So, I was out the other day and all these blackbirds came swooping in on me and slowly began to fill the trees above me. Then, they began grabbing hold of the branches with Beechnuts and flapping their wings to shake the nuts loose. Once they had shaken down a few trees worth of nuts about a hundred or more would come down at a time and immediately begin to clean up the nuts leaving the small three-sided empty shells and prickly husks behind.
Once I realized what they were doing I went over and gathered up about 50 or so in 5 minutes. If I hadn't waited 10 or 15 minutes prior to grabbing them I could have gathered probably 10 times as many in the same amount of time, but, a hundred birds eating one nut every couple seconds clears them out pretty fast.
I think it was only a few years ago that I found out beechnuts were edible. My uncle says they used to eat them a lot in Kentucky, but he said the nuts down there were much bigger than the ones here. they would roast them up down home from what I understand. I tried to roast a few according to vague directions but they got too done. the raw nuts are excellent, and remind me of something between a hazelnut, pecan, walnut, and perhaps even a hint of coconut. LOL! It's hard to decide on the flavor, but they are real tasty that's for sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-0gB...9DFB2A4ED09C68
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