|
Greetings!
FRBC: A Nature Center For You and Your
Family
| WILD DELIGHT SPONSORS THE 2007 PHOTO CONTEST |
 |
The 1st place winner will get $100 of premium
Wild Delight seed
At left is the 2006 1st Place photo of squirrel by Jarrod
Lamb that won $100 of Wild Delight seed
Of premium Wild Delight seed!
Once again the Wild Delight Company of
Greeley,
Colorado joins FRBC in promoting a back yard photo
contest. The rules remain the same as last year when
almost 50 people entered their favorite backyard
wildlife photos. We want to see who visits your
backyard. Simply let us know when and where you
took your best shot. Many of you continue to give us
wildlife photos you take in and around your backyard.
We really appreciate you sharing your joy of nature
with us and the many customers who come in the
store. They are great educational tools!
The contest will be all yours and no purchase is
necessary. You enter a photo and you vote on the best
ones. Visitors in the store will be given the opportunity
to judge and rank the top 3 entrants. Remember
picture quality, subject uniqueness, and creative talent
all count in the voting process. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
place winners will receive $100, $75, and $50 worth of
premium Wild Delight birdseed respectively. Good
luck and good shooting (photos that is!)
Contest Rules:
3" x 5" Backyard photos of birds & wildlife only.
Accepting photos from Oct 1 till Nov 30.
Voting done in store by customers Dec 1 till Dec 31.
Customers cannot vote on their own photo.
Winners will be announced January 5, 2008.
All species count (even squirrels!).
1st place gets $100, 2nd place gets $75, & 3rd gets
$50 of premium Wild Delight Bird food.
|
| Fall Tips for the Front Range Backyard |
|
1.Don't forget the water.
When the temperature drops below freezing you can
provide a liquid source with a simple bird bath . During
long cold spells it may be a life saver. Heated bird
baths are bird magnets during winter as liquid water
is an absolute necessity for them at this time to both
drink and bath.
2. Fat and Protein helps keep them warm at night.
Our winter residents who forsake migration are
specialist at foraging for protein sources. You can
augment their natural sources with high fat and
protein suet cakes, black-oil sunflower, and nijer seed
in your feeders. The bird's high metabolism will burn
calories fast and help them survive cold nights when
their activity and circulation rates are at minimal levels.
3.Keep the squirrels at bay.
These guys are hungry as well but are specialist at
winter survival. You needn't worry to much about their
ability to find a meal here and there. They will go for
the easiest one however and if your bird feeder is
available it can be destroyed by these pesky never give
up rascals. You must either prevent them from getting
to the feeder, use a squirrel proof feeder, or put
something in the feeder they do not like. Baffles are
good deterrents but make sure the squirrel cannot get
around them. Remember they can jump up 4 feet or
horizontally about 8 feet so feeder placement with a
baffle is key. Birds have no taste but squirrels do. Hot
pepper suet is a good idea as squirrel's will reject the
spicy flavor but birds do not mind it and it will not harm
them. Offer them an alternative source of food with a
special squirrel feeder.
4. Clean out feeders before the first snow.
This practice of the responsible backyard birder
certainly helps prevent many health issues for birds in
any season. After a couple of feet of snow however you
will be reluctant to take up this task. Help them have a
successful winter.
Tom
|
| BOOK REVIEW: WHY DON'T WOODPECKERS GET HEADACHES? |
|
by Mike O'connor
If you are looking for some sage advice or just a few
good laughs, this is the book for you. The author Mike
O'Connor has answered thousands of questions
about birds in his weekly column "Ask The Bird Folks"
printed in the popular New England newspaper
The Cape Codder. Mike is the owner of The
Bird Watchers General Store in Cape Cod. There he
delivers the straight scoop on birds with wit to anyone
who visits. His hilarious twist to extremely informative
answers is what makes his book a delightful read.
Questions range from "How can I stop the
hummingbirds from fighting?" and "How do I find
Roadrunners?" to "Are Flamingos real birds or just in
zoos?"
The book is simply entertaining and birders will
especially enjoy it for it is informative as well as funny.
It offers good common sense advice to birders on any
level. Ken Kaufman, author of the Kaufman Field
Guide to the Birds of North America says, "reading this
book is almost as much fun as bird watching, and
that's saying a lot!" I'm sure that you will enjoy Mike
O'Connor's witty answers and good advice as much
as I did.
