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Thankful for a Little Rain Please!
We hope this Thanksgiving holiday finds you content among family and friends! For furry ones on their own and feathered friends- they’d be most thankful for a puddle from which to drink or bathe. In the Southeast it’s been over two months with no rain. Sadly the drought has been brutal with deadly wildfires popping up throughout the region.
A time for reflection (hopefully) it seems the most simple things (like water or good health) are so often taken for granted. There’s not a puddle in sight if you happen to have four legs or wings. California typically sees wildfires… not GA and NC, the environmental landscape is changing and quite scary.
Have a roof over your head and food on the table? How basic, yet so many do not have this luxury. Good health, for the most part anyway? Consider those fighting battles, both physical and mental.
May this holiday, which also marks the start of a crazy/busy shopping season, find you giving Thanks and giving to those less fortunate. Betcha the guy who wants a Jersey Mike’s sub shares with his dog!
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Why a Hanging Bird Bath for a Holiday Gift?
We’re starting earlier with holiday gift ideas as there’s so many cool bird accessories and so little time. Do stay tuned for some pretty unique non-birder gift ideas too!Theme: The gift of nature can’t be matched, for it offers an innate connection that’s capable of soothing the soul and clearing the mind. Simply put, watching birds in the yard (or on the patio/balcony) removes life’s chaos! It has the capacity to form a bond between people which may not have previously existed.
So why would a hanging bird bath be a make an awesome gift?
Because they work in the smallest space, because birds adore and use them, because they come in all colors and styles suiting many tastes, including copper, ceramics and glass, but most of all, fresh water attracts more birds than any birdhouse or feeder! Enough reasons? Birds who may not even use feeders will partake in fresh water at a hanging bath.Lots of options for placement; hang it the from a tree branch, deck bracket, wall hook or garden pole with feeders. Feathered friends will find and frequent it daily. Hanging baths are ideal when their neighbor’s cat(s) is always in the wrong yard too…. grrrr, uggh! Civility is required because they’re a neighbor, but you want to have the birds too, so placing bird baths or feeders up high is always a good idea.
Although birds do tend to bathe more naturally at ground level, a hanging bird bath makes a great gift even for the nature buff with no yard at all!
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Peanut Bird Feeders that Rock
Give birds peanuts… because variety is the spice of life!
Be it shelled or whole peanuts, birds love them and for good reason. They pack a real punch for nutrition and likely for taste, but you’d have to ask a bird on that one.Simply put, Calories = Energy, so especially for cold weather feeding, peanut bird feeders are always a good bet. That energy is what keeps birds warm overnight. Ever wonder why many resident birds feed from dawn till dusk? The goal is to store enough energy to make it through a frigid night.
The Wreath Peanut Feeder above is meant for whole peanuts, but it’s easy to pop a suet ball or two inside for more variety. The design is very bird-friendly and even lends itself for other options.
In early spring, it’s ideal for nesting materials. Start saving your pet’s hair from their brush now. Decorative mosses and feathers are also prime materials for nest construction by most of the usual suspects. Steer clear of dryer lint- though it may seem soft & fluffy, it contains synthetic material that’s just not found in a birds’ world.
Say you could do without the mess of peanuts in the shell? Opt for a feeder that’s made for shelled peanuts. Most of these will accommodate black oil sunflower seed so you can still change it up, enticing more birds to your place.
The large capacity mesh design offers lots of all-over feeding space. Most styles also lend themselves to doing the nest materials in spring. Adding suet may not work as well in shelled peanut bird feeders as there’s nothing to hold it at the outer wall for easy access – though you’ll likely be able to do black oil sunflower for variety.
Regardless if shelled, or peanuts in the shell, birds will flock for this tasty treat year-round. Expect woodpeckers, jays, titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, bluebirds and others at shelled peanuts. Expect squirrels at all peanut feeders… in which case a baffle is highly recommended 🙂
Birding Tips, Information & News
We’re starting earlier with holiday gift ideas as there’s so many cool bird accessories and so little time. Do stay tuned for some pretty unique non-birder gift ideas too!
