Posted on 02/12/2005 9:27:14 AM PST by sweetliberty
With Spring just around the corner, at least here in the southeast, it's time to think about spending more time outdoors and making our yards and porches more pleasant places to be. FReepers have such a wide variety of interests and talents, I thought it might be fun and educational to do a thread for bird and garden enthusiasts. I see a fair amount of discussion on some of the threads about gardening and landscaping, but not too much that is specific to gardening for the birds.
I've pretty much always had a bird feeder or two around, and that number has grown since I moved into a place last summer that has a big yard. I have a fair variety of birds and I have begun to think about developing it specifically to attract more species, not only for the enjoyment of watching the birds, but also to control natural pests that are prevalent in this part of the country, without resorting to pesticides. I know that the right combination of flora can discourage certain pests and also attract birds that will help keep the pest population down. I would love to hear from FReepers who are experienced at creating such a balance. I think it would also be fun to have a place to share our experiences as we develop them. I know there's lots of links out there with useful information and I make use of them from time to time, but it's just not the same as having discussions on a forum where we have experts on everything. And I don't know of any place else on the web so animated by wit, along with wisdom, on just about any topic.
And there is a Bald Eagle (not in my yard) that I have seen 3 times, flying overhead when I was on the road near my house. The first time I saw him, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, then I found out that there are nesting sites in the area and apparently there has been a conscious effort make to build up their numbers here. There is even an Eagle Watch weekend which occurred not long after the sightings.
Around the first of May here in southeast Missouri.
I would think it would be similar here. You're not that far from me, and I know that they can travel great distances in incredibly short time.
Darn, I used to have the funniest little book, a parody of bird watching. One page showed the American bunting in colors of red, white and blue. Then it gave a paragraph or two describing its habitat and such. Another gave the woodpecker a drill for a bill and described its gutter drilling habits. Every bird watcher who saw it got a kick out of it. I think I lent it to someone and they never gave it back, as it is now missing.
I think alot depends on the type of feeder too. I had two different types, one of those in the cedar holder then the one like in my picture I posted back aways. The one in the cedar never got used, even when they had emptied the other. I finally got rid of it and bought another like the one in the picture. It was the first year I had feed hummingbirds, but I had tons of them. They were very fun to watch. They are very aggressive little birds, dive bombing each other as they would try to feed. My cat would be laying there watching them, but they didn't seem to be afraid of him. Very brave:). I'd sit out there in the mornings drinking my coffee and they would come real close and hang in the air in front of me and watch me. Even would fly down and check out the dog.
The flower in my garden that I noticed they liked the best was red sylvia.
Becky
Oh, and something else I learned. The ones I feed liked the brand of feed that I bought in liquid form. I got it at Wal mart and it's called Liquid Nature, or First nature, something like that. It's a concentrate you mix with water. No cooking or stirring very easy to use. One time when I had to buy a different kind, they stopped coming around. But then I got some more and they came back. So the type of feed you use must make a difference.
I've heard that using just sugar water is not good. It doesn't contain any nutrients. the birds will get deficent in things and die. I don't know if that is true or not, but it made sense to me.
becky
If you go to the thread free republic saddle club thread, click on to the who's who link under the logo and scroll down to under the pictures, there is a very easy explanation on how to post pictures.
Becky
You did good:)
Becky
Your place sounds wonderful, SL! I can hardly wait to visit!
Great job. Nice picture, too.
You probably will. There are 2 sites I have open all the time when I'm on the computer, this one Fotki, so that I have immediate access to my pictures when I want to post something.
"To have them on line for a second back up would be great."
Yep. A little over a year ago, my hard drive got toasted. I was very thankful to have almost all my pics that were on my computer saved on Fotki.
It sounds like you know about cardinals. I have a beautiful, but neurotic one in my yard. It attacks the mirrors, windshield and windows of our vehicles...and starts hitting our kitchen window a little past sun up. It is a beautiful bird, BUT my side mirror is badly scratched, and my kitchen window is 'etched' from the repeated hits (at just about the same spot...like it is a 'bullseye.' I have tried putting black paper up on the inside of the window in question, along with hanging a windsock (with long kitelike tail) hoping that the movement would distract the bird...but it still keeps hitting the cars and window. This started back in September...any suggestions?
My mom has a chickadee that raps on the window when the feeder gets empty. Fortunately they are tiny and don't do much damage.
ping for later- great idea for thread!
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