Bright orange and yellow flames were leaping in the air, glowing embers and a full moon overhead. What’s better than a bonfire and what’s more perfect in autumn than a big blazing bonfire with stars and a full moon.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of enjoying two bonfires: no full moon but a sky filled with bright stars and glowing mesmerizing embers. Somehow both fires lacked the cloud of smoke so common at bonfires, making the experience even more enjoyable.
Another enjoyable autumn activity for me is bird feeding. Sometime in mid-October, I ramp up my bird-feeding activity and put out suet. I stay away from it in summer — too many bears with a hankering for suet are around, but this time of the year, I feel fairly safe. I’d no sooner filled the suet cages when all my woodpecker friends suddenly popped out of the woods where they’ve spent the summer. The nuthatches and chickadees also flocked at the suet with great enthusiasm as if the peanuts I give them all summer were getting boring.
I discovered that my black sunflower seed supply needs replenishing. Once that’s finished, I’ll be all set for a season of enjoying the birds. Dick’s already re-established his friendship with “Tufts,” the nuthatch who eats from his hand.
Unfortunately, this is also the time of year when too many migrating birds slam into windows and die. However, in the past two years, we’ve had Acopian Bird Savers on our windows and only two bird fatalities. Pretty good, considering the numbers that crashed in the past.
For many years we’d hang blaze orange plastic strips on our windows to save our feathered friends, but too many birds still died. Several years ago, a wonderful column reader recommended Acopian. We figured “why not try” so ordered them online.
The concept is so simple I had a hard time believing it would work. Acopian Bird Savers are parachute cords fitted to the correct window size. Once hanging, they create an aesthetically pleasing appearance. They move gracefully in a breeze and are hearty enough, so northwest winds move them around, but nothing has damaged them so far. This is a far cry from the ugly orange plastic strips that tore off in the wind and flapped noisily against the window while birds still died.
A guest in our house recently commented on the Zen-like feeling imparted by our lovely Acopian Bird Savers. The best part is that they keep birds from smashing into windows.
They can be ordered at Acopian Bird Savers.com. I highly recommend them.
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