Birds in the Kitchen Window

 Someone used this Lowe's feeder for a great squirrel pose.
When hanging, the feeder is relatively safe from squirrel predation.

Cleaning the kitchen window led to installing a new feeder and six-foot Jackson EZ Bird Swing. Directions are linked here.

Some advantages are:

• No Venetian blinds to block the view.
• A window so clean it is almost invisible.
• A place where we are often busy and now have a constantly changing view of birds feeding.

I did not expect an immediate response, since birds are so wary of anything new. However, the Lowe's feeder is the third one hanging and the Jackson EZ Bird Swing has been enjoyed for several years.

Today, several days after the installation, the new swing and feeder were accommodating a stream of birds. As I watched, a male Cardinal, a goldfinch, and a house finch took up their stations to eat some sunflower seeds.

The design lets the birds have their own station. The shy Cardinals often take the side away from the window, but the feeder rotates slowly around to let us see all the birds.

I began photographing them today. That led to a boycott after some good photos. I will try more tomorrow and post some.

 The male Goldfinches do not have their spring livery yet,
and all bird lovers wait to spot their change
to an impossibly bright hue.

Landing and Feeding
The kitchen window does not yet afford a good landing zone, except for the swing. Some birds land directly on the feeder, but others land on the swing, which is very close to the window.

The birds peer inside at the humans and wait to get a place to feed.

When the Crepe Myrtle grows up, the birds will also land there, with room for plenty to rest, preen, and enjoy their seeds. Small birds will take a seed and land where they can open it with their beaks. Chickadees are most likely to do this.

Cardinals have large, powerful beaks, so they sit at the feeder with a droll look on their faces, and process one seed after another, ejecting the hulls.

Doves are ground feeders, but they are happy to land
on a hanging feeder.
Among the birds we see,
doves are the ones that love to bathe and eat the longest.

Recipe for the Jackson EZ Bird Swing: Six-Foot Wide Model

 Queen's Lace Crepe Myrtle is growing near the new bird feeder and swing.

The kitchen window needed some cleaning, so I took out the screen and vacuum cleaner and started. Using a special cleaner I had the glass almost invisible, so I decided install a second Jackon EZ Bird Swing. The recipe is easy for most homes.

1. Drill three holes. These make screw hooks very easy to install. Our house has three eave supports for the window. The central one is for the hanging bird feeder - closer to the window for more shelter from rain. The supports on each side are for hanging the chains.
2. Insert the screw-hooks into the three holes. 
3. At Lowe's I ordered two 30 inch chains from the incredulous clerk. "They are for the bird swing," I added, helpfully.
4. I also bought their $7 hanging bird feeder.
5. The last item, near the chains, was a six foot long rod. Naturally, the rod needs to rest inside the chain links - and it did. Tested - at the store.

The rest was easy. After putting the screw-hooks in place, I hung the chain on each side, the sunflower seed feeder in the middle.

The rod went across and rested between the chains. The extra length made the set-up stable without any electrician's tape.

Expecting no activity for a time, I checked out the arrangement from inside the house. A small bird was already on the swing.

Later a Crepe Myrtle (already planted) will grow up and serve as the reception room for the feeder. Birds love to rest nearby until they can take their turns. The swing makes it easier to see the birds at rest.

I started a discounted a White Profusion Butterfly Bush but it is so small that I figured it might be a few years to get some height out of that project. I can transplant the Butterfly Bush to a new location.

Birds Boycott Bird-Feeder, Baffling and Bewildering Bystanders, And Allaying Alliteration Anxiety

 Bad kitty wants the birds drawn by Norma Boeckler.

I made the slightest change to the bird-feeding stations. The hanging feeder was often out of sight when I was relaxing in my spacious office-bedroom-digital publishing center.

To change this, I installed two screw-hooks into the eaves and moved the Jackson EZ Bird Swing closer to the house, using one vacant hook for the hanging feeder from Lowe's, the best $10 I ever spent. This placed the most-used feeder in the line of sight for Mrs. Ichabod and me.

She approved, but the birds did not. The area, often teeming with birds and squirrels. became vacant, as if I had put a Kitty Training Center sign on the Butterfly Bush.

