BIRDING: Familiar birds bring feelings of comfort (8 photos)

I had the great privilege and pleasure of spending three weeks with my new-to-the-world grandson and his parents. I was not here to observe the birds that come by, and I trusted they would be able to look after themselves in my absence. They are wild birds and able to forage.

While I do feed birds when I am home as I enjoy their company, I am moving more toward creating natural habitat and gardens near my house. I do live on a farm so there are lots of natural resources available to them already.

Although the numbers were a bit low when I first arrived home due to empty feeders, I was welcomed by chickadees, nuthatches, a Downy woodpecker and Dark-eyed Juncos. Some hide and scratch in and under garden shrubs, eat sunflower seeds from the stalks, and the seed heads of cone flowers.

Today, I watched a Black-capped Chickadee eat seeds from the cones of a mature evergreen in front of my house.

We are two weeks beyond the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Moving incrementally toward spring is a happy thing in many respects

Gardeners are already pouring over seed catalogues and planning their gardens.

I may be best to plant native berry producing plants in the fall, yet they and other native plants can be incorporated into design. Local conservation areas, such as the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, can be a great resource for creating native gardens. Birds Canada has a page called birdgardens.ca with information that can help. Other resources can be found for a particular areas.

I was excited to see the chickadee eat the cone seeds. It seemed right. It also created the theme of eating native for this column. Then, I then was able to catch a glimpse and portrait shot of an American Tree Sparrow. It chose to arrive just as I was wondering if I might see a bird of more an unusual sort. I then thought I’d focus this column on it. It turns out, I am integrating the two thoughts.

Initially, the sparrow was on my outdoor planter stand and kept dropping down into the shrub on the other side of the deck and out of view. It was temporarily also at the feeder. I got my winter gear on and headed out to try to get more photos. It was no where to be seen.

I took myself for a walk, hoping to come back and find it posing in the shrub. No luck.

Although they are called American Tree Sparrows, they are ground birds, and actually breed at or beyond the northern tree line in the tundra. Somewhere I saw them referred to as  “winter sparrows”. They spend their winters in southern Canada and the United States before heading north for the summer.

According to allaboutbirds.org: “From fall through spring, they're almost exclusively vegetarian, eating grass, sedge, ragweed, knotweed, goldenrod, and other seeds, as well as occasional berries, catkins, insects, insect eggs, and larvae.”

It is obvious reading that list that a native plant garden is well suited to the American Tree Sparrow, as it is to other birds.

It may take a long time to grow a mature tree, but there are lots of options to create a garden of native plants that encourage insects and pollinators, and also sustain birds.

If you are landscaping or planning a garden, please consider using native plants.

We all benefit from natural home comforts and nurturing.

I share experiences of bird visitors to this property with readers every couple of weeks. Until next time, keep your eye to the sky, and look for birds that may come by.

Rosaleen Egan is a freelance journalist, a storyteller, and a playwright. She blogs on her website.