Before my next Yellowstone blog (later today; I’m on a roll after a long posting absence), I wanted to share a tip with those of you concerned about birds when you’re confronted with frigid temperatures.
Here in the Southeastern USA, our late autumn/winter season has so far been a temperature roller coaster. We have gone from afternoon temperatures in the 50s and 60s F° (about 10-15 C°) to morning lows of 10 to 25 F° (-12 to -3 C°).
Carolina chickadee
My porch features some shallow plastic plant saucers that I keep filled with water and a solar fountain. The smaller birds especially like to get drinks there because it is more sheltered than the bird baths out in the yard. However, that water has been frozen and birds began chipping at it fruitlessly to get a drink.
Northern cardinal
As a hiker, I often use hand, toe and body warmers when I walk in the cold. So it occurred to me that I might use them to provide the birds with some liquid refreshment in the cold. Wikipedia explains what they are: “Air-activated hand warmers contain cellulose, iron, activated carbon, vermiculite (which holds water) and salt and produce heat from the exothermic oxidation of iron when exposed to air.” The small packets are shaken to activate them and then they give off warmth for about 8-10 hours.
Brown thrasher
I taped some of the hand and body warmers to the bottom of plastic containers and ceramic dishes and it has worked really well. Even in freezing weather, the warmers keep the water in the containers liquid all day for birds like the tufted titmice below.
As you can see from the accompanying photos, a variety of birds have been using them and it’s been rewarding for both them and me! As I write this in front of my porch window, a yellow-rumped warbler stopped by for a drink.
The larger birds like the crows have not come onto the porch but I hope they have strong enough beaks to break through ice in the ponds and puddles.
The coming week, our temperature roller coaster will return. We’re now expecting to have temperatures in the next two weeks reaching about 65 F° (18 C)!!
As you’ll see in the next blog, when my friend and I visited Yellowstone in the spring, we also encountered temperature roller coasters. Some days we started off bundled up for winter and ended with our jackets off in the afternoon. I am immensely grateful that I’ve been able to cope with these climatic circumstances and will maintain my wood pile in case we lose electricity later this winter and I need to use the fireplace.
When facing unpleasant challenges, it’s helpful to have an interest to help put them mentally aside while you find enjoyment doing something else. Observing and connecting with wildlife and plant life does that for me. For at least a while, I can think, “I don’t give a shit,” and instead focus on what’s going on immediately around me, like the red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) above actually giving a shit. 😊
It’s my good fortune to live in a home with sizeable front and backyards where I can entice birds to spend time. Nest boxes border the yards and nesting gourds hang on the front porch, so that attracts pairs who raise young ones here in the spring. They also use these nesting sites to spend the night during cold autumn and winter nights. Downy woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens) seem especially fond of one nest box next to the driveway.
Since converting much of my front yard lawn into flower gardens (and I’m working on that in the back, although there I’ve planted more flowering and berry-bearing trees), the insect population has increased. That has helped the pollination of my flowers and provided the resident birds with meals, like one of the 6 or so Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) who occupy specific niches. One pair hangs out near a water-filled tub; another pair hangs out near a brush pile out back and the third pair hops in and out of a brush pile in the front yard.
The cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) are picky eaters. The American robins in my yard ate a lot of the juniper berries they prefer and there weren’t many other berries around (as was the case at the local arboretum). At my house, they’ve mostly been using the small ponds to drink and bathe.
In past years, the visiting yellow-rumped warblers (Setophaga coronata) have lived peacefully with one another. This year, however, I have two birds who seem to be quite incensed when they spy each other. If one is at a feeder, the other zooms in to chase it off and often they flutter upward in a tangle with wings spread. So far, I’ve always been a couple seconds too late to capture the mid-air tussle – it is one of my goals for yard birding this year.
The pine warblers (Setophaga pinus) in my yard are quite tolerant and polite.
I hadn’t had golden-crowned kinglets (Regulus satrapa) in my yard much before this year; now I have at least one living here but s/he never comes to the feeders. Because this bird stays very high and I haven’t had access to my long camera lens for some time, it’s been difficult to get photos at home. I’ve had somewhat more success on walks.
My beautiful world 