Tag: birds

Robin Day! A Family Tradition for Spring

Living in the Midwest allows us to enjoy four distinct seasons. We’ve learned to appreciate each season, but the one we anticipate the most is spring.

We celebrated our first Robin Day years ago when my oldest was just a toddler. It had been a long cold winter with a little one who was anxious to play outside. I told him that we would watch for the first robin to come because that meant that spring was here.

When we finally saw that first robin, we were ready to celebrate! I made little bird nests out of rice krispies and put chocolate chips in them for eggs. It was a hit and a tradition was born.

Now every year we diligently watch for the first robin of spring and celebrate with bird nests for dessert. I’ve used several different recipes over the years and found that almost any no-bake cookie would work. Just put an indent in the middle to make it look like a nest. We’ve filled them with chocolate chips, M & M’s, jelly beans, red hots, whatever I have on hand that would be somewhat in the shape of an egg.

This year I used a no-bake cookie with peanut butter and oatmeal called Mud Cookies, pretty fitting actually!

Mud Cookies:

Boil for one minute: 2 cups sugar, 1/4 c. margarine, 4 Tbsp. cocoa, 1/2 c. milk

Add: 1/2 cup peanut butter, 3 cups oatmeal, 1 tsp. vanilla

Drop on wax paper and push an indent in the middle to make the nest shape. When cool and set, fill with peanut M & M’s or other egg-like treats.

I love having milestones like Robin Day to mark the passage of seasons and create family memories that bind us together!

Changing Seasons, Changing Bird Feeders

I woke up this morning to the sounds of geese calling as they make their journey southward. The constant humming of the combine replaces the insistent chatter of insects and birds during my afternoon walk. It’s beginning to sound like fall. The temperature dipped down to below 40 degrees last night and we’ve dug out the sweatshirts and jeans. There’s a nip in the air as I hang the laundry. It feels like fall. The view from my farmhouse windows is more yellow and oranges than green. The sunsets are breathtaking, but earlier every evening. It even looks like fall. I love the change in seasons, the rush of the harvest, followed by the lull before winter. The falling leaves and the smell of the woodsmoke. It’s time to think about changing the bird feeders. Replacing the oriole and hummingbird feeders with the finch and peanut tube feeders. My favorites are from Woodlink, because they are strong, durable and beautiful. I’ll use both the mini-magnums and the copper series for fall and winter feeding, along with a few cedar feeders. You can find these find feeders at http://stores.ebay.com/mtmyhouse. Just search under the garden and patio categories.