Attention Bird Gardening Enthusiasts

self | February 12, 2005 | sweetliberty

[MissTargets]

Hi all. I am a transplant from the Saddle Club thread. Becky told me about it, since I have been posting there, about all the garden shows, I have been going to lately.
Not much gardening going on in Northeast Ohio right now, but I do keep the feeders filled.

Great idea for a thread. Thanks.

[sweetliberty]

Welcome. I'm glad to find so much interest. This thread could really prove useful as we share our knowledge and experiences.

I spent the day today in Little Rock and spent a small fortune at the Wild Bird store. I didn't even buy that much, but their stuff is high. They have a lot of variety. It was fun anyway. Long ways to go to shop, but oh well; I was off today.

[sweetliberty]

Help! I went yesterday and bought a set up for a pole feeder and I can't get the confounded thing in the ground. I bought the base that you screw down and then mount the pole because I have really rocky ground and I managed to get it to within a couple of inches of where it is supposed to be, but I can't get it down any farthur. I've already busted one screwdriver using it for leverage. I can't leave it like it is either, because it's wobbly from having to work so hard at getting it in there and some of the dirt has worked loose. Any ideas?

[Dysart]

Do you have the pole with the corkscrew end and all important base with four prongs that anchor it to the earth?

[sweetliberty]

It's a corkscrew base, but there are no prongs.

[Dysart]

Like this http://www.birdtracks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=2517&Category_Code=16


You should soak the ground with water...wait several hours and try again. If you don't have the base(as shown in the link), consider it because it's very useful for stabilization

[MamaTexan]

Any ideas?

Ouch! That's a tough one. I sympathize with the rocky ground problem!

Can you get the base back out?

If you can, you could fill the hole with water, (It might soften what dirt IS there) then fill it up with loose dirt and re-screw it.

Unfortunately, if it's one of those BIG underground suckers...well, you might want to rethink it's location.

Sorry, I know that's probably not much help! :(

[7.62 x 51mm]

Use a crowbar, s. Screwdrivers are for liberal-demokkkRATs.

[sweetliberty]

I did soak the ground with water and left it sit. I went back and tried a couple of times since then since then. I decided to wait till tomorrow. I've fought with it long enough. No, mine doesn't have the prongs like that, but I invested a small fortune in the set up I have. I was afraid I might have trouble with it. The folks at the bird store were very helpful and they thought it would be something I could overcome. It might just be that I'm not strong enough to get it the last few turns. I'm also afraid of breaking even the heavy duty screwdriver. It's not like I can take it back to the store so easily and try something else. The store is 3 hours away.

[sweetliberty]

I can get the base back out alright. I did fill it with water. I didn't put any other dirt in there. I'm also having a hard time getting it straight. This is a major pain in the butt!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'm not sure what kind of pole you're talking about, but would cement work. Cement a pole in is not really that hard to do. We have to cement alot of things in because of rocky ground.

Becky

[sweetliberty]

A crowbar won't fit through the holes. They are probably no more than a 1/4" in diameter, if that.

[sweetliberty]

Seems like using cement would kinda defeat the purpose of the corkscrew thingy. What do you do...get a bag of dry cement and add water?

[sweetliberty]

I know the birds got tired of me fussing around out there. A few got tired of waiting for me to leave and decided to continue their meal.

.

[MamaTexan]

A few got tired of waiting for me to leave and decided to continue their meal.

Watch out! Between a bird and it's food is a dangerous place to be! ;)

[sweetliberty]

Especially the woodpeckers. LOL!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Yeah that's what I've done in the past.

Is the pole you are having trouble with the black one in the picture?

Becky

[sweetliberty]

"Is the pole you are having trouble with the black one in the picture?"

No. That is an old one. The new one is an inch in diameter, the base screws into the ground and then the pole and attachments are mounted.

[GodBlessUSA]

I can sympathize. I had such a difficult time hammering the base of a pole in the ground for a bird house last year. I gave up and I don't even have the hard rocky soil. Thankfully, my husband did it. Great shot of Downy!

Good Luck!

[MamaTexan]

Totally Pointless Birdie Trivia for Today

Hummingbirds, those fascinating jewel-toned creatures we anxiously look forward to every year, posses two abilities that other birds lack, and lack two abilities that the other birds have.

What are they?

( insert Jeopardy music here :)