Bird Watching Activities to do with Your Children

This time of year you are making sure your feathered friends have plenty of food and water. Your decorative birdfeeders are full of seeds. Nesting boxes and decorative birdhouses are clean and ready to protect birds from wind, rain and snow. Heated Bird baths are keeping the water from freezing. All is good in your backyard!!!!!

This winter is a great time to start sharing your love for birding with your children. Below are several activities and resources on the internet especially geared toward children. I find that birding offered hours of fun while also being educational. Kids home for winter break give plenty of opportunity for family birdwatching and study.

What you need to get started:

1) Binoculars

2) A good beginners Bird Watching Book

• Stokes Beginner's Guide West Book. Donald and Lillian Stokes offer novice birders a fine introductory guide -- a pocked-sized book that provides instant access to the most commonly sighted species in the western half of North America.
• Stokes Beginner's Guide East Book. Donald and Lillian Stokes offer novice birders a fine introductory guide -- a pocked-sized book that provides instant access to the most commonly sighted species in the eastern half of North America.
• Stokes Beginner's Guide to Bird Feeding. Want to attract birds to your home? Here's how to make your yard inviting. Info on bird seed, feeders, and outsmarting squirrels. Many color photos.
  

3) A journal or notebook to keep track of your activities, sightings and sounds. Journaling is a great experience that enables you

• To keep record of birds that your children see and hear.
• To keep a record of your experiences to look back at in the years to come
• To make time for a shared activity with your kids a priority

Several activities you can do with your children:

1) Get a new bird feeder this winter. Have your children choose a new decorative birdfeeder, squirrel proof birdfeeder, or maybe a window feeder. Window feeders are great because they will be able to watch the birds easily from inside. This can be their feeder which they can fill and take care of.

2) In the Spring get a new decorative birdhouse or nesting box for their new favorite bird. Giving them ownership of a feeder and birdhouse will surely cultivate responsibility and their appreciation of birds.


3) Have fun looking at the following sites. Decide which sites interest you and are good for the ages of your children

• Birds Zoom School-Enchanted Learning
• What makes a bird a bird
• eNaturalist-Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History
• Teaching kids about birds
• Bird watching with children
• Owl Pages- All about Owls
• Migrating birds have no Boundaries-On line journey of birds around the world

4) Spend time on the following sites to find the birds common to your area. Have your children become familiar with the sounds of some of these birds. They will begin to learn how to identify birds either by sight or sound.

• A brief guide to common birds, Birds by Habitat type
• Patuxent Bird Identification Info Center
• Patuxent--Bird Songs..this has bird sounds
• Bird Checklists of the United States
• Bird Checklists by State and Province
• Top North American Bird Fact Sheets, Bird watching in the United States
• The Birds of North America
• What Bird.com ..a search site
• Official State Birds

5) Choose some activities from the following sites:

• Bird watching activities for kids
• Bird Crafts for Kids
• Some more Bird Crafts for Kids
• Kids Bird Feeder
• National Geographic Pen Pal Program. You can indicate a topic such as birds and find pen pals with same interests
• Smithsonian National Zoological Park- Bird Activity Page
• Building a Birdhouse
• Build a Birdhouse Out of a gourd, milk carton

Birding is a great educational & fun activity for your whole family. It is a great way to combine learning and fun. Too often our children can name many animals that live in Africa but cannot tell you the name of the birds in their own backyard!!


If you want to buy your decorative bird feeders, birdhouses, or other outdoor décor on line. Visit my website

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Add Style to Your Otherwise Dreary Outdoors This Winter

Cold Weather can cause us to overlook our outdoor space. Yet winter is an awesome time for your deck, patio or front entranceway to take on a different and appealing look. You probably already have decorative birdhouses, wooden outdoor furniture, garden fountain and birdfeeders that you enjoy year round. These following ideas will enhance what you have already and make your outdoors less dreary this winter.


Plant Containers

• Fill your outdoor planters with perennials that will last all winter long.
  
  • Ornamental grasses such as dwarf forms of Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis), like 'Little Kitten' and 'Yaku Jima'.
  • Dwarf fountain grasses (Pennisetum alopecuroides), like 'Hameln' or 'Little Bunny'
• Lavender (Lavandula officinalis), variegated yucca (Yucca filamentosa) such as 'Bright Edge' or 'Golden Sword' or Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.

