Unique Birdhouse Boutique

Forget the old, cumbersome concrete baths of yesterday! They tend to crack over time, they’re harder to clean, and they weigh a ton!

Today, bird baths can be works of art for your yard. Unique yard decor in vibrant colors and durable materials, that hold up well and are much easier to clean. Plus they’re the absolute best bird attractors.

More than pretty yard pieces, bird baths are the best way to attract more songbirds. Many who don’t bother with houses or feeders will visit bird baths. In fact, a fresh water source is the number one way to attract birds. The key is in keeping the water fresh for feathered friends. Every few days should be sufficient for cleanings.

Whether a pedestal, hanging, or deck-mounted bath, pick one that you know will be easy to maintain, as it will benefit birds and your viewing experience. Another factor is knowing if you’ll need a bird bath heater during cold months, as a bird’s need for fresh water is not seasonal…it’s year-round.

Take the beauty of vibrant stained glass, with hand-hammered copper, add one artist’s unique eye and their skills… create one gorgeous glass bird feeder.

This hand crafted, hopper style bird feeder holds about three pounds of any seed mix and about five pounds of nyjer or thistle seed. The stained glass comes in five lovely hues, and is guaranteed against fading.

On some occasions, the artist will custom make these glass bird feeders using two different glass colors. If you’ve ever got a gift dilemma for anyone who is slightly inclined toward nature, their backyard or wild birds, this makes one awesome gift! Something to be used and enjoyed daily, lasts a lifetime, and gives back to mother nature.

When one thinks of a hopper bird feeder, the image is usually that of wood. Maybe a nice cedar, that lasts until pesky squirrels start to chew it up. New bird feeders come in great materials that are meant to last for many years of use and enjoyment. Not to mention really fun, high style designs.

This hopper bird feeder is appropriately called the “Solstice”. With it’s fantastic celestial theme, it’s totally functional, holding about 5 quarts of seed. The satin finish metal roof and trim are actually better than wood because they are not porous. This type of feeder is less likely to aid in the spread of germs and mold among the bird population feeding in the yard. Cleaning is much easier too as opposed to wood.

Keep this one thought in mind for your next feeder purchase…non-porous materials are actually healthier for your birds.

How do you improve on a hopper bird feeder?

Add a tray of course, as this has numerous benefits. Then construct it from poly-lumber. Recycled plastics that last a lifetime and come guaranteed to never crack, split or fade. Now you’re talking!

Hopper bird feeders are known for attracting many species, and for they’re large capacity reservoirs. But some birds simply will not perch at a feeder. By adding the tray, there’s ample room for multiple species to feed at once. You’ve got a better chance at seeing more kinds of birds. The tray also serves as a built-in seed catcher, eliminating the wasted mess on the ground. This provides a healthier environment for all birds in your yard. This hopper is available in durable cedar or recycled plastics, both are guaranteed to attract more feathered friends. Add some nesting materials and a fresh water source to entice even more birds to stick around your yard.

Washington, DC (March 3, 2010) – Today, as the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hears testimony from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, In Defense of Animals (IDA) and thousands of taxpayers call on Senators to deny the tax-wasting proposed budget submitted by the Department of Interior (DOI) for its Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse & Burro Program.

At 10 a.m. (Energy Committee Hearing Room – SD-366) DOI Secretary Salazar is scheduled to testify and justify his budget which includes doubling the appropriations for the Wild Horse & Burro Program from 2010. In addition to an operational budget increase of $12 million, Secretary Salazar is seeking an additional $42.5 million to purchase private land to act as a holding facility for wild horses removed from already owned public lands.

Last year, Secretary Salazar acknowledged that current BLM practices – including its so-called “management” of wild horses and burros by rounding up and removing them from their natural Western ranges – as “unsustainable” yet to date no changes have been implemented.  Secretary Salazar talks about change – but has done nothing to change the agency’s broken, never-ending cycle of rounding up wild horses and stockpiling them in taxpayer-funded holding facilities.

IDA maintains that allocating additional funds to this poorly managed program without serious requirements for reform would be fiscally irresponsible. In FY 2010, Congress increased the BLM’s wild horse management budget by 30 percent. At that time, the Senate Appropriations Committee noted that the current program was unsustainable and directed the agency to change course.

“Instead of implementing humane and cost-effective on-the-range management approaches, the BLM instead used the additional funds obtained last year to continue business as usual, rounding up even more horses, with 12,000 targeted for removal from the West this year alone,” said William J. Spriggs, lead counsel on the pending wild horse lawsuit against DOI and BLM filed by the international law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney on behalf of IDA, renowned ecologist Craig Downer and popular children’s author Terri Farley.  “Now the Secretary is asking for more money for this ill-conceived program and he plans to incur even more costs to taxpayers for his proposed ‘preserve’ in the Midwest or East that is not only fiscally irresponsible but will harm the horses it purports to help.”

