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Archive for the ‘Backyard Birds’ Category

Here is an easy recipe that makes a large number (20-30) of homemade bird suet cakes.

In a large pot, melt 2 lbs of lard and a large jar of crunchy peanut butter together.  Pour into a large container, (I use a bucket) mix in 5 lbs of cornmeal, add 4 pounds of birdseed   Mix well and refrigerate or freeze after making up the cakes.

To attract Bluebirds, try adding oatmeal instead of the cornmeal, chopped nuts and raisins to the cake mix.

I save and reuse the “cake pans” from commercial suet cakes but you can also use a 9″ x 13″ cake pan and cut into size. Line the cake pan with wax paper to make removing the cut cakes easier.  Place the cut pieces into sandwich baggies and freeze until you are ready to use.

You could also roll into balls and insert a Christmas ornament hook for hanging or just  serve the balls at the ground feeder.

To keep the squirrels at bay, sprinkle a little hot sauce on the cut cakes.  The birds won’t taste it but the squirrels will and they won’t like it!

Bird Photography isn’t just for pro’s.  With a digital, traditional, or even a video camera and a little patience, you can shoot great bird images in your own backyard.

If you wanted to get the best bird photos you could:

1. Spend thousands of dollars on photography equipment.
2. Travel to expensive faraway places.
3. Wade through muddy swamps, fight off mosquitoes, and sweat profusely in the humidity to get that “perfect shot”.
4. Check your own backyard

If you like option “D”, they’re going to love my six step plan for snapping great bird photos.  This method has given me professional quality photographs for relatively little money and work.  All it takes is a little practice and patience.  Chances are, you already have plenty of interesting backyard birds in your area, such as Cardinals, Blue Jays, Black Capped Chickadees, Purple Finches, Song Sparrows, Dark Eyed Juncos, Spotted Towhees and more.  So keep reading, and soon you’ll be able to capture a bird photo you’ll be just as proud of as the pros.  And the best part is you don’t even have to leave your backyard!

Step 1.  Put Up a Bird Feeder

Put up a bird feeder.  Almost any kind will due as long as the birds can get the food.  My personal favorite for this activity is a platform feeder.  Although it doesn’t have a lot of pizzazz, it does the trick.  (its’ basically a plane horizontal stand with low walls on the sides to contain the seed).  You can place this type of feeder anywhere, fill it with any kind of seed and use it to attract any type of bird.

Step 2.  Fill the Feeder with Seed

Fill the feeder with tempting food.  There are many kinds of birdseed, and some are better than others.  I prefer Black Oil sunflower seeds because it tends to attract the most birds.  You could also try Millet for sparrows, peanuts to attract Blue Jays, and thistle for finches.  Try a few different offerings in advance to see what kind of birds you will attract.

Step 3.  Location, Location, Location

Put your feeding station in a good location for photography.  If you don’t have a perfect place, don’t panic.  Find the best spot you can, giving highest priority to areas with good light.  As a general rule, try to follow these guidelines.

• Your best bet is to find a spot that gets early morning sun, which will give you a nice lighting.

• Place the feeder near cover, such as bush’s, trees and other objects so the birds have a spot to perch and the background in the photo looks natural.

• It’s important NOT to put the feeder in the shade.  This will cast shadows on the birds that will show up in your photos.

• Position the feeder near a window, so you can easily capture the moments from inside your home.

Step 4.  Providing a Perch

Place perches strategically around the feeder.  To get nice, clean shots of birds in their natural environment, you’ll probably have to “create” perches.  Birds like to land on branches near a feeder before eating to make sure the coast is clear.  You might want to experiment a little to see which perch works best and where, but I like a plain dead branch stuck into the ground near the feeder.  It’s sturdy, doesn’t wilt and it isn’t complicated.

Mix it up, though.  You don’t want all of your photos to look the same, so give your feathered friends plenty of perches to choose from.

Step 5.  Go Into Hiding

Find a cover for yourself.  You can devise many ways to hide yourself 10 to 15 feet away from your birds.  This distance should be perfect for shooting your photos.  However, depending on your camera, you can move in a little closer if you don’t have the ability to zoom in.

If you have somewhere inside the house that you can shoot your photos from an open window that’s close to your feeder, that’s perfect.  If not, consider putting up a tent in your yard and shoot from inside the tent.  Another option is to build a temporary cover in your yard.  Hang a camouflage tarp over a couple of metal posts stuck in the ground, this too works wonderfully.

