Warmth In A Winter Wonderland November 27, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Home & Garden, Nature.trackback
The winter months are no holiday for local wildlife. Abundant food, unfrozen water and a toasty home can be hard for birds and other wildlife to come by.
You can help them survive this season!
Providing for wildlife in the winter is easier than you think. Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Provide winter fuel for wildlife with native plants that offer nuts, berries and seeds or offer a feeder.
2. Anchor your old holiday tree in a secluded part of your yard for wildlife to use as shelter from harsh weather.
3. Start a compost pile of needles, pine cones and wreaths made from natural material from your holiday decorations to provide additional cover for wildlife.
4. Clean and fill your bird bath on a regular basis. If you live in an area where temperatures freeze water, use a bird bath heater as a simple way to keep water accessible.
5. Create a cozy winter home for birds. Clean out your spring nest boxes or provide a warm winter roosting box.
Roosting birds prefer winter homes placed up high ~ about 10 feet or more.
For more tips on offering Food and Warmth to Wildlife this Winter, visit National Wildlife Federation.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM RANGER RICK!
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Spirit Lights The Way 
I support the Wildlife Association in Canada, whose headquarters is in British Columbia. I just bought my Christmas presents yesterday from them; a calendar for each person on my list. You have a choice of pictures of animals or of nature. There are various degrees of membership with membership fees adjusted from $25.00 per year upwards ——to what I cannot afford.
For the last few years, I’ve bought Plant A Tree Ornaments from NWF for our siblings and parents ~ a pewter Christmas tree ornament to give the recipient representing a tree planted in their honor in a National forest.
When my nieces and nephews were younger, I often shopped for them in museum gift shops and other non-profit venues, including our national parks.
It’s been ages since I trolled the Malls at Christmastide.
Excellent advice!
I’ll have to do something like that on the roof of the apartment building. Now that our community garden has been harvested, we can use the space to help the birds!
Thanks Nancy!
*#*
Wow! That’s excellent that you have a community garden on your roof!
Hope you can help a few birds this winter with food, shelter and water. Of course, if they’re pigeons, some people may not WANT them on your rooftop. 😉
I’ve got an idea that I think will solve it.
I just sent an email to all the birds and wildlife and gave them your address down in Florida.
Expect company.
))
The more the merrier!
At times we have OVER 100 large birds on the lagoon behind our villa ~ anhingas, cormorants, pelicans, herons, egrets, woodstorks, ducks . . . and the occasional otter. 🙂
LMAO @ Ric!
I’m coming for a visit! I adore birds, and maybe there I can get close enough for some good photos! 😀 We have some beavers and rabbits (very few squirrels for some reason), and a wide assortment of birds, which we suspend feeding for a couple of months in autumn to encourage migrating farther south for a more comfortable winter. Once it starts freezing here we put out fruit, seeds, and suet to provide food and weight gain for additional warmth for the cold winter months.
Great post, and good suggestions! Thanks!
Let me know your E.T.A. 😉
It was last night. . .in my dreams. . .I was there – where were you?
Flying around on my broomstick, no doubt. 🙂
As for number 5, I thought most birds preferred to reuse their nests every year. I would be a bit iffy about throwing them out.
Not sure. NWF recommends cleaning them out. Maybe it depends on the species and whether they are good “housekeepers.” 😉