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Date: 20 February 2021. Feeding the birds (February 2021)

© janice142

As a follow-up to the previous article Tomato Rocket (Dollar Tree item): My tomato planter was invaded by tiny gnats. They didn't bite however the bugs irritated me to the extent that I moved the planter outside. Then the birds attacked the baby tomato plants and, well, it's all gone now. Once again, tomatoes and life aboard Seaweed has not worked out as anticipated... Bugs have been the bane of my tomato experiments thus far.
 


It all started with my Buddy. A young grey night heron began visiting Seaweed. I bought hot dogs and began to cut them into wafers for Buddy. The neighbors were fishermen and when cleaning their catches would feed fish scraps to the herons. I thought that was cool, so opened Seaweed's night heron restaurant.


Initially I would knock on the hull three times to call them. The birds would fly in. Feedings expanded to include among others great blue herons, crows, catfish and mallard ducks. I was having fun. The the birds started hanging out on top of my boat. They would see movement in my cabin and use their beaks to tap on my hatch urging me to get up and feed them. ARGH!!!
 

I solved that by adding a cover to the glass above my bunk, so the birds cannot see me in the morning.

Yes, I do hide from my birds. They get up early. I am not a morning girl.


My Buddy became a special part of my day. I fed him with the others. Later however, after dark, he would fly into my doorway, eventually working himself to the counter above my refrigerator where he would wait for me to hand feed him.



Buddy ↑ looks hungry. I know he isn't. He just works me and I weaken.
 

What's not to love about this adorable feathered face?!?


 

 

In the meantime I have become somewhat of an expert at cheap hotdogs.

 
 

I will admit that I buy the least expensive dogs I can find for the birds. What I discovered however is that there is a difference in brands. The ones from Winn Dixie and Save-A-Lot (discount grocery store) have a lot of liquid in the package. Bar S from Walmart does not have that juice.
 

Because opening the BarS dogs and slicing same is less onerous I purchase hotdogs from Walmart. I don't know that the birds cared, as long as the amount delivered was plentiful.

 


Some of the feathered kids:

In the above photo you can see crows, white ibis, and a pair of snowy egrets.


From my favorite bird identification book, Birds of North America:

The white ibis has a long curved beak. It gets longer as the birds age. When young, the
ibis start out mottled brown, gradually growing in their white feathers as they mature.

 

This is a link to purchase
your bird book via Amazon:

Birds of North America
 

Free advice: Buy the least expensive copy of the Golden Guide to Birds of North America you can find. The edition really does not matter. If the book is 50 years old the only difference besides the cover is that the glue at the binding starts to harden. The Golden Guide series is the most referenced books aboard Seaweed. I love mine.


affiliate link

 

Side Note: In my spare time (stop laughing!) I'm learning YouTube. No, at present I have zero intention of starting regular posts there, however I have read that it is a good way to share videos with folks. Thus the following gizmo/thingy.

If you'd prefer to go directly to a link on my website you may download the file here:
 https://janice142.com/Videos/FeedingTheBirds-Feb2021.mov
 

Here is the same thing via YouTube:


 

I have loved birds all my life. This is one of my cross-stitched items.
The pattern is called Blue Birds is stitched on 32 count fabric.

 

I've forgotten the designer of this piece. If anyone knows who wrote the pattern please let me know so I can link to her site. This was a beautiful kit with silk floss if memory serves me.


Thank you for being a part of my world. Thanks too for reading.  


Do you feed birds, and what is your favorite bird?
Are there any other folks who love cross-stitching with silks?
 

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© 2021, © 2023

Categories: Books, Entertainment, Wild Things, YouTube Channel,

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My Buddy, and his girlfriend...

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