Birds do not trust anything new, even this slight adjustment in all the feeders - hanging, platform, Finch, and suet baskets. The configuration changed and they stayed away in droves.

Birds follow a distinctive pattern in their feeding behavior, easily noticed among flocks. The scout bird lands first and is quite tentative. If the scout spots anything new, different, or moving, he is gone.
If all is well, the others slowly join. But if a scout bird takes off from anything strange, everyone leaves at once. If doves are in the mix, there exit noise (wings and distress call) make quite a racket.

Flight from movement presented a problem for the birds when I first set up the feeders, since we create movement in the background by walking by them. But they became used to it and now feed happily as we watch from a few inches away.

 Old Buckeye could not be startled from his meals,
and used my squirrel baffle for standing on and shaking loose seeds
from the squirrel-proof birdfeeder. If he jiggled the closed gate,
he could get the seeds to drop into his ruthless, rodent mouth.

Squirrels are the most tenacious in time, reacting in stages according to their familiarity with a feeding place:

1. Pushing off as soon as anyone appears or moves.
2. Waiting until something noisy or dramatic happens.
3. Flinching and waiting a few seconds, then feeding - no matter what.

The Bella Vista squirrels were shameless, fearless, and impossible to distract from their raid of the squirrel-proof bird feeder.

I moved the hanging birdfeeder yesterday morning, and the area became quiet. Sunflower seeds filled the hanging feeder and mounded up on the platform feeder, but no creature arrived. Late in the afternoon, one squirrel sat and ate from the platform. Annoyed, I opened the window and he jumped away, not returning to the newly designated danger zone.

Today should mark a slow return to the feeders, but I am patient. Those who install a birdfeeder for the first time will wait weeks for the birds to call it a regular stop, but those birds remember and expect to be fed. Jays and Robins have called to me, from close-up, to remind me of my responsibilities, and Chickadees have made themselves known.

Birds are not dependent on us, as some warn, but we are dependent on them. They appreciate extra food in relation to the shortage at the moment. When trees and bushes are coated with ice, they are almost completely bereft of those tasty insects lodged in the bark and wintering in bushes. Leaf litter and mulch are also sources for birds and other creatures, so a variety of natural food will attract and keep a diverse selection of wildlife.

Supercold will also make birds and all creatures eager for extra food. They burn too many calories to stay alive in 20 below weather with strong winds. Then the little bits of food scorned before will be treasured by the hungry creatures. In New Ulm I saw squirrels chew kernels of corn from the ice when the weather was cold and sleet coated everything.

Creatures may seem thankless when scooping out food to get what they want most, but God does not waste anything. The food on the ground will be patiently picked up by doves and other ground feeders. I noticed Jays landing on the ground to eat corn loosened from the feeder by squirrels. The wet and gummy old birdseed from a long rainstorm will sit in piles on the ground, but sparrows will glean all the nutrition from that source and leave nothing, except sometimes a kernel of corn or a sunflower will later germinate in the soft litter around the feeder.

 Norma Boeckler's Bluebird

Our gardening birds and squirrels planted corn in the rose garden and a lone stalk was growing vigorously in the sun until I cut it down.

People are now more grateful for the Word, not that there is a drought in the land. Unbelievers and rationalists can go through the motions and use the faith-words like magic wands, but they offer nothing satisfying. A current graphic has Joel Osteen's Bible (unused) for sale on eBay, but worse yet is the hollow language used by apostate Lutherans to mislead believers.

Like sparrows, many of us are scrounging in the used market and book sales for real classics. The great books of the Reformation are scooped and pawed away by the big birds of Lutherdom. They want to be current on megachurches, multi-site, and marketing.

For almost 100 years, the Synodical Conference has growled "False Doctrine" when anything outside their UOJ circle was mentioned. Granted the Muhlenberg tradition (General Council and General Synod) could be obtuse about the Four Open Questions, but even the rock-ribbed Wisconsin Synod - a member of the General Council for a time - could have pastors who agreed with the wobbly Iowa Synod.

