock is comprised of pairs of Chickadees, some of which

Songbird Essentials Chickadee House

breed locally and some of which are young birds from elsewhere. Within the flock there is a stable linear dominance hierarchy, or “pecking order”. When Chickadees approach your bird feeders some birds seem to hang back and let others feed first or one bird may knock another bird off its feeding perch and take its place. These behaviors are sings of dominance and a reflection of the amazingly complex social relationships within a Chickadee flock.

Attract Chickadees with sunflower seed, their favorite, or seed mixes that contain a high percentage of sunflower. Offer the seed in tubular feeders, screen feeders or hopper feeders. Use multiple feeders to allow more Chickadee flock members to feed. I find my Chickadees love sunflower hearts and my wife likes that there is less mess in the yard, and no seeds to sprout.

Chickadees are also attracted to suet, especially in winter, when their metabolic needs are high and the high fat content of suet provides many calories.

You may also noticed that other species such as Woodpeckers, Titmice and Nuthatches may temporarily associate with the Chickadees forming a “mixed flock”. The Chickadees are the nuclear species these flocks form around. A mixed flock may benefit because there are more eyes to search for danger. By attracting Chickadees to your feeder, you can attract these other species as well. When I put out new feeders to test, the Chickadee is often the first to explore.

Chickadees live in trees, so if you do not have forest nearby, you may not have Chickadees. Create a favorable Chickadee habitat by planting trees. In addition to eating bird seed and suet, Chickadees eat tiny insects, insect larvae and wild seeds. They can acrobatically cling to branches to reach their food. I find that Chickadees readily eat live mealworms ( if they can beat the Bluebirds and Blue Jays) offered in my stake feeders.

Songbird Essentials Meal Worm feeder made from recycled milk cartons

In spring, the chickadee flock disperses. The most dominant pairs nest in the area of the winter territory, the other members nest elsewhere. Chickadees nest in trees, holds or in birdhouses. You can attract nesting Chickadees by putting up birdhouses. The entrance hole diameter can be from 1 to 1 ½ inches.

During the spring season listen for the Chickadee song. Block-capped Chickadees sing a two note whistle which sound like a “Feebee”. Other sounds they mark are “Chickadeedeedeedee”, given at disturbances or when one member is separated from the flock. The short “Tseett” note a call given between members of a flock to help keep them together. Now enjoy the Chickadee’s in your backyard.

Bobbo Bluebird shaped bird house with Chickadee sized entrance hole

Bluebird sitting on a meal worm feeder

Did you know that Bluebirds and others can be trained to come to your meal worm feeder by whistling or ringing a bell when you are feeding live meal worms? I friend of mine in Missouri had a large property on which he had several meal worm feeders. He used is golf cart to drive from feeder to feeder to fill them with meal worms. He attached a bell to his golf cart and the bluebirds begin follow him on the golf cart as he drove from about checking his bluebird houses and filling the meal worm feeders. I have also heard stories of people whistling or ringing a hand held bell each time they filled up their meal worm feeder and attracting the bluebirds to come and eat now. If you are feeding meal worms purchase a hand held bell and ring it each time you fill up and your feeder and watch as the bluebirds become trained that it is “chow time” each time you ring your bell. You will be amazed at the results.

Now that it is finally warming up and the birds are eating less from the suet feeder then they where just a month ago it is time to stop and reflect. Just

Black-capped Chickadee, Donna Dewhusrt Photo, compliments of www.weforanimals.com

how did the birds survive this years cold weather? Many birds grow nearly twice as many feathers to help them to stay warm. Many birds birds also shake constantly (this is called thermogenesis). This shaking increases their heat output by 5 times their normal amount. To sustain the thermogenesis many small birds must eat frequently. For example a Chickadee may eat 35% of it body weight each day. Chickadees have another unique trait – they go into what is called a “torpor” at night. A torpor is a kind of deep sleep where a Chickadee greatly reduces body temperature, heart rate and breathing. The result is a saving of up to 20% of the Chickadees energy.