We decided to bring them a new bird feeder to put in their newly decorated garden. The kids picked out a nice tube bird feeder from gzbirdsupply.com. I suggested they pick a model with either a squirrel cage or squirrel baffle, as the squirrel population in Flagstaff is notorious for devouring all your bird seed and suet cakes.

As I said earlier, our friends have just recently remodeled their garden,  They included a new garden shed to store their supplies for working in the backyard. I had just recently purchased a wooden shed to accent and unused area of my garden. I recommended they do the same and I was looking forward to seeing the results.

So after a two hour drive and a 30 degree drop in temperature we were in Flagstaff. There was not much snow but that did not matter as neither of our kids had ever seen any snow. We took some sleds and did some sleigh riding in their backyard. This was plenty for the kids as they have no frame of reference. We are planing a trip east to the white mountains for some skiing later this year and I would guess that their standards will change after that. Our friends were very happy with the new bird feeder and we really enjoyed spending time in their new garden.

After a nice leisure lunch in town we were off for our drive back to Phoenix. It was a good trip and some good exposure to truly cold temperatures. The kind of temperatures my wife from Illinois and me from New York are both used to!

Scientists in England have been watching the behavior of the European blackcap. Whether you subscribe to the theory of evolution or not, they have found that there have been physical changes to this species of birds. They have traced these changes back to the birds becoming reliant on bird feeders placed in the gardens of England. The placement of these bird feeders has become so prolific that the many of these birds have stopped migrating to warmer climates in the winter months. They claim that the birds have developed adaptations to better harvest food from the many carefully placed bird feeders around the urban and country gardens of England. Who would have thought that tube bird feeders or suet bird feeders in your backyard you are helping to change the world as we know it.

We have seen similar events her in the United States. East of the Rocky Mountains, Purple Martins have become almost completely dependent on humans for providing their housing. People wanting to attract these beautiful bird to the gardens started placing specialized purple martin houses to attract and assist the bird in breading. After generations of purple martins used the subsidized housing they have become dependent. People have gotten very creative with the housing, creating large habitats using fancy gourd systems and large multi-room houses.

So, go put a simple tube bird feeder in your back yard and change the world!!!

As you will find out, the temperature is something you want to think about when considering feeding birds with a suet based feed. Suet, from what I understand, is beef or lamb fat more specifically the more dense fat from around the loins and kidneys. You can put out beef fat for the bird to eat directly. If your temperature is above seventy degrees the fat will melt and become rancid. To keep this from happening you can render the fat by heating it and straining it. Then add peanuts and bird seed to a mold and pour the hot fat into the molds and let it cool. I will write an article with more detail on producing suet cakes in the future.

I recommend purchasing suet cakes pre-made. There are many different varieties available. The many suet cake feeders that accept commercially available bird suet cakes. You can purchase bird feeders that accept both seed and suet cakes. These suet cakes will attract many types of birds. Woodpeckers are the most popular suet feeders, as well as kinglets, bluebirds (bluebirds have been know to feed their nestlings suet), cardinals, jays, thrushes, starlings, and wrens to name a few.

For the winter months suet is a high calorie food for the birds to help maintain their body temperatures as the outside gets colder. Of course birds are not the only outdoor creatures that enjoy suet based bird seed cakes. Squirrels and other rodents will enjoy eating suet for all the same reasons. Adding a squirrel baffle to the pole or chain holding your bird feeder should keep unwanted diners away. Of course the squirrels need to eat too, so you may want to add a suet cage for the squirrels!

Well I had several conversations with people from around the country on this topic since posting this article. Now as you may or may not know, I live in Arizona. We have squirrels here but just not the quantity that people have in other parts of the country. I am originally from upstate New York so I am familiar with how many squirrels can live on a acre of land. I have lived in the desert southwest for twenty years so I guess I forgot.

I have since done some looking into what is involved with squirrel proofing your bird feeder.