Wiki:
In the 1860s, the Wisconsin Synod became increasingly conservative along the Lutheran viewpoint and against the Reformed. In the synod convention of 1867, the synod joined the General Council, a group of Neolutheran synods that left the General Synod because it sought to compromise Lutheran doctrine in order to join with non-Lutheran American Protestantism. However, some pastors in the Wisconsin Synod agreed with the "open questions" position of the Iowa Synod that some doctrines could be left unresolved and good Lutherans could agree to disagree about them.^[4]

More importantly, the Synodical Conference slowly moved away from Justification by Faith, which was taught in its 1905 German Catechism - and still is in the KJV Small Catechism from CPH.

As we all know - wink wink - the Masonic Lodge remained a major force in the ELS (George Orvick's parish), in WELS (welcome lodge members kicked out of Missouri!), and the noble, haughty, holier than thou Missouri Synod. John Brug told me how his Pennsylvania parish was full of Masons, and so did a Missouri Synod circuit pastor. Orvick grew his Madison parish by taking in lodge members.

Justification by Faith - in contrast - is not an Open Question. Justification by Faith is the Chief Article of Christianity. But these seminaries -

• The Sausage Factory in Mordor, WELS,
• The Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie, ELS,
• The Surrendered Fortress - Ft. Wayne, LCMS, and
• The Pope's Own - St. Louis, LCMS -

teach Justification without Faith, Universal Absolution without Faith, and Universal Salvation without Faith.

The Synod Presidents - Mirthless Mark Schroeder, Matt the Fatt Harrison, and Pope John the Malefactor - are scared to death of actual doctrinal discussions, where laity and pastors can question and study what is going wrong among the Lutherans.

 "Happy to serve you -
as fresh mutton for the Kingdom of Satan."

The current Synodical Conference teaching is like those bottled up seeds I found in large glass jars in the closet in the CLC church in New Ulm. The living seeds had been stored so long that no birds or squirrels would touch them when dumped on the ground. The seeds were dead and moldy from being stored in the dark, dank closet and left alone, perhaps for decades. We let the bacteria, fungi, and bugs reclaim what was once a treasure.

The members and seminary students are being starved, fed the putrid seed of rationalistic Pietism, the very dogma of ELCA itself. To dress it up, the LCMS-WELS-ELS machine garnishes the moldy meal with Church Growth, Emergent Church, entertainment, and the hellish lure of popcorn and soda at the seeker services.

The pastors sit numb and mute, waiting for someone else to ask about the acceleration of decline, the burial of the Reformation while celebrating the 500th year in 2017.

Jackson Bird Paradise Shelf Shattered by Wind. Birds Ankle-Deep in Food - Angels Unaware

I looked into our rain barrels and saw 17 inches of rain in them. Even when the rain was subsiding, the mist continued into the evening.

War Eagle Creek flooded and I saw a small creek raging with brown flood waters as I passed by. The mill is in the middle of the creek and found itself isolated by the unusual weather, which followed a long stretch of warm sunny days, shirtsleeve weather in the afternoon.

The top shelf of the Jackson Bird Paradise feeder shattered in the winds, perhaps thrown against the tree. I continued to feed the birds during heavy rains, because they were around the feeders looking for more fuel to keep themselves warm.

This morning, with no water frozen in the street, the birds were in the feeders and on the swing, browsing in the gardens and hinting about breakfast. After Sassy had a great long walk, I gave the birds a generous selection of sunflower seeds and corn kernels.

Birds appreciate food most when it is hard to gather. Squirrels will take the choicest food and discard anything less than primo - until cold, ice, and rain come. Then seeds frozen to the window ledge are worth prying off, one by one.

Those satisfied by materialism will find little of use in the Gospel, bearing the cross, or trusting in the Creator for everything, especially their spiritual needs. But those who have weathered the storms find everything in the Word delightful, since they hunger and thirst for righteousness (forgiveness through faith) and treasure the Treasure offered in the Means of Grace.

