AROUND AND ABOUT

January 11, 2010

AROUND AND ABOUT
By Deanna Lee Travis - Jan. 11, 2010

We had a break today in the almost constant rain of the past week. Winter in the Pacific Northwest can be sloughy and messy at its worse, unless it snows. Then all bets are off. The landscape around here is hilly, some bigger than others, but not very flat. Snow and ice make it impossible to function. Oh sure, some folks have snow tires, and even studded ones if they are traveling to ski resorts or making regular trips across one of the big passes - but even those still require chains at the least threat of real snowfall.

Living close to the ocean as we do, even though our ‘ocean’ is the very protected part of the inland sea, we still get the mediation from the water making our temperatures warmer by perhaps ten degrees or more than in town. (Town being Poulsbo Washington about eight miles from our home) Quite often in the evening as we watch the news and weather at the end of our day I will check the indoor/outdoor thermometer and it will read whatever the estimated high is for the next day!

I’ve mentioned before that we walk almost every day - not when it is raining too much - but we can manage to find a dry spot most days and we take advantage of that. Today I noticed heather in bloom in several yards. I don’t know when it blooms in its native country, Scotland I believe, but it is blooming here now. So are the early Rhododendrons, a nice clear pink.

I have various bulbs planted in several places, and they are not only ‘up’ but some are eight inches high. Now I have to worry if we do get a cold spell or worse yet snow. I do remember a big snow several years ago in February which shut down Seattle across Admiralty Inlet for nearly a week. My bulbs had really shot up that year too - and when they were snowed in I called the local nursery and asked what I should do. They tried not to laugh too loudly, but assured me my bulbs would be fine and it wasn’t necessary to shovel them out. I probably would have been on my hands and knees with a spoon trying to remove the snow without damaging the green leaves. [Editor’s note: Snow on spring flowers is a common occurrence in Montana]

I also have a nice patch of arrow bamboo. That’s the really tall one (about 15 feet) with the green stalks which turn yellow when it dries. It keeps its leaves year around, so when it snows it gets weighed down fast. I’ve spent several evening over the year’s , broom in hand, knocking the snow off the culms to keep them from breaking. Actually the stuff is extremely hardy and bends severely without breaking. Duh, it’s bamboo. Maybe that is one of the super attributes which allow it to be used to make fly rods? Some days, I just feel like a flock of birds flew over or through my thought processes.

As long as I’m giving a run down on what’s going on in our little area I have to mention something really neat. Well neat to me at least. We have resident Pileated Woodpeckers. At one time we had three for sure, I’ve only counted two for sure, that being here at the same time.

The bird books say the bird is 16 inches tall, and with a bright red crest, the males also have a red mustache. We have one male, one female , and they are absolutely beautiful birds. The wings are black as is the rest of the bird, except for the underside of the wings which is white. So picture the bird on the trunk of a big cedar tree happily pecking away when from above, higher up on the tree, is a small red squirrel. The squirrel wants to come down the tree. The Pileated raises his shoulders and expands those big wings out. Being white underneath it really makes a big display. The squirrel didn’t know what to do. He made another attempt to come down and the Pileated takes a couple of steps upward and does the wing-display again. The squirrel gives up and jumps down and runs away. I didn’t know woodpeckers made displays like that at all. What a marvelous thing to see.

Neil (Trav) has been a birder all the years I’ve known him, so it didn’t come as any surprise to see a list of the birds he has seen in our yard. The last time I looked I think the count is 38 different species. Over the years I’ve left part of the yard ‘wild’ so to speak, no paths, no clearing except to remove some dead trees. We’ve left others if they weren’t a danger, and I’ve planted things which have winter berries and seeds for the birds. We have several feeders and a suet log. The suet attracts lots of birds, including the woodpeckers - we do have others, the beautiful Flickers and Downy Woodpeckers too.

Here’s the recipe we use for the suet. The original one I used for years was Joan Carson’s. Joan is our local ‘bird lady’ and she has published this one for several years in the Kitsap Sun newspaper. Find a container which you can swipe for the duration. I use a small metal loaf pan.

Melt about a cup of lard in a two-cup glass measure in the microwave. It doesn’t have to be very hot, just melted. Pour that into the pan you’re going to use. Dump several handfuls of real oatmeal - NOT the instant or quick cooking stuff, and a couple of handfuls of cornmeal. Stir it a bit and add more until the lard seems to be soaked up. Both the oat and cornmeal contain good stuff to provide nourishment for the birds. Trav uses straight chunky peanut butter in his suet feeders, so we added a good fat big spoonful to the oatmeal/cornmeal recipe. Put the container in the frig until it sets up and then fill your feeders. When the container gets down just make up another batch in the same container. The response by our customers is that the combination is very tasty.

The suet log is also one of Joan Carson’s recommended methods - my late husband JC made the one we have now. He couldn’t find a round log the size he wanted so he bought a piece of 4 x 4 and carefully drilled large holes on all four sides. Carefully because if you space them wrong you come out into ones you’ve already drilled and the whole thing can collapse.

Previously the log hung back in the woods, but we really couldn’t see it.and part of the enjoyment of bird feeding is getting to see them. Trav put a Shepherd’s hook right next to the back deck, and I really didn’t think the big birds would use it - too close to the house - and I was wrong. It is pretty amazing to see these birds up close.

If you were looking out the windows at the back of the house you would also find a hummingbird feeder. I don’t know how many hummers we have, but we have at least one Anna’s. We also see some clouds of midges in our walks, so I know the hummers do have other food (bugs are part of their regular diet) but it seems more and more hummers are wintering here and not migrating further south. Actually this is south if you are migrating from Alaska.

No, it’s not fishing, but if you haven’t been involved with birds, fed them, watched their behaviors this is a great time to get into it. It’s a long winter, bird seed isn’t expensive (Walmart has a stock of it here) and your winter will be much more enjoyable. Pick a spot where you can put out some cracked corn on the ground where you can watch too. You’ll be surprised at who all shows up for that. Once you get started the word will get out (the birds talk to each other you know) and you will have ‘regulars’.

You might even add to your library, most regions have bird books which cover just the birds in your particular area. The little field guide pocket sized books are inexpensive and dandy to keep around or to throw in the car if you’re out for a drive.

Bird watching, bird feeding and identifying your local birds can be very entertaining and just plain fun. And it makes winter much more interesting.

 

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