Page 6C
L‘wny
_ aReporter
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Holiday goodies can be shared with birds
t goes without saying starlings, and American
most of us eat too much crows. If, like me, you have
food during the Holiday unsuccessfully tried to
Season. Whenever we attract a brown creeper to
gather with friends and fam— your feeder, you might t1 y to
ilies to enjoy holiday meals, entice this curve-billed win—
there is- no way we can come ter resident with small pieces
close to consuming all of of boiled potatoes. On rare
the delicious good- ‘ occasions,
ies that adorn our this uncom—
dining room tables. mon winter
Invariably some of resident will
these scrumptious abandon
delicacies become foraging for
leftovers and will insects and
eventually be eaten; their eggs on
some food is simply the trunks of
thrown away. Instead trees and treat
of wasting this food, themselves
wh not share some ‘”‘ to this soft,
of the food destined TERRY w' JOHNSON white food
for the garbage can Sweet
with your backyard bird Potato - The yellow-rumped
neighbors? You might be warbler is notoriously dif-
surprised how many of these ficult to attract to a feeder.
foods are relished by birds. When one does visit your
Here is a short list of some of backyard diner, it invari-
the many foods you should ably dines on suet. They will
consider sharing with the eat cooked sweet potatoes
birds. however:
White Potatoes Birds do Squash It is not surpris-
not seem to care whether ing that the yellow—rumped
white potatoes are mashed, warbler will also eat cooked
baked, fried, or coiled, they squash. However, squash
will eat them all. The birds seeds are appealing to far
that most frequently dine more birds. With that in
on potatoes are common mind, whenever you are
grackles, blue jays, European preparing a butternut of oth-
again in 2020!
I' ll .. I l I‘ Iii il‘l
Meeting All Your Insurance Needs
Auto - Home 0 Life - Business
Personal Umbrella Policies
Let us show you how much we can save you on your insurance.
We look forward to serving you
@Anssaie
Ywumwm
57 S. Lee St. Forsyth, GA " 478-994-0850
JanePennington@alIstate.com
Jane Pennington,
Agent Owner
er squash for your holiday
meal make a point of saving
the large flat seeds. The long
list of birds that like squash
seeds includes the likes of
mourning doves, cardinals,
eastern towhees, tufted
titmice, Carolina chickadees,
and blue jays.
Cornbread - Chunks
of cornbread can either
be fed in suet feeders and
crumpled up and scattered
on the ground or placed
in platform feeders. The
cornbread we so relished
is also table fare for a wide
range of birds ranging from
dark-eyed juncos and chip-
ping sparrows to northern
mockingbirds, cardinals,
and Carolina wrens to
downy woodpeckers. One
of my closest friends attracts
hermit thrushes to his
backyard with cornbread.
This secretive bird is so fond
of cornbread it will literally
approach within a few feet
as he scatters cornbread on
the ground
Bread and Rollo Al-
though bread is one of the
least recommended table
scraps for birds, it is eaten by
sparrows, blue jays, Ameri-
can crows and others. The
reason it is not generally
recommended for bird feed-
ing is it provides them with
little nutrition. However, it
will attract birds to a feeder
when little else will.
Nuts - Many of us associ-
ate HULL with Christmas.
My wife fondly remem-
bers when she was a little
girl finding mixed nuts in
her stocking on Christ-
mas morning. Growing
up my Mother always set
out a bowl full of mixed
nuts (pecans, Brazil nuts,
English walnuts, almonds,
and hazelnuts). My favorite
was the hazelnut. However,
December 25, 2019
Holiday favorites like cornbread can be served to birds in a suet feeder.
(Photo/Terry
Johnson)
a study conducted at the
University of Georgia many
years ago found pecans
were favored by birds. Ifyou
feed nuts to the birds, break
them up into small pieces.
This will allow small birds
to enjoy the bounty. Shelled
nuts are eaten by dark-eyed
juncos, cardinals, Carolina
chickadees, tufted titmice,
woodpeckers, and a host of
others. .
Fruit Oranges, apples
and other fruits commonly
find their way to the dinner
table during the holidays.
Birds such as Baltimore
orioles, mockingbirds and
other fruit-eating eaters
relish fresh fruit in the
winter. Fresh fruit can either
be served cut up in small
pieces, halved or quartered
Cookies 8r Other Baked
Goods I suspect we
consume more cookies and
other baked goods during
the holiday season than
at any other time of the
year. In spite of our seem-
ingly insatiable appetite for
these sweet delicacies, we
often cannot eat them all.