The Birds Are Back - Saving Money with 50 Pounds of Corn

Norma Boeckler mentioned how many sunflower seeds her birds had eaten already. I figured correctly that our birds would be hungrier once the cold weather arrived. But this is hardly winter. We have morning frosts that melt away, supposed snow that melted on arrival - never saw it. The days are sunny and warm with  brilliant blue skies.

However, the hard frosts have killed off the insects that move, cutting back on the menu for birds. I work across the street from a seed and feed shop, where the prices are far lower than a hardware store's, with greater variety.

I will buy a bag of corn ears for when our grandchildren will stop by. It is fun to see a squirrel sitting at his chair and eating his corn. In fact, when I stopped filling them last summer, empty cobs were carefully laid out where I would see them, near the regular bird feeders, not at the foot of the tree. That made me laugh, but not hard enough to spend $7 for a bag of corn ears.

That ends up being the price of 50 pounds of corn. I wanted that for two reasons:

1. Squirrels are going to fill up on sunflower seeds if they have no corn.
2. Bluejays really enjoy corn kernals, and I like bluejays.

I was spreading around corn and getting limited attention from the birds. I bought a large bag of black oil sunflower seeds and generously spread them around the Jackson Bird Paradise and the feeders near the house. I also spread some Walmart peanut butter on a metal holder.

The sunflower seeds were ankle deep (for a bird) in the hanging platform. The sun was out and the birds arrived.

• First five goldfinches sat there eating away, very happy. A house finch joined them.
• Second, a chickadee or two landed on the platform. Some birds began to line up on the Jackson EZ Bird Swing.
• Third, a woodpecker also stopped by for food.

Last summer I found some attractive, slender stumps to plant in the Jackson Bird Spa area. The stumps provide a four-season place for feeding, since birds and squirrels feel more safe when they have a perch. They also photograph better.

Each day I put corn or sunflower seeds on the stumps. I will add peanut butter today.

That Spa expanded into the Paradise, which normally includes a large platform for feeding, several baths, and the potential for nests in the blocks holding up the clear plastic platform. I needed to move all the baths to the back half of the backyard, because all the cardboard was threatening to blow away in the wind. Now the cardboard is quite soggy, so the danger has passed.

The suet is old but still being eaten. When I get near the meat market again, I will buy a few pounds of suet to share with the birds. Suet is perhaps the cheapest food of all, because a pound goes a long way and is loved by all insect-eating birds.

Rustic Fence Has Birds Lining Up for Their Baths in the Community Pools

This is the famous Yale fence, where undergraduate men gathered."The tradition of the Fence began in 1833, when the picket fence fronting the Old Brick Row was replaced by a rail fence on which one could comfortably lean or perch. 
It soon attracted students in great numbers
for the sharing of news and idle chatter."

I was pleased to see the birds take to the rustic fence in the backyard. The cardinal was using it, even balancing on the wobbly upright branch, before we built it across the yard.

The fence consists of the dead tree we cut up and the young tree our helper cut down. The branches from the young tree are still attached, and so are the leaves. It was growing into the house's foundations, so it was better to cut it, tree huggers. Our helper dragged it a block.

More rustic and a lot less weedy than this one.

I learned in Midland that birds will gather on branches near the ground. We had a large pile near the curb, for bulk pickup. The truck did not come for some time, but the birds sat there chattering like the happiest critters on earth, oblivious to car traffic.

We used to gather discarded Christmas trees and toss them in the snow near the compost bin in Midland. Birds like extra protection and warmth. I bought garbage bags of popcorn after a local event and kept it for the birds. Soon we had a choir of birds singing praise whenever I entered the backyard.
We had very heavy snowfall right after I cornered the market on popcorn.

The intensity of color in the sunlight cannot be captured in a photo.

Birds on the Fence
Why do the birds not stay up in the trees? some are asking. The birds like a low perch that gives them a good view of the insect life in the grass. In our yard that also includes a view of various food sources, 12 bird baths and 2 community pools. They overlook sunflowers ripening, mulched beds teeming with life, seeds, nuts, suet, and fruit.

Casual observation shows that the contented chirping of birds will bring more species to the same pile of brush. A little bit of preparation yields a lot of benefits.