• For those planters that have a catching design or color of their own, plant them with a single
  perennial or ground cover. The pot becomes the vocal point instead of the plant.
  
• European ginger (Asarum europaeum), variegated pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis 'Variegata')
• Variegated lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor) such as 'Alba Variegata'
• Evergreen barrenworts, such as Epimedium x perralchicum, E. pubigerum or E. x versicolor, sedums (Sedum spp.) or hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum spp).
  
  
• Cool-weather vegetables also make great pot-fillers. It is best to plant several together in one pot for the best effect
  
• Purple-leaved beets,
• Chinese cabbage, kale, spinach and leaf lettuce
• Mustard, snap peas
• Swiss chard ( 'Rhubarb' or 'Bright Lights.' )
  
  
• Hardy herbs are another great idea for containers Thyme, parsley, oregano and sage look great while being tolerant of winter temperatures. Remember to use them in some of your recipes.
  
  
• Conifers are another great addition to your outdoors. Take the conifer- pot and all- and put into the soil of your container.
  
  
• Weeping or upright junipers (Juniperus spp.)
• Dwarf Norway spruce (Picea abies) such as 'Little Gem,' 'Nidiformis' or 'Pygmaea'
• Dwarf white spruce (Picea glauca) including 'Conica,' 'Hobbit,' 'Humpty Dumpty' or 'Jean's Dilly.
• Dwarf cultivars of mugo pine (Pinus mugo) such as 'Mops' or 'Gnom'
• Copressus arizonica, with a symmetrical pyramidal form of blue-gray foliage on compact branches
• New Blue Tamarix Juniper, or Juniperus Sabina, which has blue foliage
  
  
• Topiaries also are great for decorating any garden space. Look for ones created with English ivy (Hedera helix), a hardy herb or a clipped evergreen such as Juniperus chinensis.

Some Other Planting Notes:

• Keep in mind that terra- cotta containers should not be used over the winter. They are susceptible to cracking. Thick, lightweight polyurethane foam containers, which resemble terra cotta or stone can withstand the winter temperatures.
• Make sure the plants you choose are hardy in your particular climate zone.
• By the time your plants start to out grow your pots you will be able to plant them right in your garden in the spring.

Group Your Planters

• Your front entranceway and your deck or patio are the best areas to show off these winter plants.
• Group your containers to in a way to create an interesting symmetrical layout of shape and size while having a
  variety of color, shape, height and texture.
• Add to your plant groupings a small sculpture, old watering can, or other objects like driftwood, rocks, or old garden tools which reflect your interests and personality. This will add style to your plant groupings.
• Try to set up your groupings in a location that you are able to see from indoors.

Garden Fountains and outdoor wooden furniture need to be put away for the season but many other things can remain outdoors. Birds will be attracted to your backyard if you have a heated bird bath and decorative bird feeders. In addition these add much needed character to an otherwise barren backyard

Tuned Wind Chimes and Tressels can also remain outdoors for the winter.

Your deck or patio can feel more like home this winter with the addition of a Jaquizzi, or a chiminea which you can use to cook over or sit around for a cozy winter fire

Add color to your deck or patio by painting an outdoor piece of furniture such as a table or chair a vibrant color. Or paint several rocks and add them to your plant containers.

This is also a good time to look at your garden landscape and identify what you may want to improve for next year. When everything is barren it is easier to see what improvements you could make.

Take a look at my website to get some ideas for your backyard such as decorative birdhouses, tuned wind chimes, squirrel proof birdfeeders, outdoor wooden furniture, garden fountains and more.

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7 Ways to Transform Your Outdoor Living Space
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12 Winter Bird Myths You May or May Not Know

While spending time on Birds and Blooms site this month I found this article. Nice easy enjoyable reading at a busy time of year. Enjoy...


The world of birding is full of myths. Some have been handed down for generations, while others have cropped up more recently.


When it comes to winter birding, it seems there are more myths than usual. Here are a few of the common ones I know. Hopefully, I can help debunk these myths once and for all!


Myth #1: Birds will freeze to death when temperatures get well below 0°.

Fact: Birds are well equipped to survive the coldest of temperatures. They store fat during the short days of winter to keep themselves warm during the long nights.


Myth #2: American robins always fly south for winter.

Fact: If there is sufficient food on their breeding grounds, American robins, bluebirds, and a host of finches and owls remain in the area where they spent the summer..



