If you normally test my spine at this time of the month, you know what to expect during my monthly Noontime Nature program at the Loveland Public Library. However, the current closure of the library means that no programs are available for a second month.
This way I can add three important details to last week's column on bird food.
By recommending cleaning the feeders once a month and completing the cleaning with a bleaching bath, I did not specify the intensity of the bleach.
Limit the bleaching ratio to 9: 1. This means that if you use nine liters of water in a 5 gallon bucket, limit the bleach to half a liter. Or nine cups for one cup. Take it seriously.
Chlorine is strong and in this ratio kills harmful bacteria and fungi and inhibits its ability to proliferate. But understand the basic chemistry here. Not because a bit is good is much much better. That's not it.
Use a vacuum cleaner like Shop-Vac once a week or every two weeks to clean the sunflower shells under the feeders. When suction is complete, soak the hose nozzle in bleach for a minute or two.
The second point concerns what to do with the bleach.
When you're done, pour the bleach onto the floor under the feed so that the chlorine can reduce bacteria that thrive on the nutritious build-up of food waste and bird droppings.
Don't overdo it like the water / bleach ratio. You don't have to sterilize the floor to protect it. Just because a bit is good doesn't mean that much is better.
The third point concerns the choice of food.
Once the birds have discovered their bird feeders, turn off the larger gray sunflower fruits. Because they are larger, they offer larger seeds for larger birds. Blue jays prefer the larger fruits.
Don't be bored when you see Jays pick up a dozen fruits and seem to fly around without eating them. They will hide them in different hiding places so that they can eat again later.
Jay's hiding places become small food treasures for Schwarzkopf and charcoal burners, white and red breast nuthatches.
Black thistle is a plant native to Africa, but its small fruits are imported as feed for birds. American goldfinch and American goldfinch and pine tar particularly prefer the black thistle. However, be aware that a problem still needs to be investigated to solve it.
Black thistle is generally marketed under the name "Niger seeds" and is considered to be unreliable. Birds will devour a lot, but ignore another batch completely. A brand that is marketed under the "Nyger" brand is particularly known for this good and bad lottery problem.
Buy a small amount of black thistle or niger; And when the birds gather there, it's a priority to buy more from the same source. If birds ignore it, buy a small amount later from the same source or from a different source. But don't give up.
If you get a very good batch, the gold finches and tars gather there like flies in a pen or bees in a beehive. Or seagulls on potato chips that were spilled in a parking lot.
If you do these things, you can easily find a wonderful way to spend time at home and also worry about the following film.
Happy bird watching with bird food!
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