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April 2008
4/13/08
Of Birdhouses and Birdfeeders
4/8/08
4/4/08
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Back -- again -- after having my Marine Corps disability (and LIFE) sideline me for awhile. LOL, can you say "I love pain? I love pain?" That's the old Marine Corps mantra they taught us in boot camp -- something to think about -- tho' I prefer an old girl friend's sage advice: "Pain builds character" -- and when we met during my 30th High School reunion this last year, she (and others) all said I was "quite a character". So I reckon that must be true, eh?
Enuff about ME, lets move on to the TOPIC of this tardy posting: Birdhouses and Bird feeders. While a continuation of the post below (recycling for the Birds), this post also takes a look at making a bird feeder out of plastic jars, plus some ideas for bird nesting sites for your yard -- including a raptor nest / roost!
Here's a picture of what I think were baby Wrens I took -- which I found in a VERY odd nest -- a garbage bag full of old air filter media I had stuck down in the barn!
The babies waking up when I come to the nest . . .
.......and then demanding food from whatever disturbs them (good thing I'm not a CAT!)
Later as they grew into semi-fledglings (I was very careful NOT to disturb them unnecessarily!) -- were a little bit more -- protective?
BUT just as HUNGRY! While putting on his (her?) "fierce face", this young wren was waiting for food . . . while momma scolded me from the rafters of my 2 story barn.
That just goes to show: birds WILL nest in, on, or around anything you provide, provided its THERE, LOL!
Below is a photo of a "bird house" which I made from some 'firewood' we had obtained when a neighbor cut down their centuries old (and dead) hickory tree. It had some hollow limbs which I cut into shorter sections.
Note the commercially available Bat House on the pole behind the log bird house; it is about 24 ft up, facing the South since bats like heat. There is a 40 foot squarish pond about 200 feet away since bats (GREAT Mosquito catchers!) require a nearby water source. This bathouse (my mom's gift) has yet to harbor Bats tho' it has been up there for almost 2 years now. (Bats are notoriously slow about colonizing new homes.)
Here are two new bat houses I put on up nearer to the pond. Since bats here in the South often spend their days in hollow logs and under loose bark on the pines, I figure bats may find this bat house a more natural "home", and hope to get a colony of insect eating "monsters" going on my land before long! (and no, bats WON'T get into your hair IF you stop waving your arms around, which confuses their sonar!)
Below is a tree with two "log houses" and a raptor roost.
The tree has 2 "log houses", which are sections of hollow log that have had a "back" nailed on them (I used metal flashing, but heavy screen would do, too.), and then I drove a BIG nail into the trees and set the logs over the nails (with the nail going through the hollow). Note the strange "thing" waayyy up there in the tree. Here's a closer look:
This is a "raptor roost", or nesting area for LARGE birds like thelocal hawk family which has been displaced by the nearby neighborhood developments. It was made from an old electric fan's grill -- I nailed some nails in the crotch of the tree, and wired the fan grill to the nails to secure it. As you can see, it's already inuse. By something. The thing to remember here is: it is a RECYCLED piece of what most folks would think of as landfill material -- but being plastic, it will last forever. I figure some animal benefiting from it would be better than it getting buried in a landfill -- and it doesn't look half bad!
BIRDFEEDERS:
Here's something you can do with old plastic jars which will save THEM from becoming landfill waste -- while helping out your feathered friends:
This is what I call my "Folger's Birdhouse Feeder" - built by cutting the bottom of old Folger's jars off (this was when I didn't have time for REAL coffee, BTW!) - and then nesting one jar into the lidless top of another. Leave the bottom ON one jar -- you'll need that jar for the "bottom" of the feeder! I used short self-tapping metal screws to fasten the jars together, and then wrapped the joint with weatherproof electrical "fusion" tape to seal the joints. I could of used silicone adhesive sealent (like caulk, only better) to seal the joints, too.
I used those HUGE nails you can buy to make the "perches", once again sealing them to the jars with tape or silicone. To make the bottom openings, slit the bottom jar two or three times with an upside down "T", then fold the 'flaps' back to help keep birdseed from flowing out too freely. In my case I took a piece of aluminim can, and made a little "hood" that sticks into the opening. The top is an old duct adapter which I had which fit the lid perfectly; it give me a good wide handled grip and serves as a top "tray" for fruit -- or in this case, seeds.
