Feed for birds, loony behavior and best binocular picks

Meal worms have always been a winter purchase for me. No wonder the robins never found them.

I recently bought a pound of meal worms with some beetles tossed in for variety. I sprinkled them onto dirt-filled flowerpots in a rack on our deck. Just to see what might happen.

Blue jays fill up on the worms. And so do robins, marking the first time we've had robins at any of our feeders. Sort of cool. Wet or dry, a worm is a worm.

Bird food is something I often shop for, shop as in browse, read labels, check package weight, contents. This can be interesting if you are in the right place.

I buy bird food at a combo hardware store/feed store. Many customers have horses, rabbits, chickens and geese. Food for the latter two work just as well for feeder birds.

The 1-pound mix I bought recently contains meal worms, angle worms, tiny, tiny shrimp, and crickets, all dried. Chickadees and blue jays are our customers so far. This food is sold as a treat for farmyard birds.

If you go online (but please shop local) you can buy dried worms in amazing quantities, by the way, 66 pounds for $324.99 with free shipping.

Well, only if you are careless when holding a bird with a long, sharp bill.

This would include herons, egrets and cranes for certain. Young birds can be as dangerous as adults.

Handling an injured bird to seek care for it can be dangerous. Birds will go for your eyes if you're not careful. It might be best to call a pro. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville can help you. Call 651-486-9453.

(And when you get help or advice, remember that this important function is donor-supported.)

If in your birding adventures you come across a baby bird on the ground, leave it alone. Birds do fall out of nests. The parent birds know that. They are caring for their baby, appearances aside. If the bird is injured, contact the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville.

"My wife and I were enjoying a pontoon boat ride on Gun Lake in Aitkin County. There was a loon swimming in the water with a dog following it. The loon appeared to be crippled, but every time the dog would get too close the loon would swim away normally, and then resume its crippled swimming.

"This behavior occurred several times. It looked like the loon was deliberately drawing the dog farther and farther out into the lake. I don't know if the loon was just trying to tire the dog so it would give up, or whether it was tiring the dog in hopes that it would drown.

"Meanwhile the dog's owner was on shore hollering at the dog. He finally got into his boat and retrieved it. Once the dog was in the boat the loon was OK. The bird clearly knew what it was doing."

Well, there must have been loon chicks nearby. The loon was using its variation of the broken-wing maneuver to lure the dog away. We'll assume the bird did not have untoward intentions.

A book about finding birds by an American Birding Association pro can be downloaded as a PDF file at aba.org/lets-go-birding.

"Birds are everywhere to be found — no matter who you are, no matter where you live," Floyd says.

Where do you find them? How do you learn their names? How do you discover information about their behavior and ecology? These questions and many more are answered in this free e-book.

The August issue of BirdWatching magazine (newsstand $7.99) has a four-page guide to buying binoculars. It lists best for birding, best under $200, best $200-$599, best $600-$1,099, best to $2,000, best of the best.

The guide is complete and well-done. It is not available online.

Telephoto lenses are very (very) popular among photographers who find birds interesting. Paul Konrad, a longtime birder who lives in North Dakota, writes often in his e-mail newsletter The Birding Wire about his photographic experiences. A recent offering once again discussed his work with a Tamron 150-600mm f5.6-6.3 zoom lens. He likes it. I have and use the same lens. I like it.

Subscribe to the newsletter at subscription.theoutdoorwire.com/subscribe.

Slow down.

Wear sunscreen.

Wear a hat.

Wear long sleeves.

Check for ticks.

Nix the phone.

Pause and listen.

Be quiet, please.

Please just shut up.

Jim Williams, contributing writer