Today we had three starlings splashing in the first community pool. They like to push their wings under the water and let the water flow across their bodies. They splash around together and get plenty of bathing time.

I do everything possible to enhance bird food, bathing, and shelter. They reward us with a constant show. The platform feeder, finch feeder, and Jackson EZ Bird Swing create a constant display of birds and squirrels eating, swinging, and trying to establish dominance, just outside our window.

Opening the back door or back gate means seeing 20 birds launch into the air at once. If I stay outside a few minutes, some of them come back to be the first at one of the feeders. I often see a goldfinch, cardinal, or robin from a short distance away.

Mutual Help
Helping one group of animals will also nurture another. Plants for butterflies and hummingbirds will also feed the bees, who really feed everyone.

Logs for birds will shelter toads and generate more critter life for everyone by rotting into the soil.

Leaf litter for the soil is also a blanket for beneficial insects throughout the winter. When the warmth and rain of spring end the leaf litter, the hatching and emergence of immature insects feed the birds.

Compost builds the earthworm population, because building and spreading it means distributing the earthworm egg capsules as one singular bonus.

Compost also builds beneficial soil life by nurturing the bacteria, fungus, and soil creatures that battle and feed while capturing nutrition for the top 12 inches of soil where the plants and trees feed.

Variety in plant life means more creatures can live in the yard. Butterflies favor certain plants, such as the Swallowtail on the parsley, the Monarch on the Milkweed and Butterfly Weed. Various bloom times not only keep the bees fed, but the kinds of blooms attract a variety of wild bees, which are far more varied than just the bumble bee and honey bee.

The often despised weeds are intermediaries in many ways. Tap roots bring calcium up to the surface - usable calcium, unlike crushed egg shells. The entire gardening world wants to crush eggs shells for the soil, but they do help birds and earthworms, just not the soil directly.

Weeds also provide a constant supply of pollen, nectar, and seeds for bees and birds.

Leaf litter and dried grass are building materials for bird nests, as well as building blocks for healthy soil.

Radish seed pods are mild with that typical radish flavor.

Radishes germinate fast and help the gardener with planter's remorse -
"My plants will never emerge. Oh, there are the radishes. I have hope again."

All Creatures Great and Small - The Bird Spa Loves Them All

All things bright and beautiful, 
 all creatures great and small, 
 all things wise and wonderful:  
 the Lord God made them all.

1. Each little flower that opens, 
 each little bird that sings, 
 God made their glowing colors, 
 and made their tiny wings.  
 (Refrain)

2. The purple-headed mountains, 
 the river running by, 
 the sunset and the morning 
 that brightens up the sky.  
 (Refrain)

3. The cold wind in the winter, 
 the pleasant summer sun, 
 the ripe fruits in the garden:  
 God made them every one.  
 (Refrain)

4. God gave us eyes to see them, 
 and lips that we might tell 
 how great is God Almighty, 
 who has made all things well.  

Grasshopper - "I'm ready for my close-up."

I would steal the first verse of this Anglican hymn for book titles, but James Herriot beat me to it. We watched the entire series - All Creatures Great and Small - during a Netflix binge.

The hymn happens to describe perfect gardening - all creatures great and small. We have two neighbors who tried various poisons and have suffered the consequences.

The primary cause is work and expense: the result, an impoverished garden. One can hardly imagine all the work involved in created a rose garden full of weeds. It took various herbicides plus landscapers cloth to diminish the roses and favor the weeds. Creating raised beds was a lot of
work for the man with good intentions, but each additional step was harmful rather than beneficial.

All creatures, great and small, were fashioned for a purpose. Our knowledge of Creation can enhance the work they do by design. One example is the Jackson Bird Spa. 

The total experience consists of:

• The spa with seven birdbaths and many levels of food, various seeds plus three bags of suet.
• The food and baths resting on wooden mulch and a newspaper layer below, which fosters critter life for the birds, keeping food dry and the soil moist.
• The window feeder for small birds, and the adjacent Jackson EZ Bird Swing.
• The aerial aqueduct (soaker hose on the fence), creating dripping showers for plants, birds, toads, earthworms, slugs, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi.
• Bits of string and lint for bird nests.
• Mulched zones under the entire fence, also covering the vegetable and Three Sisters gardens.