So if left unprotected the squirrels will eat all your bird seed and you will be refilling your bird feeders daily. There are many options when squirrel proofing. First you can buy a bird feeder that is already “squirrel proof”. These squirrel proof bird feeders employ different strategies to keep the rodents out of your seeds. One of these feeders is a good selection if you don’t already have a bird feeders. If you already have a bird feeder that you are happy with but it does not have one of these features built in, then you can employ a squirrel baffle.

There are several different types of baffles. The idea behind these baffles are mostly the same. Squirrels are very acrobatic but if they can’t grab onto something they can’t climb. The baffles are all smooth and do not allow the squirrel to grasp the pool or chain that the bird feeders is attached. The idea is to create a barrier that will allow birds to fly past but the squirrels cannot climb past. You can look on youtube.com to find some very funny videos that show squirrels breaching these barriers. You can use these videos as a direction on how NOT to install the baffles.

I will have other articles on squirrel baffles in future posts, as I learn more about them. But for now, remember, the squirrels need to eat too.  Also they can be very entertaining to watch. My kids love to watch them run around the garden.

The same can be said for dogs, cats and other domesticated animals. People are appalled that in some countries people kill and eat dogs and cats. Where in this country pigs, cows and chickens are brutally killed by the millions for us to consume. Pigs are intelligent animals, at least as intelligent as dogs.

Ok, now to continue in this train of thought and to rejoin the topic of the web site. For a nature lover a squirrel proof bird feeder may sound cruel. Why do we go out of our way to feed bird but also go out of our way to NOT FEED the squirrels. There are a large variety of designs implemented to keep squirrels from eating food specifically placed for birds.

There are feeders that take into consideration that squirrels are much heaver then birds so when the squirrel steps on the perch to gain access to the seeds a door closes to deny access. The squirrel buster plus is one of these feeders.

Another design surrounds the bird feed with a cage that has small enough openings that the squirrel cannot get to the food but bird can easily poke their heads in to pick at the food. This type is generally less expensive because they have no moving parts like the weight activated designs.

Another popular design does not allow access to the seed perch other then flying. This is normally done by placing a dome or baffle over the feeder. This can be fun to watch because the squirrel gets close to the bird seed then slides off.  The squirrels can be pretty persistent when trying access the seeds.

Of course with any bird feeder you want to make sure the seeds are well ventilated so they stay fresh. The seeds should be kept dry and proper drainage of any water the would get into the seeds is VERY important.  If the seeds get wet and stay wet they will start to rot in a day and start to smell very bad.

So when you set out to keep the squirrels away from your bird seed try to remember to put some food out for the poor squirrels. This won’t keep them out of your bird seed but it will make you feel better as a nature lover.

If you live in the Northwest, I would recommend this site for information on events and local birding activities. they offer information about Birding Field Trips and a loads of birding information for the area. I have been to the Twin Cities many times, but it has always been on business so have really not been able to partake in causal activities.

This place, although about 90 miles Southeast of Minneapolis, seems like a good place that one can watch birds. They have some pretty good birding photos on this page.

This seems to be a complete information site that if you go to Minnesota to watch birds, you should be satisfied.

You can also browse for books by region of the world. This is useful if you are planning a trip abroad and want to do some local bird watching. They maintain an out of print ornithology books section that can be useful when trying to find an elusive book that you may have seen in the past.

I hope this helps someone find that special book or gift for the bird watcher in their life.

The second book was about a family of rabbits. I lost count but there were more then five bunny children in this family. The eldest had many chores he was supposed to do before he would get his allowance so he could go to a movie. Well he did not focus on his chores during the week so none of them were complete and his mother would not give him his allowance until they were all finished. One of his chores was to fill the family bird feeders. As it happens the family of rabbits had two, not one but two, tube bird feeders in their back yard. This got me thinking about how birds and all thinks related to birds fill our lives more then we even notice. Now I have an interest in bird so you would image that my back yard is full of many styles of bird feeders. and of course you would be correct.