Myth #3: You should take birdhouses down in winter because birds don't use them
Fact:On the contrary &mdash a birdhouse makes a great roosting house in winter. Eastern bluebirds will pile into houses to spend cold nights. One photographer once even snapped a picture of 13 male bluebirds in a single house!


Myth #4: If you leave town during winter, the birds that rely on the food from your feeders will die.

Fact: Research has proven this one wrong. Scientists have shown that chickadees, for example, will eat only 25% of their daily winter food from feeders. They find the other 75% in the wild.
In addition, with so many people feeding them nowadays, birds in your yard will simply fly to a nearby neighbor to get their food until you return home..



Myth #5: All hummingbirds migrate south for winter

Fact: Though most hummingbird species in North America do migrate south for the winter, the Anna's hummingbird remains on its West Coast breeding grounds.


continue reading myth #6 through #12

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Outdoor Christmas lighting-What you Need to Know

It is that time of year for hanging outdoor christmas lighting. Oh my what did you like from last year? What do you want to change? Before you go shopping read through the following information so you are an educated consumer.

Types of Christmas Lamps/Bulbs

C9 & C7

• These are the most traditional christmas light bulbs. C9 are usually 2 3/4 inches , while C7s are normally 1 1/2 inches.
• C9 & C7’s s are best used on larger objects such as roofs, walkways, trees and the outlines of buildings.
• Both C7 and C9 lights, do require the most power. If you connect more than three strands of C9s together, you may blow a fuse.The C7 and C9 Christmas light sets are designed so that if one bulb fails or is removed, it does not affect the remainder of the strand.
• One of the nice features of C7 and C9 sets is that you can alternate colors or set them up in any pattern you choose. These Christmas light bulbs commonly come in transparent, opaque and flashing. With the opaque bulbs, you can achieve pastel colors not available in any other style.

Mini-Lights.

• These small lamps are round tubes that taper to a point, like candles. They need only ten to thirty percent as much power as C7s or C9s. Their low wattage, low cost and versatility make these lights extremely popular. They can be used just about anywhere and are very easy to put up.
• However their main drawback is that the strand is completely affected by the removal of one bulb. It breaks the circuit, so none of the bulbs can light! When mini-lights were first introduced, any bulb burning out would darken the entire strand. Today, the bulbs can burn out and the strand will stay lit, but if you pop one of the bulbs out of its socket, the whole strand will go dark.
• These lights come in a great selection of colors in both green and white wire. They are commonly used on indoor and outdoor trees and bushes.

Types of Christmas Outdoor Lighting

Now that you have decided what type of bulb you want, next you need to choose between incandescent or LED lighting.

Incandescent

• These widely used Christmas lights give a very traditional look to your house.
• The incandescent lights however do heat up very quickly and are not always durable.
• In addition their colors fade due to exposure and require more storage space.
• They remain popular due to the bright light they give off.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

• LEDs are fast replacing the traditional incandescent lamps, as they are more durable and safer.
• They use much lower energy requiring 90-98% less electricity than standard incandescent lamps.
• They do not get hot and is less of a fire danger than do regular mini-lights.
• However they are slightly less bright than incandescents.
• LED come in the popular sizes, C7 &,C9 , Mini Lights & Icicle lights. In addition they also come in many more style and sizes including C6(strawberry), M5, G12 and more.

Type of Strands

The strand of Christmas lights can either have serial or parallel wiring. Serial wiring, means all bulbs will not light up if one of them is broken. Thus, it is best to have a Christmas lights that has parallel wiring so that even if one of the bulb is damaged, all other bulbs will still illuminate.

Plug Styles

Select an end to end style of plug if you are planning to use several strands of Christmas lights. This will allow you to easily connect all strands of lights together

Keep in mind safety this holiday season.

Following are some key tips:

• Look for testing agency certifications on the lights before buying them. UL and ETL are the notable safety laboratories, and you should watch for their certification on the Christmas lights.
• Never hang Christmas lights on metal Christmas trees and other metal portions of your house. This may result in electric shock or short circuit.
  
• Use extension cords with care. Overloading them may make them hot and burn.
  
• Turn off the Christmas lights when you go to sleep.

Enjoy Your Christmas Outdoor Lighting this holiday season. If you need any lighting visit my website. In addition we carry much more for your outdoors such as decorative outdoor birdhouses, tuned windchimes, wooden outdoor furniture, outdoor garden fountains and much more.

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