I’m currently trying not to look up from my computer, as the sun is rising directly outside the window I sit at and it’s making my eyes water.  I’ll be safe just as soon as it lifts a little higher and I’ll be able to watch the cows march back to the fields after milking.

That little bit of sun makes all the difference though, even if it’s still rather cold most of the time.  Here on the farm it would be hard not to notice Spring has revved up a gear.  The buds are on the trees, the calves are jumping around in the fields, (sadly that means the flies are starting to appear again too) and the birds are having a rare old time.

There’s birdsong morning, noon and night – not actually, but you know what I mean.  There are trails of sticks and grass everywhere around the house and outhouses, as the birds busy themselves building their nests.  I swear the poor things must drop more than they manage to actually use.  On that note, I remembered seeing an article a few years back about wool scraps and nesting birds, so I did some research online and discovered this article on Birdwatchers Digest which includes several ways to help nesting birds.

7. Put out short pieces of fiber, string, and yarn. For birds that build woven nests (orioles, some sparrows, robins, and others), a few short pieces of yarn can come in mighty handy during building time. Offer the pieces in an onion bag or in a small basket. Keep the pieces shorter than two inches to reduce the risk of birds getting tangled in them.

I’m a bit of a hoarder and having recently trimmed a small rya rug weaving and kept the ends (because they looked to nice to throw out)  I set to work.

A basket wasn’t going to work here, the wind blowing across the fields would send it on it’s way, before I’d even managed to turn around.  So it’s a glamorous onion bag for me.

I cut the top of my onion bag, removed the onions and filled it with my wool scraps.

With a generous length of yarn (mines cotton), I wove in and out of the net all around the top of the bag.  You don’t have to be tidy about it the birds aren’t going to complain.

Before I tied the bag tightly with a knot, I stuffed the rest of the ends into the bag.

I tied the bag to a branch on one of the bushes in our garden where the birds like to perch and loosened a few of the threads, so they poke out temptingly.  Be sure to make sure it’s out of the reach of yours or your neighbors cats.

Pure wool is best, I know the birds won’t mind the acrylic themselves, but as it falls prettily to the ground because they’ve dropped it and flutters off, it soon turns into litter, wool will eventually break down.

Unfortunately, there’s one thing I really don’t like about Spring so far on the farm.  This little hooligan has rolled in something on his evening walk 3 nights in a row.  It doesn’t show in the photograph, but he’s wet from having to be washed yet again.

Look – new socks! (I found it)

Happy Making

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