“The use of tax dollars to purchase private lands in the Midwest or East to house horses taken from public lands in the West makes no fiscal sense,” said Eric Kleiman, Research Director, In Defense of Animals. “Since privately owned livestock are allocated a far greater share of BLM lands than wild horses, why not let ranchers graze their cattle on private lands in the Midwest and free up publicly-owned resources for wild horses to remain on their natural Western ranges?”

Recently the BLM concluded the largest roundup of wild horses in recent years capturing 1,922 horses in the Calico Mountain Complex in northwestern Nevada; the roundup has to date killed more than 68 horses and caused more than 35 heavily pregnant mares to spontaneous abort.  That roundup proceeded despite a December 23, 2009 ruling by federal court Judge Paul Friedman in the lawsuit filed by Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney questioning the legality of the BLM’s long-term holding facilities and suggesting that the BLM postpone the Calico roundup.

Wild horses comprise a minute fraction (0.5 percent) of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by cattle at least 200 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 256 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres this land, which must be shared with cattle.

All the feeders in the yard are extremely crowded during this weird cold snap. Platform, peanut, thistle and tube birdfeeders are kept filled constantly for chickadees, finches, jays, cardinals and others. Robins scavenging for earthworms and offered dried mealworms, fruit, bread and peanut butter to stay warm. Three heated bird baths also entice the crowds to stick around.

The biggy though, has got to be the suet feeders. EVERYONE is eating suet for the extra calories to stay warm. A friend snapped this photo of a two grackles fighting over suet. Even bluebirds with their live mealworms are going after suet. So, until spring finally hits and it begins to warm up, I’ll keep the suet coming for feathered friends.

72 Hours for Clean American Energy!
Please Call Your Senators Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday

Rising sea levels. Stronger storms. Melting ice caps. Less wildlife.
Birds shifting their ranges–if they can.
This doesn’t have to be our future–or our legacy.

With leadership from the Senate, we can change our future. Please call your Senators today.

Join with dozens of organizations and millions of Americans calling on the U.S. Senate to pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation this year.

Here is how you can call your Senators in three easy steps.

1. Call 877-9REPOWER (877-973-7693). You will be prompted to enter your zip code.  A message will remind you to give your name, your address and your message. Then it will connect you with your Senator’s office.  In most cases, it will connect you to the Senate office where phone calls are most important.**

2. Give your name and hometown to whomever answers the phone.

3. Let them know you want Senator ______ to support comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation NOW.

That’s it!  You’re done.  Answering the next few questions is important too, and will let us know how many calls we were able to generate.

Here are some additional talking points if you care to use them.

• We are sending $1 billion a day overseas for foreign oil. This is money that could be better spent creating jobs and clean energy here at home. (Center for American Progress, Securing America’s Future, August 2009)
• Americans need jobs and moving to a clean energy economy will help create millions of jobs and jump start our economy.
• Our dependance on foreign oil puts our country at risk and our military forces in harms way. The Pentagon sees climate change as a security threat (New York Times, August 8, 2009).
• The time for stalling is over and I instead look to the Senate for leadership. It is vital to our children and their future.

THANK YOU!  Your efforts will make this 72 hours of action a huge success!

** If you wish to call your other senate office, you can do so through the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121.

A friend sent this great photo last week of a small Blue Jay at their tube birdfeeder. First I thought “what a great photo” then started thinking about some oddities in my own yard. You just don’t usually see a Blue Jay at a  tube birdfeeder? This crazy, cold weather has most birds eating just about anything to stay warm! Almost every bird is eating suet right now, and my bluebirds are eating peanuts too.

Yesterday at the park while walking the dog, the local ducks were accosting people for food! Not having anything to feed, I felt terrible and ran to the hardware store for a bag of cracked corn. Asking the sales lady “I wonder what else the ducks would eat, she gave me 72 hot dog rolls from store room! Asking if they’d eat the bread, I said sure…they’re pretty hungry right now, I think they’ll eat anything! Sure enough all gathered around for a feeding frenzy.

The cold weather can be on its way now…I’m ready for spring, nesting seson, and the natural order of things!

Just some great wildlife photos floating around via email. Likely contest winners, if not, definitely worth sharing!

Not just this one…I’ve lost several a wood birdhouse to the squirrels. At first, I’d find it rather upsetting to observe the damage done by the pesky critters, but have since had a change of heart on the subject. I’ve always fed squirrels (never enough if you ask them) and they need a warm place at night too.

Still wanting wood birdhouses for my feathered friends, I’ve found a solution for the new houses. Metal portal guards will now be retro-fitted on the entrances to any wood birdhouse that goes up in my yard. The squirrels can have the old ones, but with nesting season approaching these houses are strictly for the birds!