Bird Pine Cones and Holiday Decorations!

Carolina Wren December 19, 2011

I assisted Virginia Master Naturalist Debbie with the Junior Naturalist Club at a local middle school. We made pine cones filled with suet and seeds for the birds. It was so much fun I decided to make some of my own.



Directions:

Start with some pine cones (I had old ones that didn't have any scent on them). Tie a pipe cleaner (no ribbon!) around the bottom. Mix about equal parts of vegetable shortening and peanut butter in a big bowl, the stickier the better. Use a small spatula (the kids used plastic knives) to put the mixed suet into the crevices, then roll in wild bird seed and shake off the excess. You might want to do this outside since it's very messy. You should have seen the school children! I attached the pine cones to a burning bush shrub.



The tufted titmouse came right away but this downy woodpecker was what I caught with the camera. Other birds I observed on the pine cones were dark eyed juncos, hairy woodpeckers, Carolina chickadees, and American goldfinches.



The Northern Cardinal kept looking at the cones but didn't eat--just cautious I guess. But he makes a great Christmas decoration just by himself!


I had to post a photo of my Christmas tree this year which I picked out myself from the Spruce Run tree farm only a few miles away. I had my pick from thousands of trees but found this one right away. I think we have more presents for the pets under it than for the two of us but that's ok with me.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Red-bellied Woodpecker and Chickadee

Today, it's cold (30s) and mostly cloudy--good for writing a post.

Yesterday, the wind was so strong and the temperature was dropping so quickly that I did my nature watching, the easy way, by looking out the windows.



This Carolina Chickadee is using the branch to open up a sunflower seed. The Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees are supposed to interbreed in this region so I identify ours by their song which is definitely that of the Carolina Chickadee. They also seem quite a bit smaller than those I have seen up north in New York. I had read that maybe that's just an adaptation to cold.




The Red-bellied Woodpecker rules at the suet feeder. Even the Blue Jay won't challenge this bird--guess he's afraid of that long beak.



Here's one I caught in flight.


Here you can see a little bit of the red belly which gives the woodpecker its name.

A few years ago, I was able to observe some Red-bellied Woodpeckers in southern Florida (near Ft. Meyers) about this time of year. They seemed quite a bit smaller than the ones we have here. Similar to the Chickadees, the woodpeckers up north are larger to adapt to the cold. The larger the bird, the easier they can keep their bodies warm. But, I guess there is a trade-off--they must eat more food to keep warm. Of course, that doesn't seem to be a problem around here because I keep the suet feeders full all winter.