Make sure you’re comfortable, though.  Finding the perfect shot takes patience.  If you have a long wait, you’ll want a chair to sit in to keep from getting cramped.

Step 6.  Check Your Equipment.

Use basic, reliable camera equipment.  You can spend a lot of money on fancy cameras and lenses, but they are not necessary.  The three main things you need are a basic lens, a tripod, and a flash.  The tripod will help you keep the camera still and pointed in the right direction while the flash can help lighten a dark picture and put a glint in the bird’s eye.  Pre-focus your camera where you think the birds are crowing to land.  Some birds stay for a only an instant, so you’ll need to snap the picture quickly.

One final tip.

Video Bird photography can also be accomplished with the same idea in mind.  Bird videos you make yourself will bring you hours of enjoyment watching your backyard birds from the comfort of your own living room. While you are away at work or if you don’t have time to watch your backyard birds in person, this is the perfect solution!  Two Bird Cams are available from my store and I’ve provided two short videos so you can see what you can expect from each.

Hawk Eye Nature Cam

Hawk Eye Nature Cam shoots black and white infrared images at night and color video by day.  You can attach it to a tree, a feeder, or inside of a bird house and see your backyard birds like you have never seen them before.  Video credit to YouTube’s Wildman50.

You can get the Hawk Eye Nature Cam by clicking here

The Audubon Birdcam

Audubon Birdcam is a better quality camera (but also more expensive) however, as you will see it records images are clearer.  This is the obvious solution for serious minded bird watchers.

Here is a video from Wingscapes showing you what you can expect from the Audubon Birdcam:

You can get the Audubon Birdcam by clicking here.

Have fun and enjoy your bird photography!

I’m hearing that parts of the country are already getting snow not measured in inches but in feet!  When I hear this, my mind wanders back to the days that I lived in Western NY and I remember how beautiful it was but also what a pain the neck it was!  I also remember that it was the time I worried most about “my” backyard birds.  I felt like they’d never survive without my feeding and providing shelter for them.  That of course is nonsense as mother nature provides everything birds need to survive the winter.  My providing for  them just helps ME to be able to enjoy their presence year round.   You almost can’t beat the simple beauty of seeing a red Cardinal or a Blue Jay in a snow covered backyard.  It’s simply spectacular!  If you want to see birds in your backyard during winter, just provide for their 3 basic needs.  Food, Water, and Shelter.  It’s that simple.

This brings me to the months issue of Birds and Blooms magazine.  Anyone who knows me know that I love this  magazine!  This months issue was so full of craft ideas and beautiful winter wonderland photographs that I just couldn’t put it down!  I wish I had a copy to give to every one of you!  I found so many ideas this month I couldn’t help myself but to share it with you.

This month on their website they are sharing how to make birdseed ornaments with just a few ingredients and some cookie cutters.  Another idea and a very inexpensive way to feed your feathered friends that they mentioned was to attach dried corn cobs to tree limbs.  This will be especially attractive to Blue Jays!  When the corn is gone you can spread peanut butter on the cob and roll it in birdseed for an extra treat.  (a very inexpensive way to feed.)  Whether you are a subscriber or not, their website is a really great resource for anyone who loves gardening or birding and I highly recommend that you visit the site here.

With a few simple tasks you can enjoy year round birds in your backyard.

Happy Winter birding!

I recently met the most wonderful woman.  She called me about a Hummingbird item listed in my store and we ended up talking for a half hour.  It was such a pleasure talking to you Ms. Wrene, I enjoyed every minute of it!

Ms. Wrene is just beginning her journey into the joys of learning everything that she can about Hummingbirds.  She wants to know how to attract hummingbirds, how to identify them, what she needs to do to keep them coming, and she is looking forward to watching the hummers she attracts.  She, like all Hummingbird lovers, is excited!

Although it is late in the season and the hummingbirds are well on . their migration south from the northern parts of the U.S. and Canada, I was so inspired by my conversation with Ms. Wrene that I thought it would be nice to answer her questions by providing some links for her, and all the others who are just discovering the love of hummingbirds out there, here on the blog.  Ms. Wrene is looking for information on hummingbirds in an effort to be prepared for next season and I know that she is not alone.  I receive more mail and telephone calls about hummingbirds than any other subject.  In this way, it is my hope that others looking for the same information will find it and learn from it as well.

