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Chickadees, in winter and summer, are the Hales’ favorites. “They’re so frisky, and always horsing around. It’s nice to hear their chattering,” Mrs. Hales said.
Sunflower seeds seem to be the mainstay in the diets of local wild birds. Finches, jays, titmice, chickadees, grosbeaks and woodpeckers relish them. But they are expensive.
Peanut butter, smeared onto tree trunks, attracts downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches to the Abells’ home along The Shade Road.
In the bird world, Sharon Walbridge must be considered the Queen of Rappahannock. She is continuously observing the local birdlife, keeping written records, perceiving the special needs of each species and each individual, and welcoming them around — and sometimes into — her Red Oak Mountain home.
Bluebirds nest in a birdhouse, Carolina wrens nest in a flower pot, hummingbirds sip from a syrup feeder and all species enjoy suet that has been ground and sunflower seeds that have been hulled.
“Water is as important to birds as food,” said Ms. Walbridge. “If you provide a birdbath heater to keep the water from freezing, birds will bathe in 15-degree weather. Bluebirds bathe here daily — right through the winter months.”
Her main objective this summer is to attract the South American birds — tanagers, orioles and warblers —by providing dripping water. A half-gallon jug, with a few holes punched in the bottom, drips water into the birdbath in her yard. It has already attracted myrtle warblers, and a scarlet tanager is showing some interest in it. “It makes the South American birds think they’re right at home,” she said.
Most area ornithologists agree that “wild bird seed” mixtures contain a lot of seeds that are unpre
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