Birdwatching at the DC

A month or so ago, when my mom gave me a shepperd's hook that mounts to deck, I hung a bird feeder right in front of the front window of the playroom at the day care.  It seemed like it took forever for the birds to find my offerings.  I almost got discouraged thinking the feeder was too close to the house.  But finally I spied a few House Finches had begun to frequent and then a few Juncos, a few Chickadees and today we had a Red Bellied Woodpecker.  I was so very excited.  I called the kids over to watch as he took seeds from the feeder and flew to the Dogwood tree in the front yard to crack them open.  His red head really caught their eye.

To my delight the kids have begun to take an interest in our feathered visitors.  I even caught one of the boys at the front window with the play binoculars and I asked "what are you looking at" and he replied "I'm looking at the birds."  It just tickled me.  I wanted to make some sort of a log of the birds we've seen. I pulled out a felt board (that won't lay flat since the day I made it) and printed pictures of each of the birds we have seen so far.  I glued them to more felt along with the name of their breed, not specifics, and cut them out to go on the felt board.  It hangs next to the window where we bird watch.  It will help them recognize birds that frequent by picture.  I will add more birds as they come along and plan to offer a different selection of food for them this winter. 

I can't wait until tomorrow when I bust out the homemade suet I made yesterday. Boy is that woodpecker going to be jolly!