My kids new school is very bird friendly.  They have bird feeders all over the property. In the kids previous school they made bird feeders of every form and fashion. They made their own suet to put in on of the many suet bird feeders available on the market. They used peanut butter to stick bird seed on pine cones they collected from the neighborhood. One day at my house we finished a bottle of juice and instead of throwing the juice bottle away or recycling it, my kids decided that we should turn it into a bird feeder. So we did this. Our design had some flaws. All we did was cut one side away and fill it with seed and hang it from a tree. The bird would go nowhere near this thing. The first night it was out there the sprinklers filled it with water and the seed proceeded to rot. We were in the back yard trying to figure out where the horrible smell was coming from. It smelled like there was a dead animal in the bushes. Note to self, poke drain holes in the bottom.

The bottom line is that even if you are not a “bird person”, everyone is intrigued by birds in one form or another. We have been feeding them and housing for years. Most people have owned and operated a bird feeder at one point or another. And in school we all made bird feeders and could not wait to get home to hang them out on a tree and watch the bird come and eat the snack we left out for them.

One positive feature of August in Arizona is the hummingbird population is at it most diverse due to the birds migration patterns.  You can find some species of hummingbird in Arizona year round but the diversity is at is peak near the end of summer. You can take advantages of the Hummingbirds of Southeastern Arizona tour that takes place the second half of August. If you don’t want to spend the money on a tour you can try to create a habitat in your own backyard garden that will attract hummingbirds year round.

There are several things you can do to attract hummingbirds. Having native plants like ocotillio that allow for both feeding and nesting of hummers. Plants with flowers tubular shaped flowers that produce nectar is high in sucrose will work the best. The idea of having plants that are native to the area ensures that the birds are familiar with the plants and are naturally attracted to them. Having brightly colored flowers also helps.

In addition to strategic plant selection a well placed hummingbird feeder is always a good idea. There are many different styles of hummingbird feeder on the market.  It seems that this type of feeder allows for the prettiest designs of all bird feeder types. There are fancy blown glass hummingbird feeders that are very pleasing to the eye. There are hummingbird feeders made to look like a martini or margarita glass.  There are also very inexpensive feeders made of plastic some utilizing empty soda bottles. When selecting a hummingbird feeder be sure to consider where you are putting it in your garden. If it is in direct sunlight a plastic feeder may degrade quickly and a glass feeder may be a better choice. But if there is a chance that a stray football or baseball may smack into it then a less expensive plastic model may be a better choice. Be sure to select a model that is bee and wasp proof.

When filling your bird feeder be sure to use nectar with real sugar. Ether mix up a batch of your own nectar (Soon I will write a post how to do this) or purchase some instant hummingbird nectar from a nature or bird watching site. And remember, you always have room for one more hummingbird feeder in your yard.  They never disappoint.

The reactions that I have seen from the empty yard remind me of a story. The story is the one about the two shoe salesman visiting a far away land. The first salesman shows up to the first remote village in the country. The weather in the country is such that the people are able to walk around without any shoes. Dejected, the salesman calls back to the head office of the shoe company and complains, “I am heading home.  There exists not opportunity here, the population does not ware any shoes”. The second salesman shows up to the same village. After noticing the same condition as the first salesman makes the call to the company headquarters.  The second salesman excitedly reports that he needs as much inventory as they can spare “because the people are not waring any shoes!”.

So the garden is an empty slate.  The house my wife and I purchased before starting our family had a similar condition. The front was landscaped.  The back was not. There was literally nothing. It was completely empty. We had a landscape architect draw up plans and we implemented them ourselves. It is a great feeling and sense of accomplishment to do the landscaping of your garden.

I plan to help Donna design and layout the back yard garden. We are going to put in a solar bird bath in the new flower bed along the north side of the home. We will put a hanging bird bath in the existing tree in the back yard. We want to attract humming birds so we will be planting brightly color flowering plants throughout the garden. Several hummingbird feeders will be strategically placed throughout both the front and back yard.

I hope Donna takes the approach of the second salesman and is optimistic about the opportunities afforded by the blank slate that is her new garden.