Meeting Minutes
Properties
Wetlands
Conservation
and More
Your Back Yard
Maps
How to Help

Conservation Commission

Conservation and More

              by Bruce B. Beckley

Issue #75, January, 2000
Attracting Birds

Distractions surround me as I try to sort my musings into some sort of essay. The storm clouds have been shoved southward allowing the rising sun’s light to slip down the pines one branch at a time. The early arrivals at the feeders are showing up for breakfast. A few confused pussy willows think yesterday’s rain heralded Spring. I hope not. So many things are out there not just to look at but to be seen.

"True vision is always twofold. It involves emotional comprehension as well as physical perception. Yet how rarely we have either. We generally only glance at an object long enough to tag it with a name."
                    Ross Parmenter, The Plant In My Window

The annual winter bird count is one of those eye-opening exercises. True, it causes us to put names and numbers to things but it also causes us to realize that how we treat the natural setting we call "our home" has a direct cause and effect on the avian citizens and whether they make it their home.

We have four small bird feeders. One for thistle seed draws the finches, chickadees and a junco cleanup crew underneath. For a few hours a group of pine siskins came, sampled, squabbled, and left. The feeder with striped sunflower attracts chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, the cardinal and, of course, the jays. A suet feeder (when it's cold) draws the woodpeckers, more chickadees and yes, starlings. The feeder closest to the window offers a good mixed seed to which we add about one-third cracked corn. In addition to the species mentioned above, this feeder attracts tree sparrows and in two months will be covered with red-winged blackbirds. We also keep water nearby.

However without the natural setting these feeders would be much less satisfying to the birds and to us. After all, the birds will survive or move on. The feeders are mostly for our pleasure. The mixed woods, thickets and shrubbery we cultivate directly relate to the bird life on the property. The eighteen species we saw on bird count day would not have been here for the feeders alone.

Tall trees - pines, red maple and ash - can be counted on as perches for the jays, waxwings and robins. Down lower, the apple trees never cease to reward the insect eaters such as the woodpeckers and nuthatches. The berry-eating robins, mocking bird and waxwings are finding their chef's specials on the crabapples, holly and euonymous. Shrubs near the feeders provide important roosts and shelter for all the visitors between mouthfuls.

This variety of attractions comes from observation and patience more than money. Natural materials are hardy. They are familiar to resident species and create a texture of colors, form and motion all year round. The price is right, too. We suggest watching what the birds use for nesting, to get out of the weather, for food and then create areas attractive to a mixture of species. Yes, it does take a little time and you may learn about poison ivy, but it's so worth it. We've been at it 28 years and I hope we never finish.

Planning Ahead

Save January 25th at 7:30 PM. At that time in the Amherst Congregational Church Vestry Todd Mayo will describe steps that may be used in estate planning to reduce real estate taxes now, reduce inheritance taxes later and ways to protect land or preserve a natural setting in the process. In short, ways to do the best for yourself, your family and your habitat. Mr. Mayo, an Amherst resident and attorney, is active with land trusts around the country for which he speaks and writes on estate planning and open space preservation topics. This opportunity to learn and ask questions is sponsored by the ACC and The Amherst Land Trust, Inc. There will be no charge and the Vestry is fully accessible. Please call 673-5075 if you have questions.

Last Update: