Tag: suet feeder

Quick Tip – Tips on Thursday/Garden Repellent

On By TimelessladyIn Quick Tip7 Comments

This ladybug suet feeder never quite worked out as I hoped, with no easy perch for landing it was shunned by the birds. Instead of throwing it away, I filled the suet feeder with strands of cat hair, courtesy of the fur my cats shed when I brush them each day. The suet feeder seems to be doing the trick so far. I’ve also sprinkled a few red pepper flakes among the newly planted seedlings and this seems to be helping too. If you don’t have cats you can use smashed garlic cloves, onions, citrus essential oils as repellents.

Filling a suet holder with cat hair definitely makes this photo worthy of Cee’s Oddball Challenge.

Pheathers – Catbird Antics

On By TimelessladyIn QuirkinessLeave a comment

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I’m partial to catbirds and mockingbirds. I love the way they can sing the song of many other birds. Mockingbirds tend to sit on the highest of trees in my neighborhood. From the top of their world they serenade me with amazing tunes. The catbird has quite a melodic voice too, but what I love best about a certain catbird who visits my yard is his/her ingenuity.

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My catbird has discovered the suet cage I have hanging on a shepherd’s hook in my herb garden. The suet feeder is made for smaller birds, or woodpecker/flicker types that can cling to the bottom and peck out suet from that vantage point. The cage will not allow larger birds or squirrels to get to the treat. The catbird is able to glean a few nibbles from what falls to the ground, but it does not satisfy him, instead it incites him to want, “more, More, MORE!”

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“What’s a catbird to do?” Why learn to hover like a hummingbird of course. This past week I stood at my back window and watched in amazement as this brilliant birdie beat his wings so fast he managed to hover beneath the feeder long enough to grab snippets of suet.

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I had to laugh when he peeked around the side and glared at me as if to say, “Humph, I guess I showed you.” I love my catbirds!

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The Catbird’s Song

Public Video Courtesy of: YouTube – Donna L. Watkins

Pheathers – The Flicker

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers13 Comments

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Photo Courtesy of: Flickr Photos and Shared through Creative Commons by Kenneth Cole Schneider

A bird exactly like the one in the photograph above visited my yard in the past week or two. I was thrilled when I first spotted him, and became even more enthralled when he whimsically jumped aboard my old-fashioned swing. He hopped around the yard a few minutes and then took to wing.

I immediately went to the computer and typed all his characteristic markings into Google. Larger sized bird, purple/black crescent on chest, spots, and a red stripe on head. I searched through images that came up and soon identified my “pheathered” visitor as a Flicker.

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I have had a large variety of birds in my yard this year. I think it is due in part to this new/old suet feeder my father gave to me. It is protected from marauding squirrels by an outer cage, and seems to have drawn many more woodpeckers, flickers and other nuthatch type birds to the yard.

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I have two small bird baths, but this large-sized bath in the back garden is a popular place. I can look out all through the day and see birds drinking and bathing. I’m having a good time bird-watching this summer.

Here’s an addition to this post that I am re-printing here from the comment section. Thanks James!

IDEA:

“I took a plastic birdbath & drilled 2 small holes in it….1 in the base, & 1 in the dish.

I then took 2 couplers*(I think that’s what they are called) & inserted them in the holes(there are nuts & washers on both ends to tighten against the plastic).

I then used a small rubber type hose, to run from the base to the dish…secured each end of the hose with a adjustable hose clamp.

On the base, I added a converter so that I could hook up a garden hose to the bird bath.

On the piece that protrudes from the dish, I found(at a garden store) nozzle that clamps onto that piece….

now in the summer, when the birds need it most, they have a constant “shower” in which to bathe….and I get the honor of watching them as they do..

footnote:
where the couplers go through the plastic, I added a clear silicone sealant to keep out the weather & to keep in the gravel that I added to the base for ballast weight.
With this extra weight in the bottom, the bird bath is not so apt to get blown over during storms.
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This DIY project may seem complicated to some, but it really isn’t hard at all, and it doesn’t take a lot of time once you get everything you need. & it’s cheap too!
I had most of what I needed, so it didn’t cost much…I think I spent $4 or $5 on the whole thing…but like I said, I had most of what I needed already.

I’m thinking about $10 for everything but the bird bath….maybe less.

*the couplers I speak of are hollow threaded tubes with a washer & a nut on both ends. these are made of steel, brass, or stainless steel.

stainless steel…….most expensive type, but the best quality
steel………………….moderately priced but cheapest quality
brass…………………cheapest cost but 2nd best quality “