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Blogs by Judith Lawrence
Winter Pleasures 1/22/2012 6:21:01 AM
I must say that there's not a lot I like about winter. The cold, snow, and ice are not my favourite things. Some people like winter for the pleasure they get from winter sports like skiing and skating but sports, whether summer or winter, do not give me any pleasure.
There are things I like about winter however. The joy of sitting in front of a wood fire is one of them. The crackling sound of the wood and the colourful flames reaching up from the logs is fascinating.
Another pleasure is given to me in winter also--that is the joy of the birds visiting the feeders. From dawn until sunset the birds are constantly flying back and for to the seed feeder and the suet cake.
This year I have tried a new kind of seed feeder. It is a tube feeder. It has two different size holes at the many ports, which allows me to fill it with small and large sunflower seeds. The tube feeder has been much less wasteful than other feeders I have tried, mainly because the red squirrel is not able to sit on it for long periods of time and eat the birds out of house and home. The squirrels can get on the tube feeder but I guess it is not as comfortable for him and so he doesn't stay on it very long. Now the birds get more chance.
The squirrel still gets plenty to eat as lots of seed drops to the ground and he sits there pretty well all day and munches away.
The suet cake is also loved by all the birds especially the woodpeckers. This year even the pileated woodpecker, an extremely large woodpecker has visited. The other woodpeckers that come are the downy and hairy woodpeckers.
The feeding station is a very busy and interesting place and affords a lot of pleasure to a bird watcher. One marvels at how the birds survive during this cold Canadian winter and I am glad to be able to be a part of their ability to survive by providing them a food source.
