By Nancy Bauer
Birds of a Feather
Bird feeding is in. More that 50 million Americans already have season tickets!
There are three basic requirements to create a bird friendly back yard: water, shelter and fresh, clean seed offered in appropriate feeders.
You can use a submersible heater or a thermostatically controlled birdbath to provide a reliable source of water.
There are various styles of feeders to choose from. Websites like www.BirdWatcherSupply.com are a good resource.
Place feeders in areas that offer nearby cover for the birds and allow you to view them from inside your homes. Having dense ground cover shrubs or trees close by will help protect birds from predators. Birds generally do better in raised feeding areas out of reach of cats and not too close to cover, such as buildings, fences or parked cars that could conceal a cat’s approach. If you hang your feeders from tree limbs, place them near the trunk where they will be harder for hawks to approach. An attacking hawk first reaches the outer branches, particularly of a sparsely leafed tree.
With appropriate yard habitat and the proper combination of wild bird seed, feeders and a water source, you should be able to attract a good assortment of birds. Having neighbors who feed the birds will help as birds tend to make the rounds of ‘food patches’, and a neighborhood smorgasbord is great incentive for feathered friends.
Go to BirdZilla.com to find out the 35 most common birds of Colorado.
Why do the pine trees look so bad?
Evergreen trees will cycle their material in the same fashion as deciduous trees drop their leaves each fall. This process is known as abscission in trees and is triggered by hormones in the trees. Pine trees have different cycles among them varying from every 2-4 years. This year needle drop seems more accentuated. The abundant moisture this summer produced a more robust stock of needle tissue, and the trees are unable to support the new tissue so they are shedding it.
Watering
Be sure to winter water trees and shrubs at least once a month. If you have a spigot stop valve that reaches back behind the foundation wall you can deep root water with a hose on a sunny after noon. You can even use your sprinkler for 20 to 30 minutes to soak your lawn if temperatures stay above 50 degrees!
Recycle Christmas Trees
After the holidays you can chop the branches off your Christmas tree and lay them over bulb beds and perennial gardens. The added insulation helps protect plants against fluctuating soil temperatures and early warm-up.
Please also consider dropping your trees off to be recycled at the SSPR Willow Springs location on Holly Street, between Dry Creek and Arapahoe Rd.