The trees are budding out, and the weather in Illinois has been swiftly changing…from freezing to warmer, moving into the 50’s and drifting back and forth. The skies have been gray, but the sun has been fighting with the clouds to peer through and warm the ground.
Here’s a pair of mallard ducks. The flashier one with the green head is the male.
Here is a male cardinal. The female is more olive green right now…but they are daredevil flyers that remind me of kamikaze pilots.
There has been no shortage of birds around here…and every moment seems to be enriched with some new finding. The robins are back; I’m hearing them more than I’m seeing them so far. There are countless pairs of cardinals around, and I keep finding ways to capture them in the trees. The bird bark butter is helping bring them closer.
Oh, let me explain what that is. At the wildbird seed store, I found out about something called “bark butter” which is a tasty mixture of suet and peanut butter for birds. It’s high in calorie content, which is great for them at this time of year when they’re looking to build nests and start raising some young. That store had so many clever ways to put up feeders and attract birds…the bird bark butter by itself attracts up to 75 species of birds.
In the wildbird store, they had a clip like this one – showing all the different birds coming to eat – in a loop, playing over and over again. I picked up two tubs of the stuff, and have to say it has been working like a charm.
I have two hanging feeders – one of them was explained in detail – and it’s for the goldfinches and their thistle seed. I had no idea before that visit to the store that thistle has a shelf life…or that goldfinches are picky eaters. A covered feeder with fresh thistle seed will draw them like flies…and there was an amazingly successful goldfinch breeding season last year, so we’re seeing lots of them now.
I’ve been lucky enough to be outside to hear flocks of sandhill cranes flying overhead…last year was the first year I’d ever seen any in the area, let alone had the privilege of hearing their calls. Now I’ve heard them flying overhead and knew immediately what they were.
These are some pictures from the past few days…if I get the opportunity, I may upload a few more.
I am up at the Wisconsin Dells right now, and will be posting some photos from tonight’s event in a separate post…shortly.
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