For the past three years, we’ve started the new year by going for a walk in the woods to collect pinecones and make a little treat for the birds. We roll them in peanut butter and birdseed, then go back out the next day and leave them on logs, tree stumps, and branches for the birds.

It has become an accidental tradition and a fun way to start out the year by being out in nature, doing something together as a family, and being kind to the wild birds we enjoy watching in the woods.

Collecting:

Making:

Distributing:

While both collecting and distributing, we were fortunate to see the resident pileated woodpeckers hard at work hunting for bugs. The seed mix we used included sunflower seeds and peanuts, and we stuck a few pinecones in their trademark oval holes, so we hope they found them and had a snack.