One of my chores each morning before leaving for work is to refill the bird feeders with black sunflower seeds and occasionally replace the frozen blocks of suet. This week’s temperatures at daybreak have been around 15 below zero each morning making it a chilly task in the early hours, but the birds need to eat.
The grosbeaks are friendly visitors that perch along the outer edges of our yard waiting for me to dump a pile of seeds on the table for them to devour for breakfast. Soon after the big grosbeaks get started, a few of the braver chickadees begin to join the meal with quick “grab and go” tactics returning to the safety of the balsam tree branches to eat their seeds. I never thought feeding the birds could be so entertaining.
The first year that Rachelle and I decided to start a bird sanctuary in our back yard we had great success with a diverse population of free loaders. Whiskey jacks, blue jays, grosbeak, and chickadee are the predominant birds in our neck of the woods, and we have been fortunate to have them all visit our little backyard B & B for birds.
Jays are my favorite birds to watch but they tend to be a bit bullish, especially the Blue Jays. Once they get their fill the other birds quickly move in to scavenge over the remaining seeds. The bigger birds seem to prefer eating seeds while the smaller birds pick away at the blocks of suet that are hanging in the trees. There is a little something for all of them.
Every fall we wait until the black bears have hibernated to begin feeding the birds—and I think last year we started a little too late since we did not attract any grosbeak.
We were advised to be consistent with feeding birds since they will actually rely on the free food to survive. The wild birds become dependent and the temperatures are so cold that they cannot afford to miss a single meal. They need the energy to create body heat in order to keep from freezing to death.
Attracting birds to our house is great entertainment but we had a problem in the past with our feeding location. The first year we fed the birds close to the house and the grosbeak were flying into the big picture window adjacent to the bird houses. We were able to resolve the problem by relocating the feeding site instead of having to put brightly colored tape on the windows or hang curtains. We lost a few before realizing what was happening. Maybe that is why the grosbeak did not return last season, it is hard to say for sure but they are back now— and they can eat a lot of sunflower seeds.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218- 388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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