By Ann Trump

Most mornings, I hear the birds chattering their greeting to the dawn at least a half an hour before I see them. I have several bird feeders around my house, but I have strategically positioned a feeding area outside my bedroom window between the Korean spice bush and the quince.  While I drink my first cups of coffee, before the day has gotten a firm hold on my attention, I allow myself the joy of bird watching.  I highly recommend it.  Back yard bird watching satisfies the yearnings of my soul, that place in me that wants a peaceful and calm demeanor, that place that trusts life and wants to leave behind the hurry.  Without effort, I experience an alert, meditative state.  Even on a busy day, if I stop for just a moment, and catch the scattering of sparrows as a noisy blue jay lands on and claims a feeder, I am instantly brought into the present moment.    

From a Feng Shui perspective, inviting birds into your environment is inviting good chi and blessings from Heaven.  Birds are symbols of new opportunities and good fortune. Feeding birds is a fabulous way to increase energy around the home and keep it from becoming stagnant.  Introducing a bird bath is a wonderful way to incorporate the water element into your landscape.  The material and color of the feeder can be a way to add a deficient element or enhance an area of the bagua.  Being mindful of placement, for example adding a feeder to the north area of your property or in a northern widow of your house may give you added energy and blessings for a job search, as the north represents career.

Tips for feeding the birds:

• Keep the feeders full.  Birds will return to feeders if they know there is a  continuous food supply.  If you are new to feeding, don’t be discouraged if birds don’t flock the feeder the minute you fill it.  Be patient, they will find it.
• Birds like cover when they feed.  Feeders hung near shrubs and trees or under porches provide safety from predators.  Try draping pine branches or grape vine around feeders that are too exposed.
• Birds prefer wooden feeders to plastic feeders, with the exception of hummingbirds and finches. 
• Don’t forget squirrels will invade feeders and have ravenous appetites.  Give them  a feeder of their own filled with corn and sunflower seeds, or buy corncobs just  for them.

There is a variety of attractive window feeders for city dwellers.  A red  hummingbird feeder is an ideal energizer for any area of the bagua that needs a  little boost and is a perfect feeder for apartments.                       

Experiment with homemade bird treats. Pinecones rolled in peanut butter with birdseed sprinkled on them is a nice project for children.  Hang them from your porch or on trees. Birds love suet.  Try the recipe below.

 Suet   

1. Use as much lard as desired.
2. Add peanut butter.
3. Add any dried fruits or nuts that you have available.
4. Mix in enough birdseed to make it desirable to the birds.
5. Put the mix in recycled onion sacks and hang outdoors.

Bird watching and bird feeding is a soul pleasing past time and good Feng Shui.  On the wall above the cash register in my favorite Chinese restaurant there hangs a beautiful painting of One Hundred Birds.  The symbolic meaning of the Chinese painting is good fortune and financial blessings.  I have actually counted forty four mourning doves feeding at one time in my yard.  Arriving in pairs, I believe they bless me with the fortunes from Heaven.

© Ann Trump, 2010. All rights reserved.