The bottom is just a round piece of anything which has a screen attached to it (I used lattice with screen over it), and then screwed to the bottom of the bottom jar. To help contain the seed, I used a strip of metal flashing around the bottom "tray" (think: old garbage can lid? Old 5 gallon paint bucket lid? Many things make great trays for this!).
The wire cage around the feeder is an option if you have mean squirrels -- which I have seen snatch birds up by their breast feathers and beat the CRAP outta the birds! -- and which I "tame" with my pellet gun (way too many squirrels -- cuz' we've killed all their predators!). This allows MOST birds to enter (but not the greedy woodpecker or crows) while keeping the bullies OUT. You choose the screen: fine 1 inch chicken wire for little birdies; bigger for bigger birds -- but get TOO big, and the squirrels will grab the wire with their little hands, force the openings even BIGGER and squeeze THEIR fat and greedy butts in! (I like squirrels and their antics -- but NOT in my bird feeders! Too aggressive, too greedy, and they WILL chew a feeder UP to get in it!)
Anyway, once again, I hope I managed to put a few bugs in your ear (not literally, of course!) about ways you can modify things in YOUR environment to help keep this so-called "trash" out of the landfill -- and UP in the trees where it can do some good, LOL!!!
And remember: THINK before you toss that "thing" out. So much of OUR trash is another animal's "treasure". A treasured home place for THEM!
Well, my wife has been stalking outside my office door muttering about my saying I would put some more shelving down in the shop for our "junk" (things left over from her old fleamarket which I am supposed to be auctioning -- one day!). I reckon it'll be another one of those "character building" experiences of which I seem so fond (think: splinters and smashed thumbs!). But (sigh) a 'commitment' is a commitment -- AND who knows? Maybe I'll finally get some room opened UP down there so I can actually "work" once again in that perilously cramped small space! LOL!! Wish me luck -- and some bandaids!
Until later . . .
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Of Birdhouses and Birdfeeders
Enuff about ME, lets move on to the TOPIC of this tardy posting: Birdhouses and Bird feeders. While a continuation of the post below (recycling for the Birds), this post also takes a look at making a bird feeder out of plastic jars, plus some ideas for bird nesting sites for your yard -- including a raptor nest / roost!
Here's a picture of what I think were baby Wrens I took -- which I found in a VERY odd nest -- a garbage bag full of old air filter media I had stuck down in the barn!
The babies waking up when I come to the nest . . .
.......and then demanding food from whatever disturbs them (good thing I'm not a CAT!)
Later as they grew into semi-fledglings (I was very careful NOT to disturb them unnecessarily!) -- were a little bit more -- protective?
BUT just as HUNGRY! While putting on his (her?) "fierce face", this young wren was waiting for food . . . while momma scolded me from the rafters of my 2 story barn.
That just goes to show: birds WILL nest in, on, or around anything you provide, provided its THERE, LOL!
Below is a photo of a "bird house" which I made from some 'firewood' we had obtained when a neighbor cut down their centuries old (and dead) hickory tree. It had some hollow limbs which I cut into shorter sections.
Note the commercially available Bat House on the pole behind the log bird house; it is about 24 ft up, facing the South since bats like heat. There is a 40 foot squarish pond about 200 feet away since bats (GREAT Mosquito catchers!) require a nearby water source. This bathouse (my mom's gift) has yet to harbor Bats tho' it has been up there for almost 2 years now. (Bats are notoriously slow about colonizing new homes.)
Here are two new bat houses I put on up nearer to the pond. Since bats here in the South often spend their days in hollow logs and under loose bark on the pines, I figure bats may find this bat house a more natural "home", and hope to get a colony of insect eating "monsters" going on my land before long! (and no, bats WON'T get into your hair IF you stop waving your arms around, which confuses their sonar!)
Below is a tree with two "log houses" and a raptor roost.
The tree has 2 "log houses", which are sections of hollow log that have had a "back" nailed on them (I used metal flashing, but heavy screen would do, too.), and then I drove a BIG nail into the trees and set the logs over the nails (with the nail going through the hollow). Note the strange "thing" waayyy up there in the tree. Here's a closer look:
This is a "raptor roost", or nesting area for LARGE birds like thelocal hawk family which has been displaced by the nearby neighborhood developments. It was made from an old electric fan's grill -- I nailed some nails in the crotch of the tree, and wired the fan grill to the nails to secure it. As you can see, it's already inuse. By something. The thing to remember here is: it is a RECYCLED piece of what most folks would think of as landfill material -- but being plastic, it will last forever. I figure some animal benefiting from it would be better than it getting buried in a landfill -- and it doesn't look half bad!
