The Avant-Garden Shop: Your Garden & Bird Store

chickadee

Garden Tips: Woodpeckers and other cavity nesters

by

Our year-round resident cavity nesters are getting busy with courtship and breeding behaviours, well ahead of the migrants, most of whom start returning from their southern breeding grounds in late-April. Behaviours to watch and listen for include calling/singing (nuthatches & chickadees), drumming (woodpeckers), ritualized displays (keep an eye open for dance-like movements between birds), and … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 211- Suet and peanuts for the birds (March 12th, 2021)

by

In the colder months, suet and peanuts are excellent sources of fat for the birds. This helps to keep them warm during long cold winter nights. Our peanut ring is one feeder that customers (and the birds) love! These can be filled with whole peanuts and also our perfectly sized suet balls (available in 6 … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 191 -Decor for your garden (June 5th 2020)

by

Buy Canadian! All of the wall art that we carry is made in Canada. We have items from Ontario to British Columbia. Beautiful windswept trees, concrete sculptures and super fun and quirky handmade pieces. Some pieces are powder coated steel so need very little care, others do well with a spray of clear coat if … Read more

Garden Tips: Marching Into Spring

by

The days are getting longer, and the Northern Cardinals and American Robins are singing up a storm! Things start getting busier in March in the bird world as our year-round-resident cavity-nesting species start courtship and breeding behaviours. Male songbirds use song to define and defend their territories, as well as to attract females. Woodpeckers use … Read more

Garden Tips: The Woodpeckers, Chickadees, & Nuthatches come Marching in

by

You may have noticed a loud, sweetly-whistled “Spring’s here!” in recent weeks. This is the song of the Black-capped Chickadee (as is the three-parted “Cheese-bur-ger!”). Many of our year-round bird residents are cavity nesters. Chickadees, nuthatches, and some woodpeckers stay here through the winter, and they’ll start their courtship activities in March. Chickadees Black-capped Chickadees … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 106 – The Paddling Puppeteers

by

Chex TV airdate: Friday Jan. 6th, 2017 To watch this episode online click link here.   On this episode I’m joined by Glen Caradus of The Paddling Puppeteers at The Kawartha Environment Centre. I’ve known Glen since we worked together at Peterborough Green-Up in the ’90’s. He’s always had a special way with kids, frogs … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 99 – Getting birds ready for colder weather (Sept. 30, 2016)

by

CHEX TV airdate: Friday Sept. 30th 5-5:30pm Click link to watch this episode online. As the days get shorter and the nights longer (and colder) birds need to fuel up on high energy food to survive. In the winter when the nights are long and VERY cold, birds need to eat from dawn till dusk … Read more

Garden Gate: Episode 21-Suet and Peanut Feeders

by

fatball-feeder-ring-bCHEX TV air date: Fri. Sep. 20th, 2013

Click here to view this episode of ?The Garden Gate.

Blue Jays, woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches and many other birds love peanuts and suet.? Even cardinals! The peanuts and suet give them the extra carbohydrates they need to stay warm through the long winter nights.

There are a variety of feeders in which you can offer peanuts. Peanuts in the shell work nicely in the wreath feeders or other feeders with large openings.? These feeders offer some challenge to the bird, making them take some extra time to get the seed out. This means you get a great look at the bird while he is struggling to pull the seed out or peck at it until the delicious kernel is retrieved.? You can also offer shelled peanuts which birds peck at through a mesh and get little kernels which they gobble down quickly.? Shelled peanuts are actually more cost effective and also less messy. No shells left behind to clean up!

Please buy fresh peanuts!? Old stale peanuts can go rancid and the bird will not eat them. Our seeds are the freshest you can get. Your birds will love them!

Suet can also be offered year round, providing that you choose good quality suet.? Poor quality suet will melt in the summer heat and also contains many types of filler that the birds don?t enjoy and will leave behind.? At The Avant-Garden Shop, we offer Millcreek bird food and also suet.? All of their suet is double rendered, which means it is very dense and doesn’t melt or fall apart easily. The Summer Nut suet is even thicker and will not melt even in our summer heat.

We also offer pure suet, which grackles and starlings tend to shy away from. It is their least favourite. It is a softer suet and will melt in high heat, so should only be offered late in the season and through the winter.

Upside down suet feederThere are a variety of suet feeders that hold the suet blocks. We have upside down suet feeders (Starlings dislike this style), feeders with tail props (which the Hairy woodpecker loves) and also the regular square cages. We have the cages for single suet cakes, two or even four suet cakes. ?We also have a suet log feeder which has holes in which you can push a special “peanut butter” type suet.

For the Christmas season we also offer solid seed wreaths, suet ?acorns? and other fun items that you can give as a gift to the person who wants little or nothing.? It?s a ?gift for the birds!?

 

The Avant-Garden Shop