Although
of this, sparrows, grackles,
cardinals, wrens, and other
birds dine on them. .
Ifyou decide to share
your holiday food with the '
birds, there are a couple
of things to keep in mind.
Feed small amounts of food
scraps at a time. This will
reduce the chance of your
feeders attracting unwanted
guests such as raccoons and
rodents. Also, remove food
scraps before they become
these goodies are
high in carbohydrates, they
often lack many of the other
nutrients birds need. In spite '
moldy.
Although these alternative
food choices can save you
a little money on birdseed,
they should not be viewed
as a substitute for the seeds
and suet. They are, however,
a great way to use food that
otherwise would be wasted
while at the same time add-
ing a little variety in the diets
of the birds we host during
the holidays just outside
your backdoor.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan-
gered Mldlifiz Program. He
has written the informative
column Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. His book, ‘14 Journey
to Discovery,” is available at
The Reporter. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth.net.
‘
Whether in town for a Mary Persons football game or the holidays,
there's no better place to stay in Forsyth than The CityLine Loft.
Five Star Rating Downtown Forsyth - Ultimate comfort and charm
Plenty of room - Convenience in the Middle of Everywhere
4 guests, 2 bedrooms, king beds, 2 baths
Amenities:
Private Entrance 0 Kitchen 0 Heating 8. Air Conditioning
Towels, bed sheets, soap, and toilet paper - Hair Dryer - Iron Hangers
TV - Wifi Laptop friendly workspace
FLEXIBLE - FREE CANCELLATION FOR 48 HOURS
Newly constructed Lott in a turn of the century building originally built
in T895.
This loft is immaculately appointed with the finest attention to every
detail. It is Just
off the square in Forsyth, Ga and convenient to the Georgia Public Safety
Training Center, Georgia State Department of Corrections training center,
l—75
and iust a short walk to many restaurants. Great tor weekend get away or a
nice
place to stay if traveling through town.
7997 Rivoli Road o Macon, Georgia 3 l 2T0
i ‘ i i ti ; {it
Joel Bartholf
JB©citylinecommercial.com
4?8.442.€a3§3
Joel Kennedy
JK©citylinecommercial.com
araaseaaae
We Look Forward To ,
1002 West Main
Tank Sales & Rentals
Happy New Year!
Tommy Busbee, Owner
Gas Logs & Fire Boxes Grills Fish/Turkey Cookers
Sewing You in 2020!
n .
eveaaaeesfipnonaeae
Residential ' Commercial - Agricultural
St - Forsyth, GA
, Ready to Meet Your
3 Propane Needs!
1 awesome
fie-994.3720
Toll Free
335-9333
Cylinders Filled-o Heaters
We '°°k forward to assisting You , _. . .
your electrical needs in 2020! " "
" PIEDMONT
ELEc‘l'RICAL SERVICES
(478) 994-1827
1042 Benson Ham Rd Forsyth, GA
Danny Newton, Owner
New Construction 0 Repairs 0 Renovations ' Panel Upgrades
Generators
Sales & Installation
Wachtel
competes
in national
CC finals
Mary Persons iunior Justin
Wachtel, pictured crossing
the finish line, placed 37th
in the U.S. at the Foot Locker
National Cross Country
Championships at Balboa
Park in San Diego, Calif. on
Saturday, Dec. 14. Compet-
ing against the country's top
boys runners, Wachtel re-
corded a time of 16 minutes,
25 seconds. Josh Methner,
a senior at John Hersey
High in Mount Prospect,
"L, was the boys champion
with a time of TS minutes, 8
seconds. Wachtel was one,
of 40 runners in the boys”
race and was one of iust two ‘
Georgians, along with John
Higinbotham, a Senior home
schooler from Covington 1
who placed T7fh. Wachtel
captured MP's first-ever cross
country state championship
when he took the individual
title‘ at the GHSA AAAAi’
state meet in Carrolltonvon
Nov. 1. Wachtel then qutalified
for the Foot Locker Natiggals
' by finishing fourth in the oys‘
South Regional Championship
at McAlpine Greenway in
Charlotte, NC. on Nov. 30.
(Photo/footlockercc.com)
