February is National Bird-feeding Month. The Sunday Stills photo challenge has shared this theme three years in a row to educate the public on the seasonal journeys of birds, and help bring awareness to keeping wild birds fed during the harsh winter months in the northern hemisphere.
“National Bird Feeding Month is a chance for bird feeders, watchers, and anyone else who is feeling in the spirit to extend a hand out to our flying friends.”
National Today
I included these Annas hummingbirds from when I lived in California. Although I haven’t personally seen hummers in 2021, they do live here in Spokane, WA, but they usually migrate south for the winter.
This year, dozens of local birders have reported hummers are wintering in various areas of Washington state including Eastern Washington. According to a birding group I follow on Facebook, many avid birders have provided warming areas and heated feeders to help these hummers stick around since they are not migrating like they used to. Please feel free to share your ideas if you are a PNW birder with your experiences, theories, and ideas in the comments.
Although the temps were COLD, the sun was out all week and birds were flocking around the neighbor’s established feeders.
This pretty Anna was part of a family of hummingbirds that lived near my Dad’s home in the Sierra Nevada foothills. They were so tame and focused on feeding, I could get ridiculously closer with my lens’ zoom!
Some Ideas for Celebrating National Bird Feeding Month (source)
Put a feeder in your yard
If you haven’t already, put different feeders in your yard to attract different kinds of birds. Foods you can leave out include birdseed mixture, lard, and beef suet, meaty canned pet food, brown or white rice, crumbled bread, and much more.
Add a place with water
Birds struggle to get non-frozen water in the winter. If possible, adding a heated birdbath, fountain or even a large bowl of warm water would help greatly. Birds often gather in places where food, shelter, and water are reliable, so try to be consistent and generous.
Do some bird watching
Keep an eye on the birds that make a pit stop in your yard. Maybe the one that stops to use your water, the one who feeds, or the one that sings on your fence. Either way, try and spot the pattern and identify their species.
I hope my half-acre backyard can attract birds this season now that 8 trees have been planted. In any case, I will follow the advice listed above and put a couple of feeders out this weekend. The change of seasons from winter to spring cannot come soon enough.
“With March comes in the pleasant spring, when little birds begin to sing; To build their nests, to hatch their brood. With tender care provide them food.”
Unknown
Does a change of certain seasons bring more birds to your feeders, or fewer? If you can feed your backyard birds this February, you can be the change by extending a helping hand to our wonderful birds.
Umm, You’re Not a Bird, Deer!
Soon we will have to put 5-6 foot fences around the new trees to keep the deer from nibbling the bark and the tender new shoots. Mule deer will try every trick in the book for a tasty treat!
As you can see, these stubborn mule deer will eat anything! This is my oddsquare entry this week!
No Feeders Needed
In late November we took the one-hour drive to Lake Coeur D’Alene in Idaho to view the winter fishing grounds of the American Bald Eagle during the kokanee salmon run. Several other photographers and I had our eyes on a couple of eagles as they fished. Reward!
Enjoy a past gallery of birds feeding.
This was captured in Baja, Mexico in 2010. Old cell phone shot!
Communicating with Nature
“Birding is our most democratic way to connect to nature, because birds are everywhere – from inner cities to the deepest wilderness.”
Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods
Communication is Marsha’s theme for Writer’s Quote Wednesdays this week as she explores the art of socializing and relationship-building. What better way to accomplish this than with our fellow bloggers? Marsha challenges us to quote our blogging friends!
“Relationships are like birds. If you hold tightly, they die. If you hold loosely, they fly. But if you hold with care, they remain with you forever.”
What does this have to do with feeding birds? It may be a stretch (but that’s what I do with these challenges, right?) If you don’t believe birds socialize, just check out Wayne’s posts from Tofino Photography as he discusses his relationship with his Bald Eagle buddy “The Daredevil” in one of his recent comments:
“I always so enjoy spending time with him (the Daredevil)! I always smile! When I talk to him he sometimes makes these funny faces at me as if he doesn’t have a clue what I’m saying.”
Wayne, Tofino Photography
For more information on feeding birds during winter months, visit Audubon Guide to Winter Bird Feeding.
Photo Challenges this Week
Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I find it fun to incorporate these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.
- Becky B’s Square Odds
- Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge: Close-up or Macro
- Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday
- Lens-Artists: Change
- Marsha’s Writers Quotes Wednesday: Socializing
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
Sunday Stills weekly challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post. I also recommend adding your post’s URL into the comments.
This Week’s Links
Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who share their bird photos.
- YOUR NAME HERE!
- Always Write
- Bend Branches
- Calling All Rush-Babes
- Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
- Cee’s Photo Challenges
- Deb’s World
- NEW Gallery Ludwig
- Geriatrix FotoGallery
- Graham’s Island
- NEW Jennifer’s Journal
- Kamerapromenader
- Loving Life
- Musin’ With Susan
- Natalie the Explorer
- Now At Home
- Philosophy Through Photography
- That Travel Lady in Her Shoes
- This is Another Story
- Travels and Trifles
- The World is a Book
- Wandering Dawgs
- Working on Exploring
I am looking forward to reading how you feed the birds during any season. Please join me next Sunday for the monthly color challenge–amethyst. To give you an idea, the range of the colors is below.
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