Archive for the ‘Hanging Bird Bath’ Category
Swinging On Ice
It is amazing how good 28 degrees felt to me today. The winds are down to next to nothing and the sun was shining brightly and it felt like a heat wave. Can’t wait until Thursday when it is supposed to go up to around 45 degrees. Yikes the bulbs will start sprouting soon if we aren’t careful- ok, I am kidding.
I simply must pass on a funny site that I will be missing when the temperatures start moderating to the above freezing points.
Our neighbors have a hanging bird bath that has been frozen solid for a few weeks now. While my heated bird bath gets a regular flow of visitors for a quick dip or drink, the hanging bird bath has completely different visitors. On a fairly regular basis I look out and see and number of birds (juncos, finches and doves) swinging back and forth on it. I have seen them roosting on wires, on tippy top branches, fences and numerous other places. Guess these guys are bored and just like the deversity of a nice swing on ice for a change.
Blowing In The Wind
Cold winds and bright sunshine were the theme of the day here is Pennsylvania. I wasn’t a great day to be outdoors for too long as the wind chill was mighty cold.
I went out early this morning and filled the platform bird feeder and filled the hanging bird bath with warm water. It doesn’t hold a huge amount of water and using warm water prevents it from freezing. About two hours later, the winds had picked up significantly, and when I looked out the hanging bird bath was blowing in the wind just as empty as could be. I had to laugh at the chickadees that were hanging on for dear life in the platform feeder and chomping away at the seeds. Go figure that out when they had any number of tube and hopper feeders to choose from instead that would have made life so much easier on them.
Taking A Lopsided Drink
Did you know that Blue Jays belong to the Corvid family of birds that includes crows, ravens, and magpies? They are considered to be the smartest of all birds because they have such large cerebrums relative to body size. They are very social birds, and when they are not nesting, many of the Corvid species live in flocks. They breed from Southern Canada to Florida and west to the Rocky Mountains.
The blue jay is larger than a robin getting to be a full 11 to 12 inches in length. Their blue back is marked with black and white and they are off-white underneath. Their prominent blue head crest is so distinguishing. They can hammer and probe and sieze and carry with their sturdy straight and sharp beak.
A large part (about 75%) of their diet is vegetable matter like acorns, beechnuts, seeds (including sunflower seeds they get from bird feeders), corn, grain, fruits and berries. The balance of their diet includes ants, caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, snails, frogs, small rodents, carrion and eggs and nestlings of other birds.
Blue jays are among the more vocal birds, making a raucous scream to attract other jays or as a call of alarm. Although primarily forest birds, blue jays have adapted to living in cities, where they nest in parks and along tree-lined streets, and feed at bird feeders.
The blue jay population in Pennsylvania is a quite healthy population. Due to their tendency to rob the nests of other species, I sometimes wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. They are a common site at my house, though I do cringe a little in the spring and summer during nesting season. As I headed out this morning to bring in the hanging bird bath that needed a good cleaning, there was a blue jay sitting on it getting a drink. The weight and size of the jay was tiping it. Wish I had had a camera. It was a pretty comical site.
On The Wings Of The 4th Of July
The upcoming celebration of Independence Day is really playing havoc with my schedule. We are expecting guests tomorrow so today was a hectic day of preparation. And yesterday was just as hectic gathering all the goodies that were prepared today.
We entertain fairly often, but not as much in the summer months as other times of year. So, that means I had to tackle the outdoors as well the inside.
The hanging bird bath needed a good cleaning, as did my concrete bird bath. Since I do that several times a week in the summer, it wasn’t all that big of a deal until I dicovered that as a result of the recent heavy rains, a couple of my tube feeders were clogged with some moist food. Moist food can become rancid quickly in the warm summer months, so those tube feeders had to be cleaned out and totally dry before I could refill them.
When you get to know me better you will begin to understand, that entertaining means making sure there is no room for error, and not a thing out of place . I made fresh nectar for the Hummingbird feeders and cleaned and filled them with the fresh clear sweet nectar. Oh yes, I also put fresh suet cakes in the suet feeders.
There’s more to be done tomorrow, but for now my feathered friends are well taken care of, and my guests will undoubtedly be entertained when they come to visit the bird feeders.
Have a happy, safe and healthy 4th of July
Protect the Innocent Creatures
You may not know this, but domestic animals like cats are often times responsible for annihilating bird species. That doesn’t mean you need to get rid of your precious kitty to indulge in a little bit of bird watching. All you need to do is get a hanging bird bath for your yard.
Hanging bird baths are great for preserving species of birds because they keep the birds out of a predator’s way. You will no longer have to worry about your pet cat attacking the birds. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of the birdies bathing in their hanging bird bath.