Books for novices and pros alike

How about something different for the special birder on your Christmas list?

The Bird House offers a variety of birding books. We highly recommend Birds of the Lehigh Valley and Vicinity, the premier guidebook for bird-watching in the region. It contains a wealth of information for backyard birding enthusiasts and serious birders who enjoy walking through the many parks, trails and woodlands of our area.

The book was written by three acknowledged birding experts and was published by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society. The guide lists not only the species found in our area but also their relative abundance. Color photographs of commonly seen species are included for easy identification.

More than 50 excellent birding locations are listed in the guidebook, along with driving information (including GPS coordinates) and the kinds of species you are likely to see at a given time of the year.

For instance, if you plan to visit Jacobsburg State Park in Northampton County, the book suggests the species to watch for. Pause in the brushy woods near the bird blind to look for flycatchers, redstarts and tanagers. A stand of hemlocks and oaks, located at an outcropping of slate, is a good place to see woodpeckers and thrushes. Walk down a nearby trail for the best place for migrating warblers in the spring. A bit farther is a tranquil area where hawks soar above and vireos and orioles flit among evergreens.

Even if you confine your bird-watching to the backyard or neighborhood, the book illustrates which species you are most likely to see during each season of the year. For instance, if you enjoy the many different kinds of sparrows in our area, you'll know when to expect the arrival of American Tree Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows in the winter and when Chipping Sparrows are bound to arrive in the spring. When do catbirds arrive and juncos arrive and depart? That's in the book.

For the novice, Birds of Pennsylvania and Stokes Field Guide to Birds provides page after page of locally seen species, with each page color-coded. Let's suppose you are walking along Lehigh Canal and you see a medium-sized duck with a green head. Check the green color pages. You'll be able to determine whether you saw a Mallard or a Northern Shoveler.

Another option is merging sight and sound. Birds of Pennsylvania also offers an audio CD to accompany the field guide. Think of how much you'll appreciate the advantage of hearing birds that are not immediately visible! Warblers and thrushes are often heard and not seen. By taking your hand-carry CD player with you into the woods or fields, you can use the two senses to enjoy your bird-watching trip.

Lovers of owls might enjoy a book by naturalist Scott Weidensaul, an internationally recognized author who began his writing career at a newspaper in nearby Pottsville and is now a contributing editor of Audubon magazine. Weidensaul's specialty is owls, having written the Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean and directed Project Owlnet, a bird-banding operation meant to learn more about these secretive nocturnal lives of these amazing creatures.

Birdie Wreaths are back

Birdie Wreaths are a holiday favorite since 2003!

What would the holiday season be without a Christmas Birdie Wreath? They're attractive outdoor décor but they're also delectable seed for backyard songbirds. 

Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, sparrows, and House Finches will peck at the wreaths to feed on sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, millet seeds, shelled peanuts and other morsels. Bird-friendly dye adds a touch of color to the wreaths, which include a red bow and a tie for hanging beneath a tree branch or pole or alongside a fence. 

Buy one for yourself or as a gift to a bird-lover. Hurry in—the wreaths are available only during the holiday season!

Stocking stuffer: Scramble Squares

These colorful puzzles will be a test for everyone, regardless of age. Kids will love the bright colors, and adults will love the challenge.

Each Scramble Square puzzle consists of nine squares that form a design when arranged correctly. Each individual square has only half of a different design on each side. You must match each side to complete the puzzle.

It seems simple enough. Placing the first few pieces is easy. But when you're down to one or two pieces that don't match up, that's where the challenge begins! It takes a lot of thinking and imagining to arrange and rearrange the pieces until you get all nine squares placed in the right order. Solving the puzzle requires a plenty of determination and a bit of time!

We had a long-standing offer to give away a puzzle if a customer can solve it while at the store. The customer will sometimes spend 10 minutes shifting the puzzle pieces around, only to leave scratching their heads when two or three of the squares don't match up! After 13 years in business, we've given out only three Scramble Square puzzles!

Scramble Squares are ideal stocking-stuffers as Christmas gifts. And consider buying one just for yourself. The puzzles are a great way to pass gloomy winter weekend afternoons.

We carry a range of colorful designs, including North American birds, hummingbirds, penguins, owls, woodpeckers and wetland birds. Also available are other natural creatures (ladybugs, frogs, turtles and dragonflies) and the roses.

Hurry in for the best selection!

They're back: Bird-themed women's socks

Comfy women's socks have returned for the winter. This season we've added a few new designs to the favorites that customers enjoy.

Most of the socks have bird themes—cardinals, bluebirds, owls, and even parrots and penguins. Of course, we'll also offer one of the bird-lover's nemesis: gray squirrels. Butterflies, winter snowflakes and snowmen also are available.

Colors include ivory, mint green, red, gray, dark green, light blue, black, beige and even purple.

Be sure to come in for the widest possible selection. And, if you don't mind a touch of irony, the socks make great stocking-stuffers!

'Hanging Hive' Roosting Pocket

It's getting chilly overnight! Small songbirds can use your help in keeping warm during long winter nights. Chickadees, wrens and sparrows love roosting pockets as shelter from cold, rain and snow. 

The Hanging Hive Roosting Pocket is an inexpensive, woven grass shelter that keeps birds warm, dry and safe from predators. Because of the natural material used in the pockets, the shelters do not attract unwanted attention. The reed grass's rough surfaces makes entering and exiting the house easier. The bottoms provide drainage and the opening offers ventilation during warmer periods.

You can hang a roosting pocket from any tree. The pockets are especially valuable if you have deciduous trees in your backyard and right now leafless trees have no protection for songbirds. If you've just moved to a subdivision and the trees are immature, a roosting pocket is an ideal way of protecting little birds. The pockets won't weigh down smaller branches.

(Keep in mind, though, that roosting pockets aren't meant as bird houses. They are too small for nest-building.)

Mother's Day is May 8

Lots of last-minute goodies for backyard birders