Since the hummingbirds have began their migration, I thought I might end the season by giving you some resources for finding out everything that you can about hummingbirds to be prepared for next year.  But before you take down your hummingbird feeders, make sure to read this.

The first place you can look for information is right here on this blog and at my store.  At this link Garden Decorative Items-Hummingbirds you will find lots of hummingbird facts, as well as see some hummingbird feeders, supplies, gifts, and decorative items in the hummingbird theme.  Sign up for our newsletter to receive notice when we update or add information and products to this category.

There are ideas and tips for all kinds of gardening topics, birds, flowers, and other things on my blog and here are a couple that involve hummingbird topics to give you an idea of the kinds of things I enjoy writing about on the blog: How to attract Hummingbirds and keeping your hummingbird feeders clean are two articles about hummingbirds on the blog right now.

Sign up to receive updates and every time I update my blog It’s NOT just about the Garden Decorative Items I will send you a notice.

Here are some of my favorite posts from Birds & Blooms Magazine.

Top 10 plants for attracting Butterflies to your garden

All about Hummingbirds

Top 10 plants for attracting hummingbirds to your yard

You can subscribe to Birds & Blooms Magazine and save 52% off the cover price PLUS get a FREE  bonus “Attracting Hummngbirds” right here.  I love this magazine!  I look forward to each and every issue.

The Hummingbird Society is another vast source of information.  You can find the Hummingbird Society website here.  It’s filled with wonderful information and beautiful photographs!  They have a very good newsletter as well.

Finally, enjoy the video below by Birdman Mel on attracting hummingbirds.  He is one of my favorite people.

Happy Hummingbird Watching!

We are always looking for tips to help our readers make their work easier and we were please to come across the following garden tip for keeping hummingbird feeders clean.

It’s not easy cleaning hummingbird feeders and it is extremely important to do so!  Hummingbirds won’t return to dirty feeders or stale hummingbird nectar, and as a new subscriber to Garden Gate Magazine, http://www.gardengatemagazine.com I found this tip from reader Rose O’ Mahony of North Carolina.This will work on all hummingbird feeders and works especially well if mold takes a foothold in your hummingbird feeder.

Rose knew how important it was to keep feeders clean so she came up with a technique to make quick work of cleaning the feeders.

“After dumping any remaining nectar, she sprays a couple of squirts of a bleach cleaning solution from the store into the feeder to kill the mold.  Then she adds a tablespoon of uncooked rice (not the instant kind), replace the cover and shakes the feeder.  The rice works as an abrasive to dislodge the mold.  Once the feeder is clean, she throws the contents out and rinses it thoroughly with water.  If you are concerned that your cleaning solution is too strong for this, use the recipe recommended by the Hummingbird Society http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org of 1 tablespoon of unscented bleach to 1 quart of water.  A clean feeder will keep your hummers happy and healthy.”

To Keeping it Clean!

Tree Swallow

Elegance and grace define the Tree Swallow.  With an iridescent coat of metallic blue-green, and underparts and cheeks of pearly white, it’s hard to find a more elegant looking bird.  Grace comes naturally to this lovely swallow as it glides along with its distinctive, swooping flight.

Left on their own, this bird nests in tree cavities and prefers a habitat near forests, hence it’s name.

Listen for single chit or cheet notes.  Durning breeding season, these birds also create a song out of happy, twittering notes.

They are great at hunting mosquitoes and other airborne pests around your garden making them an attractive bird to attract to your yard.  Build or buy nest boxes and attach them to trees in the back part of your yard away from where there is activity.  Optimum opening size is 1 1/2″.  Bluebird-style houses work just fine.  Expect Tree Swallows to dive and swoop at you if you get too close to their nesting territory.

Unlike other species of swallows, the Tree Swallow eats berries and seeds as a part of their regular diet.  Bayberry, dogwood, red cedar, Virginia creeper, and other berries and seeds comprise about 30 percent of their diet.

New Item.  Protect your hummingbirds with this transparent hummer hat that fits over your feeder providing shelter from sun and rain for the hummingbirds while offering you the ability to watch these wonderful little birds.  Keeps the squirrels at bay as well!

