43
Photo
Neighbors | Zack Shively.Participants in the Ford Nature Center's "Joy to the Birds" event made another feeder where they tied string to the top of a pinecone and covered it in lard and peanut butter and covered it in sunflower seeds.
Photo
Neighbors | Zack Shively.After making bird feeders, the participants of "Joy to the Birds" placed the feeders on the tree outside of the Ford Nature Center for the overwinter birds to eat. Some took feeders home with them to feed the birds at their homes.
Photo
Neighbors | Zack Shively.The Ford Nature Center naturalist Marilyn Williams ended "Joy to the Birds" with a small hike along the East Cohasset Hike and Bike Trail.
Photo
Neighbors | Zack Shively.One of the feeders the guests made for the "Joy to the Birds" event used pipe cleaner to string together Cheerios, peanuts and fruit.
by ZACK SHIVELY
Participants visited the Ford Nature Center on Dec. 28 for the “Joy to the Birds“ program, where they made small bird feeders and took a small hike.
Marilyn Williams, a naturalist with Mill Creek Metroparks, welcomed the guests to the center and demonstrated the two types of bird feeders they made during the day.
They began the event by creating starting at one of the two stations to make the bird feeders.
For one of the feeders, they tied a string to a pine cone so that it could hang from a tree. They then could spread peanut butter, lard or both on the pinecones. They added sunflower seeds, which stuck to the peanut butter and lard.
The other bird feeder had the guests put food on a pipe cleaner and bend the pipe cleaner in a ring, so the feeder will hang on a tree. The types of food offered to place on the pipe cleaner included Cheerios, grapes, nuts, apples and cranberries.
While the participants worked on their feeders, Williams told the visitors some other ways to help animals during the winter. The overwinter birds need shelter and water along with their food, so one could make a brush bile for their shelter and heat their bird bath to keep the water going through the winter.
After the group finished making the feeders, they went outside to place the feeders on their evergreen tree outside. All guests made multiple feeders, and some chose to take some of their creations home with them to feed the birds out there.
They finished the day off with a small hike down the East Cohasset Hike & Bike Trail. Everyone wore heavy coats and gloves to stay warm on the hike.