Creating A Bird Sanctuary In Your Yard

March 5, 2005 | sweetliberty

[sweetliberty]

.

As it turned out, the previous thread on this topic generated a lot of interest and several people recommended doing it as a regular thread, so here is the second installment.

How you go about creating a bird sanctuary in your yard, or outdoor space, will depend on a number of givens, some which can modified, and others over which you have no control. One of these is geographical location or climate zone. If you live in the Colorado Rockies, you are not going to attract Cardinals, no matter how many black oil sunflower seeds you put out, and if you're on a beach in Florida, it's a pretty safe bet that there will be no snow buntings visiting your yard, the cornucopia of insects notwithstanding. Of course, if global warming keeps encroaching on us, we may soon find Alaska overrun with Parrots and Flamingos, but, I digress.

Within any given area, there are a variety of habitats, so no matter what your specific location, it is possible to vastly increase the types and numbers of birds in your immediate environment by modifying your habitat to make it more bird friendly to a wider array of birds native to your region.

Another "given" is your available space. If you live in a cottage in the woods by a stream, you will obviously have a lot more options available to you than if you live in an urban apartment with nothing more than a small porch or balcony. Of course, I think the majority of us live somewhere between those extremes. The point is, even if you have nothing more than a porch, you can still make it bird friendly, thereby increasing your enjoyment of these highly entertaining creatures. If you don't even have so much as a porch, I would suggest moving!

The purpose of this thread is to share ideas for maximizing our outdoor spaces to make them appealing to birds and butterflies, to share our experiences and knowledge or expertise, photos and resources. The discussion is pretty free-flowing and may expand to include gardening, landscaping and related topics. The direction the thread takes will really be up to the FReepers who post on it. We can focus on a different topic every week or two, or just keep it open and casual, updating the thread periodically. The main thing is that we learn and have fun.

.

Link to previous thread: Attention Bird Gardening Enthusiasts

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks SweetLiberty! I will pick up the magazine! :)

[GodBlessUSA]

This is great! Thanks so much. I'm going to enjoy visiting this site! They are all snuggled up to Mom right now. :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Hi Dysart,
I'm using HP 950. 5.3MP 8x optical zoom 7 digital zoom. The camera is bulkier than other digital cameras. I like it. It isn't the best when taking indoor shots.

It's not the best camera out there. For my price range, and what I do, I'm very pleased. There are probably more improved cameras, since my purchase as well.

A great site on the web that compares digital cameras is Steve's digi cams.http://www.steves-digicams.com/ Very good information here.

Good Luck! Let me know what you end up buying.

[GodBlessUSA]

Oops my camera is HP 945. :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Oh How cute, I got to see the chick owl's eyes! LOL!

[sweetliberty]

I was watching it for awhile last night and it looked like one of them was hamming for the camera. They are really neat to watch.

[MamaTexan]

Thanks for the heads up on the Hummer issue!

The owl cam is pretty neat.... but my pokey dial-up connection makes them look like little birdie robots!

LOL!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Thought I'd post a few pictures of my garden as it is growing.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Previewing would have helped, sorry.

Becky

[malakhi]

Looking nice! :o)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Anyone know how to keep wasps away from a hummer feeder? I've got wasps, and actually have seen them chase my hummers away.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I finally got a picture of one this year:)

Becky

[Quester]

Looks nice, Becky.

... and ... I really wasn't gonna say anything about the triplicate. ;^)

[MamaTexan]

Nice picture! Hummingbirds are such neat critters!

Wasps and bees were SO bad around my feeders! I finally got the type of feeders with the bee guard on it, like this one -

Make sure you check for the perches (if you want them).

The older one I got came with the perches, but the new one I bought recently DOESN'T.

Personally, I think the little beasties deserve a place to rest :)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I didn't realize they made wasp guard feeders. I'll look for them. Thanks:)

Becky

[rahbert]

We have birdfeeders in Santa Fe and had a problem
with salmonella spreading among the birds during the
wet spring.

Many dead pine siskins... we were told that the fallen
seeds and husks need to be cleaned up to prevent this.

A whole class of dependent birds, but they are pleasant
see and hear (as well as entertaining for the cats to
watch through the windows).

[sweetliberty]

Looking good. Be interesting to see before and after pictures at the end of the summer.

[sweetliberty]

"Anyone know how to keep wasps away from a hummer feeder?"

Check here. I have 2 of the kind of feeders that they recommend and I love them. They are so much easier to clean. And what's more, the hummers love them.

[sweetliberty]

Good picture.

[sweetliberty]

I guess I should have been more specific. Looks like there's quite a bit of information on that link. If you click where it says "bees" there is a section that talks about dealing with bees and wasps and the best feeders to use to avoid attracting them.