Jane McKeon

for the birds

Written on December 11, 2009 at 2:53 pm , by Jane McKeon

I have a strong nesting instinct. As a mother of four, the need to feed is a full-time occupation. When the Blizzard of the Decade was predicted to hit the Midwest this week, I stocked up on necessities.  Milk, chocolate chips, flour, sugar, butter, vanilla…sunflower seeds, Nyjer, suet. The first six items are the basic ingredients for survival food in my house. (After all, my kids have come to expect Mom to bake cookies on snow days.) The last three are for my extended family, the birds that seek out my backyard feeders when snowdrifts cover autumn’s leftovers of seeds and berries produced by native species, such as coneflower, switchgrass, viburnum, dogwood, serviceberry, and beautyberry.

Apparently, my backyard isn’t the only restaurant in town. At last count, more than 54 million people in the U.S. feed wild birds. Birds have a much higher chance of surviving winter when supplemental food sources are available. According to the Audubon Society, human handouts are bringing about northward range expansions of many seed-eating birds, including the Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Mourning Dove, and Red-Bellied woodpecker. A few scientists even believe that bird feeders are causing evolutionary changes in some bird species.

Quality counts when it comes to bird seed. I’ve learned that the inexpensive brands sold at many grocery stores aren’t really saving me money in the long run. They often contain cheap fillers, such as milo, that get rejected in favor of high-energy grains: sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn. I stick with reputable brands of bird-feeding products, such as Cole’s, Wild Birds Unlimited, Droll-Yankee, and Duncraft.

Seed mixes are great for attracting a variety of birds, but less goes to waste when each type of food is served in a separate feeder. I’ve watched many a cardinal scatter seeds hither and yon to get to the sunflower hearts—equivalent, I suppose, to one of my kids picking out all of the M&Ms from the trailmix. Presentation is everything in my avian restaurant. I offer a variety of feeders to accommodate different dining preferences. For the Mourning Doves, I scatter cracked corn on the ground. Cardinals favor sunflower seeds served in hopper or platform feeders. Finches flock to tube-style thistle feeders. And chickadees and woodpeckers are drawn to hanging suet.

As we watched dozens of birds enjoying breakfast in the blizzard, Grace (my 11-year-old daughter) said, “I wish we could let them come inside for awhile to warm up.” Yes, I thought to myself. A warm chocolate chip cookie may be just what they need.

a dog’s life

Written on November 13, 2009 at 3:08 pm , by Jane McKeon

Sometimes it takes a bird dog to sniff out nature’s undercover secrets. Nothing–not even mucky creek beds, sticky cobwebs, and prickly burs and brambles–can deter Lily, my Golden Retriever, when she’s on the scent trail of a critter. Autumn is her season to shine. With unleashed joy, she noses her way through fields of grass the same golden hue of her hair, as if playing a perpetual game of hide-and-seek in which she’s always the seeker. Yet, Lily’s a team player and pauses frequently to make sure I’m close behind and included in the fun. Had I waded through the frost-covered grasses alone last weekend, I might have focused solely on keeping my footing and uneventfully passed by the flock of pheasants safely slumbering in a thicket of wild plum. But with Lily tagging along, the roosters startled and took flight for fields afar in a spectacular flurry of red heads and multi-colored tail feathers. This weekend, Lily and I will be joined on our walks by Buddy, my good friend’s spirited Golden. Who knows what their two noses will turn up?

nature’s underdogs

Written on October 30, 2009 at 11:37 am , by Jane McKeon

Dogwoods are nature’s underdogs. So are the many other understory trees native to our woodlands, including serviceberry, wild plum, redbud, hawthorn, wahoo, and sassafras. The sheer size of cottonwood, sycamore, hickory, oak, and maple helps the towering giants win The Most Colorful contest in October. But shorter species offer big blessings, too. In the wild, their individual beauty often is disguised by the hovering limbs of tall neighbors, like schoolyard bullies showing little respect for personal space. By now, though, the big boys have reached their peak and bared their branches, allowing the small-fries of the forest and fencerows to show what they’re made of. They win me over, not just for the cute factor, but for their value in home landscaping. After all, smaller trees are a better fit for most backyards. Plus, many of these space-saving natives offer sweet spring blossoms, glorious fall foliage, and colorful fruits that wildlife can’t resist. The underdogs, in this case, have the last “bark.”

caught in the web

Written on October 23, 2009 at 12:12 pm , by Jane McKeon

It has been raining “cats and dogs” here in the Midwest recently. I’m not sure how this expression came to be, considering the fact that my cat, Max, and dog, Lily, would much rather stay warm and dry in the house on days like these. A lot of people I know are grumbling about the mud, the sloppy fallen leaves, and the difficulty of getting fall garden chores done. Call me crazy, but I view rainy weather as an opportunity to appreciate the finer details that nature offers. Like the way spider webs come into focus when raindrops cling to them. I’ve had a spider residing above my front door all summer. She’s gotten fat on insects invited by the porch light into her orb-shape dining room. Bugs that might otherwise have snacked on me. It would take just a quick whisk of my broom to clear all of the cobwebs from my porch, but I haven’t had the heart to ruin these homespun havens. Besides, it’s almost Halloween. Why should I hang  fake spider webbing when I already have authentic arachnid decor?