Shannon Jennings
|
| HOGBACK HONEY HARVEST IS IN |
|
Pure raw local honey.
The bees produced 157 pounds of honey this year.
The honey tastes great! We are also in contact with
other local beekeepers for access to their honey crops
as well. Check with us for availability.
The early bee has the sweetest tooth!
|
| 20% OFF FALL SEED SALE IS ON FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF OCTOBER |
|
20% OFF ALL BIRD FOOD.
ALL MONTH!
Use our seed vault program and save on seed all year
long.
|
| FRBC EXPANDS FALL BIRD WALK & TALK SCHEDULE |
|
Allison Kondler leads Waterton Canyon walk
Share your birding & wildlife experiences. Call us and
sign up for a free bird walk.
Sunday Oct 7th 8am-Noon
Chatfield St Park
Saturday Oct 27th 9am-Noon Roxboro St Park
Sunday Nov 4th 9am-Noon
Chatfield St Park
Sunday Dec 2nd 9am-Noon Chatfield St Park
|
| Thank you for supporting us at FRBC.Tom, Diane, Sara, Shannon, and David. |
|
|
|
FRONT RANGE SPECIES PROFILE: THE GREAT HORNED OWL |
|
|
|
BUBO VIRGINIANUS
By Tom Bush
Known as the "eagle owl" the great horned owl is
widely recognized as one of the largest and most
powerful of all owls in North America. The great
horned owl can reach lengths of two feet high and
sport wingspan's almost six feet wide! This ominous
sight might be the last it's prey will see as it silently
swoops in aided by specialized noise reducing
serrations on the leading edge of each first wing
primary flight feather. Their distinctive "horns" are not
ears but rather two inch tufts that they use to display
moods such as anger by laying them back. The great
horned is a mostly nocturnal hunter from dusk till
dawn. It's menu selection is wide and includes for
starters the smallest shrew, frog, or snake to such
main courses as rabbit, muskrat, prairie dog, duck,
any bird, bat, and even skunk. The great horned has
no sense of smell and ignores the pungent spray
skunks use for defense. Often times their nest sites
reek of skunk! Folks who let their cats free roam
should be wary if great horned owls are in the
neighborhood as domestic cats are one of their
favorite selections.
Instead of smell, owls like the great horned, use
extraordinarily keen night binocular vision offered by
eyes as large as man's with highly sensitive retina's
protected by a specialized "third eyelid." Even more
remarkable are their ears. They are surrounded by
spreading soft feathers and are offset to use
triangulation techniques to help locate and funnel in
sound sources. This acute hearing ability assures the
location of prey weighing only a fraction of an ounce.
Both sight and hearing senses are aided by the swivel
ability of the owl's head as it gives it a 270-degree field
of view in a snap. The great horned swallows prey
whole and coughs up the undigested parts in "pellet"
form. Dissecting these pellets can produce a victim's
entire skeleton.
Not migratory, pairs of great horned owls find
themselves in the winter and court into the spring.
They are well suited for suburban and deep woods
habitats alike. Their call is a deep soft six-noted hoot
that will resonant through the night air. By January or
February they settle down in some ready-made
quarters such as an old magpie or crow's nest. The
usual two to three eggs will hatch in about a month
and the young fledge about two months later. Both
parents share parenting duties in the process. The
male takes up much of the chore of winter hunts for
the entire family. The spring coming out is perfect
timing for hunting other species that are raising their
tasty fast food families. In the spring and into the
summer you can hear the young screaming hunger
cries to their parents as they fly overhead. Look for owl
pellets at the base of the nest or roost site. After
sterilizing they can be great educational tools.
Beware of approaching a great horned nest as they
may fiercely defend it. On hikes you might discover a
daytime roost by spotting noisy flocks of crows, jays, or
magpies "mobbing" their nemesis. Better yet checkout
the owl cams provided by Excel Energy at the Boulder,
Colorado Valmont Power station at
birdcam.xcelenergy.com/dayinthelife_owl.asp. Best
viewing is from February through June.
|
The Front Range Birding Company - A Proud Corporate Sponsor of the Audubon Society of Greater Denver
NOW IN STOCK: LIFE IS GOOD! We think you will love this new T-shirt and hats product line. The folks at Life Is Good are top shelf and support many fine charities.
Great Optics are here at FRBC
CHECK OUT OUR FULL LINE OF DROLL YANKEE FEEDERS
|
