Feed the birds, Tuppence a Bag

Who remembers the song from Mary Poppins, Feed The Birds? How did the music make you feel? Sad? Happy? Sleepy? These were questions that my granddaughter, Zoe, was asked during her online Preschool Theatre Class last week. Of course, my Zoe responded correctly that she better get granddad out there and feed the birds!

Winter is when many of us enjoy watching the wildlife out of our windows, filling up feeders so we can see our beautiful feathered friends. If you are like me, you can spend many hours just laughing at the antics the squirrels go through to get to that seed you picked out for your birds. In our house, our new kitten seems to enjoy watching the birds and other critters the most. He gets up and lays on top of the couch and watches for hours. Then before you know it, his little rear end starts to wiggle and crash into the window he goes.  

Buying Seed To Feed The Birds ~ Quality Matters 

One of the many things I miss about Behnke’s is having the fresh bird’s seed available. Our buyer, Mike Bader, always kept an ample supply of quality seed in the garden center. Hopefully, by now, you have found another local garden center to buy your plants and, of course, bird seed. I made a mistake last Winter of getting a cheap bag at the grocery store. Horrible! Our birds are not picky eaters, but they would not touch any of that seed.  

Different Seeds When Feeding The Birds

Years ago,  Natalie Brewer, a guest writer for Behnke Nurseries, wrote a terrific article about the different bird seed types in her article Birds in the Winter, To Feed or Not Feed. I don’t think there is ever too much said about birds. Two weeks ago, I shared a photograph of an Owl that Pam Lever sent to me. Today I wanted to share this one from her bird feeder.  Pam is an amazing photographer and her husband Vince has sent me many of her photographs. I think my favorite one was her in her backyard in a camouflage tent with this huge camera lens sticking out while she waited patiently for the perfect shot. 

All God’s Creatures Enjoy Eating At My Moms

This week when I was at my mother’s home, I counted over 15 pairs of Cardinals. I think there were more, but it is days like that I wish I had a good camera and not just my cell phone. Against the snow backdrop, it indeed was magnificent! Their tree branches were covers with red. Of course, the doves, snowbirds, and other winter birds like bluejays were present, along with their family of silly squirrels.

Mom and her husband enjoy feeding all the animals, and their resident fox comes along at dusk to see what is for dinner. Max, their cat, likes to watch also. He is sure he will be able to sneak up on one of these critters, but unfortunately, it is never to be. They laugh at poor old Max and ignore him. The day the chipmunk ran over his foot was the day I knew his hunting days were over. 

I hope you have found some joy this past week with all this snow and ice. Sometimes it is just the simple things like feeding the birds. If you have some pictures you would like to let us see; please do! You can send them to me at sfleming@behnkes.com or post them on Behnke’s Facebook Page.   

*** UPDATE*** Sadly my mother, Sonja passed away In December of 2022 as did her cat Max the summer before. Now when the cardinals show up I know my mother’s angel is near.