Bird News Blog
With flowers in bloom, the first leaves turning green, birds singing and Easter right around the corner, we have a number of gift ideas sure to please the garden lover in your life!
Lavender Sachets
We love these delightful smelling gifts! Not only do these lavender sachets make the front of our store (or wherever else we have them displayed!) smell like a Provencal summer’s afternoon, they can also freshen up drawers, closets, cars or cupboards. I always add one to my travel luggage so that my clothes have a clean, relaxing scent when I arrive at my destination.
$8
Butterfly and Hummingbird seed mix
Produced by Roundstone Native Seed out of Upton, Kentucky, this blend of native wildflowers has been in our store for a number of years now. Specifically formulated for our part of the southeastern region, this blend contains Common milkweed, Butterfly milkweed, Black-eyed Susan, and Purple coneflower to name a few. Each packet contains approximately 500 seeds that will not only add a splash of color to your yard, but also help to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and even potentially goldfinch.
$10
Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians
If you’re like me, part of the fun of the spring and summer wildflower bloom is identifying and learning more about the plants themselves. This second edition of Wildflowers of Tennessee describes over 1,250 species in 90 families. To make this a little more manageable, everything is color coded and organized by flower family and there is a color key to help expedite the process. This has been our favorite guide to wildflowers and we’re sure it will be yours as well.
$28.95
Small and Large Solar Shadow Lanterns
Since discovering these last fall, they have quickly become one of our favorite solar products. Available in hummingbird and dragonfly patterns, they cast the pattern of each lantern in green and blue, respectively.
Small, $24 Large, $45
Comical Bird and Plant Mugs
Sometimes it seems as if the people who discovered certain species had a sense of humor and wanted to embarrass their colleagues by giving the species ridiculous names they would be ashamed to say aloud. These bird and plant themed mugs highlight the best names of both Aves and Plantae! Sticky Willy, Shaggy Soldier, Sausage Tree, Blue-footed booby, Southern screamer and Andean Cock-of-the-Rock are just a few of the comical animal and plant names that you can start your day with, with the Comical Mugs!
$14.99
Please call, email, or come by the shop with questions you may have regarding product specifications and pricing. Phone: 615-356-7640 or e-mail: thewoodthrushshop@gmail.com
All special order sales are final unless the product arrives damaged or defective. We require a 50% down payment of the full purchase price. Delivery of large items from our store to your home is available for an additional fee to be determined. Weight limits may apply to special orders.
With the recent wintery weather a lot more birds have decided to visit feeding stations. This week my feeders were frequented by over 50 Goldfinch at a time, a dozen or so Pine Siskin, over 20 Juncos (overwhelmingly males), and lots of White-throated sparrow. A few Red-winged Blackbirds appeared as did a few Grackles, birds I rarely see in my yard.
In weather like this I always anticipate something more unusual to appear, like Orange-crowned warbler, Ruby or Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Brown creeper to name a few, typically at the suet feeders. One customer reported a lone Indigo Bunting which is very unusual to be seen in January.
And with the freezing rain being forecast, which will likely have already occurred by the time you read this, birds that don’t normally visit feeding stations may recognize the bird activity at feeders and come in for a look. My birdbaths, which have de-icer units in them, were extremely busy during the frigid temps. Birds, of course need water sources even when it’s below freezing and will bathe to keep feathers clean and at their best insulating quality for survival.
Many of you are surprised to see multiple Bluebirds visiting feeding stations and water sources. Bluebirds are, of course, here year round and will travel about in small flocks in search of food and water.
Because our seed supplier is located in Des Moines, IA sometimes weather will hold up our seed shipments as is the case this week. Freight is backed up all across the U.S. You may want to call first before you visit The Wood Thrush Shop on Saturday and Monday as we are low, or out of some choices of seed. We are very well stocked with suet and live mealworms. We anticipate receiving our load of seed early next week as temps rise to the 40’s.
Come on out to Westgate Center tomorrow and do a little Christmas shopping. The small businesses of Westgate are having an open house with some deals and special offers, and a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Clause at G&G Interiors starting at 12:30.
We are featuring deals on our favorite A-T-Z Bluebird box, Squirrel Buster Classic feeder, Bird’s Choice hummingbird feeders, and the always popular JJ Potts handcrafted ceramic mushrooms.
And speaking of deals and discounts, follow us on Facebook and Instagram for flash offers on select items, like Wind River wind chimes, birdbaths, and Heartwood birdhouses. These will be sales that only last a day or two so stay tuned.
Sparrows? Who cares!? All too often the average backyard birder dismisses sparrows as just some generic little uninteresting bird and doesn’t take the time to properly identify. This is likely a result of the much maligned House Sparrow that tends to be a major problem for Bluebirds in nesting season. Sparrows are, in fact, a very interesting family of birds, and here in TN you may, according to The Annotated Checklist of Birds of Tennessee, see up to 22 species of sparrows, 10 of which breed here. Many are considered rare, to uncommon, to seasonal, with a few as year round residents. This time of year we see Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Chipping and Vesper Sparrow, and Juncos are included in the family, too. I must admit my skills at identifying some of these birds require a tune-up. I often birdwatch at Gossett Tract in Cheatam Co. where the open field dense growth habitat is excellent for sparrows but makes for very challenging birding. They don’t stay in one place very long and will dive down into heavy cover in a flash. Pics of Chipping and Field sparrow
At our feeders in the fall and winter months we see White-throated and White-crowned sparrows, and of course Juncos, with the Fox sparrow usually appearing only when snow falls. All three of these lovely little birds feed on the ground almost exclusively so don’t forget to train your eyes for ground movements. Look at these birds through binoculars and note the beautiful subtle markings. They often move about near feeders flipping leaves in search of bugs and seeds.
