Alright, the title's a little misleading, but what could be simpler or more natural than a 6-8' high feeder that is nearly maintenance-free? Soon enough, we'll be braving the elements, cleaning and filling bird feeders for our backyard guests. But all summer and fall, spring-sown sunflower seed results in a bumper crop for local and migratory birds. Feel guilty about not feeding the birds beyond mid-spring? Don't! At that point, during the nesting season, their diets are largely made up of insects. In fact, feeders receive very little attention (maybe a few noisy grackles) during that period.
Keeping a close eye on those backyard birds reveals much about their habits and, without getting too esoteric, you get a feel for the rhythms of the natural world, just beyond your door. You know when to commence and cease supplemental feeding. You also learn the real value of providing an abundant natural harvest, with a landscape that provides fruits, berries and seed. You rejoice in fewer fall garden chores, realizing that many perennials, like aster, rudbeckia, helenium and Joe Pye weed, will self-mulch and provide valuable seed well into the winter, if left standing.
And, if you're a thrifty Yankee, you become positively gleeful over the prospect of low-cost or no-cost bird food. Which brings us back to the sunflower plants. Yes, you can purchase hybrid seed that may offer a broad range of heights and colors... great for anywhere from tall borders to container gardens. I've done it - it's fun, you can almost get obsessed with sunflower culture. But I've gone back to my original premise. Let the birds sow next season's crop, as they dine on this year's harvest.
As thorough as those industrious songbirds seem to be, dining from the sunflower heads, some seed falls to the ground. And, although squirrels and ground-feeding birds are constantly policing the soil for spillage, enough seed remains. Autumn leaves drift into the area,
protecting the seeds. With the natural freezing and thawing of soil, over the winter, stray sunflower seeds work their way into the crevices and await the warm soil temperatures of spring.
In November, when the dried sunflower heads are nearly picked clean, I tidy up the area, pulling out small stalks and cutting trunk-like stalks at the soil line. I bundle up any remaining heads, leaving about two-foot stems attached, tie them with twine and suspend them, upside- down, from bird feeder hooks. The birds and squirrels quickly finish off anything remaining - stalks end up in the compost, to complete the cycle.
But as I sit here, in October, there's nothing more rewarding than watching the antics of the chickadees and titmice dining from my natural sunflower feeders... unless it's the sight of our summertime residents, eating the first of the harvest. A flock of American goldfinches has been returning to my yard for the past twenty years, arriving just before the first of the sunflower heads have matured. Each day, they fly in, chattering excitedly and testing for ripeness. Cosmos seeds are their other passion, and these are devoured daily, as well. Once they begin dining, they're at for the whole summer, into early fall.
The goldfinches have recently departed for warmer winter quarters, but that leaves more "shoulder room" at the sunflower bar, for the non-migratory birds. Which reminds me about yesterday's chance encounter with a pretty demanding chickadee. There are still a couple of empty feeders, swinging from hooks. First he checked the one on the lower level of the backyard. He kept looking into the clear tube and in the seed tray, then up at me. When this didn't result in immediate feeder filling, he flew up to the larger tube feeder, next to where I was standing. This bold little chickadee who was less than a foot away, began his peering/head-bobbing routine anew. I explained that it was too early to fill feeders, and off he flew to the stand of sunflowers. As I suspected - he was just being lazy!
Soon enough, I'll be sliding down the granite steps to top off all the feeders with black oil sunflower seed and fill the suet feeders with large chunks of raw suet. But for now, I'll let Mother Nature fill those little songbird bellies from her own "sunflower feeders."
©Deb Lambert 2007
"In a Celtic Mist" By Deb Lambert
