There is fruit growing in our garden despite the cold temperatures and one inch snowfall yesterday.  The Bradford Pear tree in our front yard finally dropped all its leaves and is now adorned with its own little ball ornaments.   The tiny pears are inedible to humans, but tasty to birds.  Last year,  huge flocks of Starlings swirled around the Bradford Pear tree like dark smoke then perched on the tree’s bare branches and pecked at its dangling pears.  We haven’t seen the Starlings descend on our tree yet this season.

One of the Nandina shrubs in our front yard has clusters of bright red winter berries.  I haven’t seen a bird munch on these nutritious red berries yet because they harvest the Nandina berries in late winter.  I am glad our garden has winter treats to attract hungry birds.  The fluttering brown, grey, red and blue feathers add life to the quiet  winter garden.

What kind of winter treats for birds or other critters do you have in your garden?