Ideas For Your Backyard

Spring is here and it time to start getting your backyard in shape again.  You can start by cleaning up all your flower beds and cleaning out your bird houses so the new inhabitants have a place to stay as they start coming back to your yard.

 According to Horticulture Magazine, there are good reasons why some plants bloom before others.  Early blooming trees and shrubs bloom so early that their blossoms are sometimes damaged by late freezes.  The reason this happens is that pollinators pay them special attention by blooming in advance of the spring rush.  On any day or night when the temperature is above freezing, insect and birds are out and about and spreading seeds and pollinating while they enjoy a bat free existence because the bats are still in hibernation.

Spring is coming,  whether your local ground hog saw his shadow or not spring will soon be upon us.  Are you ready for the return of all your favorite species of song birds to your backyard. If you are thinking of doing your spring cleaning and want to change your indoor decor, how about a theme based line of decorative birdhouses.

A lot of people collect lighthouses and there are several decorative birdhouses with a lighthouse theme.

What a fun way to decorate and still give a bird shelter during the holidays. Everyone’s welcome for the holidays, including your fine feathered friends!

A clever Christmas tree ornament doing double duty as a minature decorative birdhouses. Hang this ornament on your Christmas Tree.

This is a very busy time of year.  The holidays are right around the corner and we are making our plans.  As we are out and about doing our shopping don’t forget to purchase suet cakes and bird food for your decorative bird feeders.  If you have been feeding the birds through the summer you must continue during the cold weather.  These little guys have been counting on you to continue providing for their next meal.

Whether or not you choose a decorate birdhouse or a hanging wren bird house really doesn’t matter.  I don’t think the birds really care.  They’re more concerned about getting in out of the weather.  The bird houses offer them a place to rest, build a nest, or shelter them from the wind, rain, heat or cold.

Having bird houses also offer you the opportunity to learn more about the bird.  Their habits, nesting routines and rituals, mating practices, their singing etc.  This is a good pastime/hobby for you, your children and/or grandchildren.

Whether you hang birdhouses or birdfeeders or both really is just your preferences.  Birdhouses will offer shelter from the heat, cold, wind and rain, while the birdfeeders will feed them.  If your goal is to learn more about the birds that frequent your premises I would advise that you hang both.  You also might consider planting trees, bushes and a variety of plants that will specifically lure the birds in.

Swallows are really very pretty. In fact, most birds are.

Swallows are excellent fliers, and use these skills to attract a mate and to feed. Some species, like the mangrove swallow, are territorial, whereas others are not and simply defend their nesting site. In general, the males select a nest site, and then attract a female using song and flight, and (dependent on the species) guard their territory. The size of the territory varies depending on the species of swallow; in colonial-nesting species it tends to be small, but it may be much larger for solitary nesters. Outside of the breeding season some species may form large flocks, and species may also roost communally. This is thought to provide protection from predators.  For the most part swallows are insectivorous, but some will feed on fruits and other plants. Doyou have swallow bird houses?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to pilots at sea.

Lighthouses are used to mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals and reefs, and safe entries to harbors and can also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational aids.

My Lighthouse Birdhouse reminds me of my trip to the ocean.

As a young child, I was fascinated with birds.  They were small, many were really pretty, they sang beautifully, but most of all they could fly!!  How?  I couldn’t understand how they were able to stay up in the air.  (I guess for that matter, it will always be a mystery to me). 

I was given a gift of an Audobon membership.  Each month I received a book relating to birds and a workbook that I could paste stamps that came with the book in the appropriate place.  I learned so much.  Another way to learn is to add a blue bird house or a birdfeeder to your garden decor.  Your children and grandchilden will absolutely love it!

Bats are misunderstood creatures that are generally quite harmless to people. They do not become tangled in your hair, nor do they attack humans. Contrary to misconceptions, disease transmission from bats to people is easily avoided. Never handle bats and the odds of being harmed will be extremely remote.

In more than four decades, public health records indicate that only 16 people in the United States and Canada have died of bat-borne diseases… Placed in perspective, this means that the odds of anyone dying of a disease from a bat are much less than one in a million.  In contrast, in the United States alone more than 10 people die annually from dog attacks, not to mention dog- and cat-transmitted diseases. - Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle, America’s Neighborhood Bats, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1988. In contrast, several children in a million are likely to die each year from encephalitis contracted through a mosquito bite.

In the Orient these gentle animals are symbols of good luck, long life and happiness.  They are meticulous in their grooming, spending a fair part of the day and night combing and grooming their fur.

When bats fly, they navigate by means of an sophisticated echolocation system.  The bat sends out signals of sound energy, which are reflected back, giving it the location of an object as well as its texture and other characteristics.  They can avoid a single human hair with extreme accuracy, even in total darkness, giving lie to the myth that bats are blind.

If you live in the country you might want to purchas a bat house.