Now is the Time to . . . . on Friday, February 12, 2010

Spring is almost here. February is a busy time for me, as I prepare for an important time of the year for both the birds and the bees!

by Scott Lukens

Here are a few quick projects that I’ll be doing in our backyard in the next few weeks:

* Mason bees will soon emerge from their winter slumber to pollinate our rhododendrons, camellias and fruit trees. I will put out a second bee block and a few tubes of bees right away.
* Rufous Hummingbirds will soon begin arriving from their wintering grounds in Mexico. Anna’s hummers, our year ‘round residents, have been active all winter. We’ll add another feeder so the less dominant Anna’s will have a better chance of getting its fair share of the nectar.
* Goldfinches, year ’round residents, will soon don their bright yellow plumage. I’ll clean their feeder and put out fresh nyjer seed. We buy direct from the processor to guarantee our nyjer is fresh and clean.
* Mr. Bird seed cylinders and cakes are very popular in our backyard. This was a great discovery last year, and is still a wonderful bird lure.
* Try a new suet from Minnesotan Rod Klaur. Rod has been making his suet for over 15 years in small batches. It’s high quality, and birds love it! I will offer it in a suet log.
* Cavity-nesting birds are already house-hunting. I’ll clean my existing nest boxes and mount new ones to welcome chickadees, nuthatches, wrens, swallows and flickers.