The Birds Outside Our Window

This winter has been the kind of winter I remember from my childhood; white and cold. The snow has remained on the ground because temperature inversions have kept the highs from even reaching freezing. With low temperatures in the single digits (or even below zero), I worried about the small birds having enough to eat to survive the more extreme cold. As I mentioned last time, I decided to put out some bird seed in a bowl nestled in a planter we have at the top of the stairs leading down to our front door. I did not relish coming across a small feathered body frozen in the snow, a victim of the winter deep freeze.

At first, there was little activity. We have always had a few small birds hanging out in the shrubs along the driveway, but activity at the seed bowl was fairly low for a couple of days. Then things began to slowly pick up. At first we had a few House and American Tree Sparrows, but before long a few Dark-eyed Juncos were visiting as well. As time goes by, the crowds seem to grow. Yesterday we even had a Western Scrub Jay stop by and sample the meager fare we have supplied. I enjoy watching the birds through our living room window. If I am careful, I can get quite close without disturbing them, and the planter is only a couple of feet from the window. Overall, there seems to be little fighting among the ever-growing flock, and it is quite amazing to see as many as eight sparrows crowded around and in the seed dish at any given time. Who knows what has visited when I was not looking? All I know is that I am glad that I can do something to help these amazing creatures.

So far I have been using a fairly inexpensive generic bird seed that I bought at Walmart. I wanted to see how well the idea worked because I was a little concerned about the seed dish being so close to the house. I also do not have a place for a feeder, so I put the dish in our planter. I figured it was out in the open enough to allow the birds plenty of warning against hunting felines. I knew that any increased bird activity would also attract any roaming cats. We have actually seen one calico hunter stare into our window twice, but as far as I can tell, it's feathered prey remain safe from attack.

I recently bought a three-tube feeder at Walmart ($5 clearance; what a steal) that I plan to hang on a metal shepherd's hook once the ground is no longer frozen solid. I plan to load it with three different types of seed and see what we can attract. Until then, I will probably upgrade the seed a bit. Though the sparrows seem to love what we have now, I would like to see if we can attract any other birds that might be in the area. I'll be sure to share any new sightings. I am eager to see what we can attract with feeder.