AB gave me a fancy feeder when we moved in here, but the birds ate all the seed pretty quickly -- and I didn't have time to even watch them do it. So today, I set it all up, turned on the camera, and took some time to enjoy. Here are the fruits of my labor.
I first chopped up the downed branches from a recent windstorm into firewood:
It was an outdoorsy kind of day. Then I set everything up. Here's the suet feeder with suet from Baby G (another present):
The crook and bird feeder and the thistle sock on my makeshift pole:
After I'd been inside for a while, the birds got brave and started dive-bombing the feeder:
I had at least three different White-breasted Nuthatches
at least four or five Tufted Titmice
even Mrs. Cardinal made a brief appearance!Here was a thrill: an American Tree Sparrow showing off his hatpin spot:
And one brave nuthatch even scoped out the suet, though he didn't eat any:
No one touched the thistle sock either, but I'm hopeful. I also had some birds who weren't quite brave enough to approach the window feeders:
This Dark-eyed Junco practically pulled a Woody Harrelson and beat me up for taking his picture.I also had a picture of a beautiful male Northern Cardinal who came as close as the rocks at the back of the yard but no closer -- however, my camera seems to have eaten that photo. Hmmm....
Here's the whole backyard, starting with the window feeder set-up:
The rocks in the back right corner, where I've placed some corncobs to keep the squirrels busy and away from my feeders:
The creek that runs behind the house:
to left, behind the rocks
the center
the sunset side with the little footbridgeIt's a pretty nice backyard, though it's a little small -- the septic and drain field kinda dominate. As a result, I've been researching the growing of vegetables in containers. Come spring, I'll have tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, herbs, and squash -- all grown in containers! More on that to come -- as soon as it warms up.
6 comments:
Nice to see your new backyard! I hope you get lots of birds there.
5 of us are setting up camp next week. Right by the creek. Won't be a bother, not at all.
Hmm, looks like an interior flood and collapsing ceiling were really good things after all... What a great yard! (You have a creek!!! ::green with envy::)
The worst thing about container gardening is the cost of decent containers... The rest is pretty straightforward stuff. Looking forward to seeing how your garden grows!
John--nothing exciting yet, but someone in my area had a Common Redpoll at her feeders, so I'm hopeful!
Rabbits' Guy--the creek has swollen over its banks in light of our huge snowmelt! Wear something waterproof!
Wren--who'd have thought that being forced to move would be a good thing? We lucked out with this place. I have been looking at some non-traditional containers like storage bins, buckets, etc -- stuff I have around the house. AB got me a great book on container gardening, and it contains a lot of info on making your own self-watering containers out of storage bins and other cheaper stuff. So far the hardest thing is finding time to go get some good compost and stuff.
That's like...a REAL yard!
Your makeshift pole made me laugh. It reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
And your tree sparrow looks like he is levitating over the snow.
:)
Word verification: coingra
(When you can't get your money up?)
And to add to your resource list, I've always found the folks at GardenWeb to be ridiculously experienced and very friendly:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/contain/
Cheap containers can always be hidden creatively inside other things, too... Crafting and gardening all in one package--yum!
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