Hummer Hat, Red. The best baffle made! Stops squirrels, increases bird activity. Easy to hang, hardware included. Keeps pigeons from roosting. Protects hanging feeders and houses. 17 in clear red dome never blocks view. Shelters feeder from rain and snow. 100% recycled plexiglas construction. Lifetime warranty. Red coloring attracts hummingbirds.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird

In the United States, you can find over 16 kinds of Hummingbirds.  For people east of the Rockies, the most prevalent by far is the Roby-Throated Hummingbird.  In fact, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is the most widely distributed of the world’s 338 species of Hummingbirds, all of which occur ONLY in the Western Hemisphere.

The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is often found between woodland and meadow.  However, it has adapted well to human development but only if there is shelter, space and food.  Thus, it is frequently seen in suburban backyards with mature trees and shrubs, in wooded parks, and around farmsteads.

The Keys to Attracting Hummingbirds are to provide food, Help for nesting, and misters (water) for them to fly through. Hummingbirds are extremely loyal to feeding sites.  A hummingbird that feeds in your yard one year will return to that feeder the next.  If you aren’t attracting as many hummers as you want, read on…

As the male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is so territorial, on key is to offer losts of feeders.  We have several different feeders available for every garden decor.  No matter what kind of feeders you decide to use, remember two golden rules: Keep the feeder clean and the nectar fresh.  Fermented nectar can support the growth of deadly molds.  If a hummingbird gets a taste of fermented nectar from your feeder, it will look elsewhere for a drink and remain suspicious of the offending feeder for a long time.  Fermented nectar to hummingbirds is like drinking alcohol to humans.  Hummingbirds understand that they need a clear head for their acrobatic flying.

• Plant open throated red flowers.

• Tie a big red bow to trees and branches in your yard near feeders.  Hummingbirds have keen vision and are attracted to red.

• Provide Nesting material.

• Keep Feeders Clean!  We recommend the Brush kits below.

• Offer lots of feeders protected from ants.  Keep ants away from your feeders by using “Nectar Guard Tips” or hang a “Nectar Protector Ant Moat” above your feeder and fill it with water. (Ants can’t swim)  Recommended Feeders are listed below in the shop.

• Keep Bees and wasps away from your feeders by using a flat top feeder where the nectar is not at the feeding port.  Hummers can reach but the bees can not.

Nesting

A hummingbird nest is not much bigger than a quarter, and often it contains just 2-3 eggs no bigger than small peas.  it’s typically hard to see, as it blends in well to the tree branch it’s attached to, and is made of fine animal or plant down and moss or lichens.

Hummingbirds have been proven to really take to a product called “Hummer Helper Nesting Material, which provides a natural replacement for some hard to find materials.  This item is sold in a convenient holder in the hummingbird section below.

Water

Hummingbirds, like many birds, need and are attracted to water.  One of the best ways to attract hummingbirds is with a “mister” taht emits a fine spray.

Hummingbird Facts

• Hummingbirds beat their wings about 78 times per second.  During a display dive, their wings can beat up to 200 times per second.
• Hummingbirds take about 250 breaths per minute
• Hummingbirds like all other birds, have no sense of smell.
• They have about 1,500 feathers.
• Average Length: 3 1/2 inches
• Average weight: 1/8 oz
• They consume half of their body weight in food every day.  That would be like an average child eating about 40-50 pounds of food a day!
• During migration, they must fly 500 miles nonstop over the Gulf of Mexico to reach their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.  To make the trip, they must eat enough so they weigh 1 1/2 times their usual weight.
• They can fly at speeds of 60 miles per hour and can fly forwards, backwards, up, down, sideways, and even upside down briefly, but they can’t walk.  Avg speed is 30 miles per hour.
• The average life span is 3-5 years.  Maximum 12 years.
• Diet: Nectar and small insects such as gnats, ants, and flies.

More information is available in some of the books that are available in our shop below.

Artificial Nectar Recipe

• One part ordinary white cane sugar to four parts water.
• Boiling the water for several minutes before measuring can retard spoilage in the feeder by a day or two; if you measure first, some will boil away and mess up the proportions.  Stir in the sugar while the water is still hot.  let cool before filling the feeder.
• Store unused nectar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
• This mixture approximates the average sucrose content (about 21%) of the flowers favored by North American Hummingbirds.

Our hope is that you will find this information helpful in your ability to attract these wonderful little birds.  Hummingbirds will bring you many hours of pure enjoyment!

P.S. To browse our page of hummingbird supplies visit our store hummingbird feeders and supplies.