BIRDFEEDERS:
Here's something you can do with old plastic jars which will save THEM from becoming landfill waste -- while helping out your feathered friends:
This is what I call my "Folger's Birdhouse Feeder" - built by cutting the bottom of old Folger's jars off (this was when I didn't have time for REAL coffee, BTW!) - and then nesting one jar into the lidless top of another. Leave the bottom ON one jar -- you'll need that jar for the "bottom" of the feeder! I used short self-tapping metal screws to fasten the jars together, and then wrapped the joint with weatherproof electrical "fusion" tape to seal the joints. I could of used silicone adhesive sealent (like caulk, only better) to seal the joints, too.
I used those HUGE nails you can buy to make the "perches", once again sealing them to the jars with tape or silicone. To make the bottom openings, slit the bottom jar two or three times with an upside down "T", then fold the 'flaps' back to help keep birdseed from flowing out too freely. In my case I took a piece of aluminim can, and made a little "hood" that sticks into the opening. The top is an old duct adapter which I had which fit the lid perfectly; it give me a good wide handled grip and serves as a top "tray" for fruit -- or in this case, seeds.
The bottom is just a round piece of anything which has a screen attached to it (I used lattice with screen over it), and then screwed to the bottom of the bottom jar. To help contain the seed, I used a strip of metal flashing around the bottom "tray" (think: old garbage can lid? Old 5 gallon paint bucket lid? Many things make great trays for this!).
The wire cage around the feeder is an option if you have mean squirrels -- which I have seen snatch birds up by their breast feathers and beat the CRAP outta the birds! -- and which I "tame" with my pellet gun (way too many squirrels -- cuz' we've killed all their predators!). This allows MOST birds to enter (but not the greedy woodpecker or crows) while keeping the bullies OUT. You choose the screen: fine 1 inch chicken wire for little birdies; bigger for bigger birds -- but get TOO big, and the squirrels will grab the wire with their little hands, force the openings even BIGGER and squeeze THEIR fat and greedy butts in! (I like squirrels and their antics -- but NOT in my bird feeders! Too aggressive, too greedy, and they WILL chew a feeder UP to get in it!)
Anyway, once again, I hope I managed to put a few bugs in your ear (not literally, of course!) about ways you can modify things in YOUR environment to help keep this so-called "trash" out of the landfill -- and UP in the trees where it can do some good, LOL!!!
And remember: THINK before you toss that "thing" out. So much of OUR trash is another animal's "treasure". A treasured home place for THEM!
Well, my wife has been stalking outside my office door muttering about my saying I would put some more shelving down in the shop for our "junk" (things left over from her old fleamarket which I am supposed to be auctioning -- one day!). I reckon it'll be another one of those "character building" experiences of which I seem so fond (think: splinters and smashed thumbs!). But (sigh) a 'commitment' is a commitment -- AND who knows? Maybe I'll finally get some room opened UP down there so I can actually "work" once again in that perilously cramped small space! LOL!! Wish me luck -- and some bandaids!
Until later . . .
mhogue3909 at 10:11:00 AM EDT Blog about this entry |
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This entry has 10 comments: (Add your own)
-
I am so happy to hear someone sing the praises of BATS! So many people are freaked out by them, but anyone who does a little research will find out what great critters they are to have in your yard. Ours should be coming back soon, after wintering in warmer climes. We love to stand out on the deck at dusk and watch them swoop down in front of us to catch bugs.
Beth
http://journals.aol.com/luvrte66/nutwoodjunction/ -
I've got Humming Birds all over here so my feeders are quite small. But love the photography, great work and the tips for the other featured population.
Paul C.
http://journals.aol.com/pchilcoat1/chilis-sauce/ -
Thanks for sharing the pictures and giving me some good ideas for bird feeders.
Yasmin -
Those wrens are so cute. You have really been recycleing. You are doing pretty good if you are the one climbing those trees to put those logs up in it. I remember when I was a child my mother when she would open a tin can of food would only open it about a third of the way open, empty it and bend the lid down and tack that bent lid to a pasture fence post, presto a bird house. They actually built their nest in those cans. Not the huge can of course but a 16 ounce one or a little larger. Helen
4/27/08 10:10 PM
Lori
http://journals.aol.com/helms