Making Birdfeeders

Chloe and I decided to make our own bird feeders yesterday to see if we could attract birds for observation outside our front windows. We did the classic pinecone, peanut butter, roll in birdseed kind of feeders.

We tied thin jute rope to the pinecones first.

This morning, we were rewarded with juncos and house finches!

At one point, this little guy was hanging sideways on the rope and swinging away while nibbling the birdseed.

This male finch decided to take his seed to the roof and eat in peace.

Good bird pictures are difficult to take, but I like trying!

Wolf Moon

Last night, we all went out to view the moon, and in spite of all the clouds we were still able to see the big, bright, full moon. On January 29th, the moon was the brightest and biggest that it will be this year. Perigee is the term explaining when the moon's orbit reaches its closest point to earth. One or two times a year, the moon's perigee coincides with a full moon making it appear really big and bright for us. Native Americans gave each month's full moon names, thus the name "wolf moon" for January's full moon. You can read a further explanation here. We were able to identify the Sea of Tranquility through my binoculars. Apollo 11 landed at the edge of the Sea of Tranquility, and I got pretty excited about being able to so easily see it.

Nature Journaling Birds

We've been observing birds since December when I received a bird feeder for my birthday. My binoculars and field guide have been our best friends in our quest to identify the birds coming to our backyard.

I was brave and attempted to draw a little Junco in my nature journal, but

the kids are a little intimated by drawing birds, so I found this great coloring book of birds and printed off some of the birds that we are seeing for the kids to color, cut out, and paste in their nature journals.

Snickers likes to observe the birds too, but for a very different reason I think! Good thing for the birds that she's an indoor cat!

The Trick May Be Water

We read somewhere recently that birds have a hard time finding water in the winter. They can eat snow if they have to, but people can help the birds by putting out a little water for them. Clean feathers keep birds warmer than dirty feathers, so they need water to bathe in as well as to drink. This morning, Grant and I put out a container of water. In less than 2 minutes, we had around 7 or 8 robins fighting over the water! Until this morning, we had not been able to attract the robins to our backyard. Water did the trick! If you are trying to attract more birds to your yard, try putting out a little water. The birds will thank you!

Winter/Snow Reading

We are enjoying a few "snow" books this winter season. Chloe's favorite so far is Blizzard by Betty Ren Wright. Grant is using The Story of Snow to write a report about how snow crystals are formed. My favorite book is Snowflake Bentley. Mr. Bentley spent his life photographing snowflakes and gave scientists much of the knowledge they have today on the subject of snow. We keep hoping for some snow here in ABQ, so that we can try our hand at taking some pictures of snow crystals like we found here. Check them out. They are awesome!

The Birds are Lovin' It

We wondered when we put up the new feeder if the birds would like the food it had to offer.

I think they like it!

Bird Watching

Now that our holiday break is over, we are ready to resume our study of nature. We have some dark paper in our freezer all ready for catching and observing snowflakes, but wouldn't you know it---no snow in the foreseeable forecast. So, we are turning our attention to birds!

Allison got a great picture of a pelican on Galveston Island right after Christmas.

I got a great birdfeeder for my birthday, and we've been watching birds with the binoculars I received for Christmas. I decided to try and keep track of the ones we see by listing them on our calendar when we spot a new bird.

One of my favorite birds to visit us so far is the spotted towhee.

We also have lots of dark eyed juncos.

We're beginning to see some little house finches with their bright red heads and chests, but getting good pictures is a challenge!

I really like this field guide because the birds are grouped by color, so we can easily look up and find a bird we have just spotted in our backyard.

What birds are visiting your feeder this winter?