The Drawing Board

Store-bought hot (cayenne pepper) birdseed shapes can be pretty darned pricey, but they are doing a great job of keeping most mammals away from my birdfeeders. I thought I'd try making my own.

I looked up a few recipes, boiled some water, dissolved the gelatin, poured the mixture in my emptied yogurt container, then stirred in lots of cayenne pepper and a couple of cups of bird seed. I used a plastic knife to "drill" a hole down the center of the pressed seeds for both my first and second attempts so the final product might fit on the feeder my sister-in-law gifted me two years ago. Stir, chill, then cut off plastic yogurt container and hang.

My first attempt wasn't too successful in holding its shape, but the birds don't mind.

Neighborhood squirrels don't care much for the crumbled cayenne-pepper-soaked seed chunks I deliberately spilled on the retaining wall to test the tastebuds of my wildlife visitors. Each day, I watch squirrels taste and then abandon the spilled seeds. Three days after the shaped mess crumbled on me, most of the seed chunks still remained on the retaining wall, which means overnight raccoons aren't biting into it, either. One sleepless night, Lizard watched the deer briefly sniff and then walk away from the spilled seed and not even sniff the feeders. I guess they turned their peppered noses up at my free food!

I went back and re-read a bunch of blog posts about making your own birdseed ornaments and found one who had the same problem as me. Melting messes. I can't remember the name of the blogger now, but she recommended letting the cookie-cutter-shaped ornaments she was making as Christmas gifts for loved ones cure longer, perhaps a week or more. I can do that.

No, that's not spaghetti sauce! It's two tablespoons of cayenne pepper!

So I tried again. This time, I have a bit more self-confidence, and I added in a few nuts and raisins, as I'm still hoping to attract blue jays nesting right now in our area. I'm still going to have to keep a sharp eye out for bears, because I do not think for even one minute the cayenne pepper is going to be a deterrent to them at all. After first bear sighting, which could come any day now, I'll probably be done feeding the birds until November. Darn it. But if my second DIY seed shape works, perhaps I have a less-expensive great winter of birdwatching season on the horizon!

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Friday Fabulous

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Feathered Foe

We were treated to one of the most fun wildlife scenes we've ever encountered, together or apart, following a walk last week. We were heading home when we spied a Swainson's hawk being tormented by a magpie.

Naturally, we thought the initial hawk must have raided the magpie's nest. Boy, were we surprised when we discovered what we think were the mates of both birds nearby!!!

Another Swainson's had scored a groundhog, and a second magpie was doing everything it could to distract the victor in order to sneak a bite or two.

This traveler's baggage was just a bit too big for flight. The magpie successfully nipped at the raptor's tail a few times and may have gotten a taste or two of the meal, but ultimately, the hawk won.

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Bird Brain

After patiently waiting and watching out my window for about three weeks, I finally heard the tanagers and grosbeaks returned while we were attending a celebration of life with my in-laws. We were gone for five days, and I assumed the colorful winged favorites would be gone by the time I could watch for them again.

Within two hours of putting out two orange halves, I had 11 western tanagers and three Bullock's orioles feasting in my viewfinder!!!

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Friday Funny

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Never Done

I recently heard some unusual bird chatter outside my bedroom window, which doubles as my Work From Home office during the day. I grabbed my camera and slowly tried to find and photograph the "new" species.

During the next three hours, I was able to witness mom and dad robin feeding four fully grown but obviously recently fledged youngsters! I didn't get shots, but I got to see one baby eat its own meal as a tiny little spider made the mistake of wandering by. I got to watch two of the young robins take their first bath.


It didn't take long for me to figure out mom's and dad's jobs aren't quite over once they have an empty nest. Sometimes it looks like the parents' work is never done!


And onions don't taste good.


Who knew robins could be so much fun!?!

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From My Window

Members of the Colorado birding group have been speculating for a couple of weeks now that this year's migration is phenomenal. Just in the last few days, they've begun to reason that perhaps we're seeing more variety is because we have more time to watch our winged celebrities.

I have had bird condos and a bird feeder outside my living room and bedroom windows for years now. One feeder pole is nearly a decade old! We've had to replace feeders every couple of years, and we have to clean out the birdhouses every year. I've had two different hummingbird feeders over the years, but we've never had many hummingbirds. At least not that I've seen.

Now that I get to watch out the window every day while I work from home, it was worth investing in a couple of new hummingbird feeders. I get to see the hummingbirds this year!!!




I've also been able to enjoy other birds trying to get a sip of what the hummingbirds are drinking. This is about the most fun I've had all year!!!


I've captured some spectacular shots of birds from my bedroom window over the years, but the variety this year has left me absolutely spellbound. Last year, I got to see grosbeaks for the first time ever, right in my backyard.




I haven't seen those same grosbeaks yet this year, but I got a new to me grosbeak.


I've thoroughly enjoyed the songs of meadowlarks, red-winged blackbirds and house wrens, and we've enjoyed watching not-quite-as-eloquent singers such as common grackles, cowbirds and even Bullock's orioles, which I'd seen once before at Barr Lake. I am stunned when the orioles visit my hummingbird feeder at almost the same time every day!


The oriole's sharp beak apparently allows it to sip the nectar.


I never would have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes, but those tiny little house wrens with big, gigantic lungs and powerhouse voices are known to harass other larger birds and empty their nests, even throwing out eggs! Thankfully, our annual tree swallows didn't have eggs yet, but I watched this little brat nearly destroy the tree swallows' nest!!!






The tree swallows watched for a few minutes, then decided to take on this little hoodlum. Within minutes, the house wren was outnumbered and chased away. Mama and Daddy took turns guarding the nest from that point on.






Western bluebirds had not made a visit to our backyard sanctuary, at least that I know of. Back during our Easter blizzard, we hosted no less than nine western bluebirds in one birdhouse. (They couldn't squeeze their plump little bodies through the smaller condo openings. We put up a second birdhouse the second day of the storm as they buzzed our heads. I guess western bluebirds don't like the smell of a new house. They all piled into the old one again.) No social distancing for them!!!

Man. are they ever beautiful birds!!!






We get goldfinches every autumn. They like the seeds on my sunflowers and chicory, which generally don't bloom until the end of summer. This spring, the goldfinches have been at the feeder and in the birdbath, too. They may have visited in springs past, but I wasn't home to see them.






And oh, the birdbath!!! I am so glad I put it so close to my bedroom window. It's just about the best attraction in my bird amusement park!

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Wordless Wednesday

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