By BARBARA BARBIERI
Thursday was the last Lunch and Learn of the season for the Friends of Ouabache State Park. The program was held at the Lodge by the Lake at the park.
Halloween cupcakes were featured, thanks to Corner Depot Catering, and the program presenters were Jody Heaston and Rebecca Wynn. Heaston told about how to attract birds to your yard and Wynn offered the materials to construct a bird feeder using bird seed and lard.
Heaston explained that birds need four things to be attracted to a site, including food, water, shelter and safety. She proceeded to explain about food. Two good books for learning more about the subject are “Bringing Home Nature” by Douglas Tallamy and “Landscaping for Wildlife,” a publication made available by the state of Minnesota.
To attract birds naturally you must provide them with what they eat which includes insects, spiders and caterpillars. Which in turn means the proper native trees must be planted to support the insect population.
A variety of bird feeders were shown by Heaston with the best ones being made of metal and easily cleanable. (Heaston explained that feeders should be cleaned once a week using a bleach solution.)
To fill the feeders, the best seed for attracting birds is black oil sunflower seeds. For finches, the best would be thistle seed, and for bluebirds, mealworms would be best.
At this point Wynn demonstrated how to make a bird feeder out of a plastic plate shaped over a bundt pan to be filled with a combination of bird seed and lard. The recipe calls for 2 cups bird seed to 1/2 cup lard, mixed and then frozen until ready for hanging in the yard.
Kathy Schwartz told about the Friends sponsorship of the Wonderland of Lights at the park, which will be viewable Dec. 2 through Dec. 31 this year.
Also introduced at the gathering was the park’s new office manager Joni Cincotti.
