Five Tips for Five Times the Fun!!!
- Keep Hummingbird feeders up for two weeks after your last sighting. This will not keep your hummers from migrating – promise! Any visitors now need to bulk up!
- Fall Migration is still on. Keep your bird baths clean with fresh water to lure in beautiful Fall migrants. These are mostly non-seed eaters. Water is a welcome treat and will encourage them to hang out and rest a bit. Seriously. Don’t underestimate what a game changer water can be for backyard birding. We just have to share this customer’s comment. See below.*
- Clean out your bird houses to get them ready for winter roosting during bad weather. Chickadees, Carolina Wrens and Bluebirds will be particularly grateful!
- Check the freshness of your bird seed! The oils in seed go rancid after a while and are not attractive to the birds. If you don’t feed during the summer and if your seed is left over from last winter (And friends, you know who you are!), it’s time to buy fresh.
- Clean your bird feeders! Now’s the time to clean your feeders and remove any moldy remains from our rainy, humid summer.
…Thank goodness, the Grackles have mostly moved on!!! And the Juncos and White-Throated Sparrows will be making their appearance soon!
Birding during Fall Migration is awesome! Keep your field guides and binoculars handy for unusual sightings, because you never know who’s going to show up!
*P.S. Almost immediately after sending this annual checklist to our subscribers, we received this email from a customer in Takoma Park:
I can attest to the importance of keeping bird baths clean and filled. I attended to mine after a period of delinquency of several weeks and what did I see within the half hour but an immature Baltimore oriole! Thrilling and beautiful. The first balty oriole I’d seen of any plumage/age/sex in my Takoma Park yard!”
Whew! I was afraid you’d think I was just nagging!
Happy Fall birding!
Debi
