Thinking outside the box

The above photo shows a robin's nest built on top of one of our backyard deck supports and right over the top of an empty wooden birdhouse.

I noticed this week that there was a lot more nesting materials lying around the birdhouse and on the ground than had been there earlier in the summer. The original nest was so flat that I didn't think it could hold eggs let alone baby birds. But the whole thing was remodeled by an enterprising mother robin and she either has eggs or baby birds in it (I can't see into it). I am guessing there might still be eggs in there because I didn't hear any chirping when I went out to take the photo, but I guess I will have to wait and see.

If I see even a hint of small heads peeking over the top of the nest, I will get out my telephoto lens and take a few quick shots, hopefully not infuriating the mother robin too much.

I have been disappointed this summer in that I haven't seen any baby birds come to my feeders when I know the birds must have hatched their eggs already and the babies are out on their own. So finding this little treasure makes me very happy.

I know robins like to build their own nests but it is kind of funny that the birdhouse is empty again this season. No little birds seem interested in making it home. I will have to move it when the baby robins are gone for the year. It is designed to be a blue bird nest, but I don't have the right locale to attract them.Too bad..

I did catch sight of a blue bird while on a nature walk the other day. Here it is, sitting pretty on top of a blue bird house that is being used!

(More) Creative Ways to Get Birds to Bathe

We still haven't had much luck (see below post) attracting birds to our shiny new bird bath. I have come up with a couple of ideas to entice them, but so far, no good.

First of all, my idea of placing a tray of seeds next to the bath didn't work at all. I was afraid to leave the seed out overnight because of the other four-legged creatures who would love nothing better than to spread seed everywhere.

We did build the brick platform I had mentioend in the last post to elevate the bird bath (see above photo) so the birds would not feel so enclosed by the deck slats when they stopped by for a drink or bath. I think we now have the bird bath at the optimum height for that, but no takers yet.

Also, I have slowly been moving the red hummingbird feeder closer to the bird bath so that the little birds will notice it (Hey! There's a bird bath right here!), but that hasn't worked either.

But there is some good news. As you can see in the photo below, some creatures do like the new deluxe accomodations! Butterflies have been landing all over the water wiggler, taking a rest. So glad we can at least offer them a perching spot.

6/25/12 -- A titmouse took a drink out of our birdbath today. Hallelujah!

Getting Creative with a Bird Bath

I received this beautiful bird bath for my birthday last month. It is pretty awesome because it allows you to plant flowers in a ring at the bottom so the entire piece can brighten up a corner of your world.

I also received a small batter-operated "water wiggler" (see photo) which keeps the water moving, making the bath more attrative to birds and less of an egg-dropping spot for mosquitoes.

So far, though, we haven't been abale to attract any birds to the bath. I placed it right next to the hummingbird feeder so that the littlest birds would see it and use it to drink and bathe. No such luck.

We also placed the entire bird bath on a small table to raise it up in the corner of the deck so birds might feel more comfortable stopping by for a drink. We plan to build a small structure in the deck corner out of some leftover bricks to set the bird bath on so it is raised.

I am also trying another Plan B, which has me hanging a tray of bird seed directly next to the bird bath to see if the birds will stop to nosh and notice the bath. A titmouse (the most curious of backyard birds I think) was checking out the seed yesterday, so I am hopeful this will work!