Saratoga Springs, New York

The Backyard Watcher

Snowman

Snowseed

by Cynthia Perkins

Looking for some new wintertime entertainment with the birds?  Here's a great new twist to the ever-popular snowman.

After a good wet, heavy snow, bundle up and head out to the yard and start rolling.  Build a nice big snowman.  Put some medium-sized branches on its sides for arms and a branch on top of its head.  Use birdseed to make the eyes, nose, and mouth and then sprinkle birdseed all over the snowman and on the ground surrounding it.

I've found that there's nothing more effective at bringing in a yard full of beautiful birds than a snowman covered with birdseed.  The birds are simply drawn to it -- it never fails, each year they flock to my cold, snowy friend.

I particularly enjoy making snowballs so big I can't push them anymore, and this makes a nice tall snowman -- but any size will do.  I like to use branches with several offshoots to allow the birds a variety of places to sit.  They perch on the snowman's head, on the branches, on the body, and on the ground surrounding it.  They also burrow under it to get protection from the wind.

The seed will be eten quickly, but you can go out and sprinkle him again and the birds will return to gobble it up as long as the snowman lasts.

Last year some of my beautiful visitors that gathered to enjoy the snowman were blue jays, juncos, northern flickers, starlings, mourning doves, cardinals towhees, sparrows, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, red-winged blackbirds, and wrens.

Not only is this great fun to create and a wonderful activity the whole family can enjoy, but it also puts you in touch with nature and lets your inner child out to play.  It will bring you days of enjoyment, depending on how long the temperature stays cold enough to keep your snowman intact.