Be Kind to Your Fine-Feathered Friends...

There are several tasks I have to do when Cindy, our business manager, takes a day off.

Sure, there are things like collecting payments and making deposits, but the real important job is putting out bird seed and filling the fountain.

Since the front of our office is 97.89% windows, I can often see the local wildlife flitting in to peck at the seed that she has scattered.

Since they’re at it all day, I guess it’s good that we put out fresh feed every day.

Although I’ve always liked birds, it hasn’t been until I moved to a home on main street that I started putting out bird seed at my own home.

The inspiration came after I bought Mom a feeder and suet block from Bradberry’s Best as a birthday present. (I probably got the joy of bird watching from my parents.)

She was appreciative of the gift, but it went untouched for a month or so.

Then the fall hit and one or two birds started lighting on the block. By the end of November, it wasn’t rare to see five or six clutching and pecking at the block at the same time.

I picked up a bag of my own and started putting out seed in the backyard. Several weeks passed with no feathered fanfare, but now it’s routine to hear chatter or see them perched near the back door when I leave in the morning.

As much as I see them regularly, it seems like I saw twice as many birds foraging during the snowfall the past two weekends. When I saw tiny birds digging in snow twice as tall as them, I dumped a ton of seed on top of the snow for easy picking.

The picture on the front page shows a group of birds huddled around my parents’ feeder trying to get some calories to stave off the cold.

This makes a lot of sense during snow fall events in an area that is not used to seeing the ‘powder.’

Facebook was filled with locals relishing in the snow and snapping picture after picture because the events were s o uncommon.

Imagine how much of a surprise the snow was to a species that didn’t have weather advisories at the beginning of the week.

While pets and livestock can and should be sheltered and covered during cold snaps, birds and other wildlife have to find warmth in food and in plants and dens out in the cold.

If you like birds and bird watching, I encourage you to be kind to your fine feathered friends, as the song says.

After all, a duck may be somebody’s mother...

Gaudette is the managing editor at the Dublin Citizen and can be reached at 445-2515 and publisher@dublincitizen.com.