Everyone's backyard will have birds, squirrels, and other creatures from time to time. Ours is alive with many birds and squirrels - feeding, drinking, splashing, vying for position at the food or baths - all the time. A starling may land on the file cabinet only to find a squirrel popping out to assert his dominance over the food scattered inside.

Dustmites are a good reason to change pillows.
They live on the skin cells we shed.

Starlings will check out baths and pick one, only to have another one land and take over. So the second choice becomes the alternative bath. Then a third lands and looks for a place in line or jumps in to force one out. The one shoved out may fly directly to the window to feed on suet bags.

If the starlings take off with the scout bird, the doves will dither and just go behind a tree, then return to feeding. Squirrels often feed at the same time, or one sits on the filing cabinet  and dares any bird to interrupt his eating.

The birds invited to the Jackson Bird Spa include - cardinals, mourning and rock doves, blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, starlings, grackles, and woodpeckers. If I put seed on the window sill, a baby squirrel will come to feed there. 

I expanded the spa to make some spots useful for toads. I still need some crockery around the yard for toad shelters, but shallow water and frequent watering is a good beginning.

The pests eaten by all the birds, toads, and spiders is astonishing to consider. Anyone who doubts this should read just one example from the observations of nature enthusiasts.

People kill insect-killing spiders with insecticide.
Does that make sense?

Toads Eat:

The common toad usually moves by walking rather slowly or in short shuffling jumps involving all four legs. It spends the day concealed in a lair that it has hollowed out under foliage or beneath a root or a stone where its colouring makes it inconspicuous. It emerges at dusk and may travel some distance in the dark while hunting. It is most active in wet weather. By morning it has returned to its base and may occupy the same place for several months. It is voracious and eats woodlice,slugs, beetles, caterpillars, flies, earthworms and even small mice.

Toads eat slugs and many other creatures.My toads will get broken clay vases, not castles.

How Does the Garden Grow? Sow Abundantly and Reap Abundantly - 2 Corinthians 9

Susan Wilkinson photographed this common grackle,
a member of the corvid (crow) family, very smart and great at grubbing.
I spotted one eating the peanuts thrown out on the mulch.

Several asked about the gardening today. We had a fine mist raining part of the day, but more rain was predicted. When the going gets wet, the gardeners go straw baling.

The strawberries already perked up from one day of rain, I planted them the day before. The potatoes were cut but not planted. Today I took a very large plate of potatoes out and wedged each one into the straw.

Since the potatoes would be soaked by the garden hose first, then the rain, I decided to sprinkle some seeds on top the straw. The surface is so even and such a good medium for planting, that I reckoned a number of plants would spring up. I sowed some carrots, dill, hollyhocks, and parsley, and borage was already there from the day before.

On the sides of the bales I pushed in goblin gourd seeds. The idea is to have vines trailing out of the sides. The rain moved in at night and provided a long, thorough soaking for all the new plants and seeds.

Straw was a pain to wrestle into the limo, a big mess to clean out. However, if the potato harvest is good, the straw bale garden will grow next year.  With careful planning, Mrs. Ichabod will insist on what I want to do. Fortunately, she adores roses and loves having the ones I also enjoy. I found some $5 roses on sale from Gurney's and she said, "Get them!"

The peas and spinach did not survive our radical winter, with such extremes of cold and warmth. The very early planted sunflower seeds did not germinate, so that may have been the cold or the squirrels eating them. I planted a wide row in the back with plenty of seeds. Squirrels think it's all about them.

Doing well:

• Garlic bulbs planted last fall are springing up.
• Daffodils are almost ready to bloom.
• Tulips are above ground, just behind the daffodils for blooming.
• Crown Imperial bulbs have sprouted, but not the giant aliums so far.
• The old rose garden looks almost 100% green and growing leaves.
• No new roses have arrived, but they should soon.
• Butterfly bushes and the crepe myrtle bush are still dormant.

I will prune the roses back about 2/3rds when it is dry. Contrary to the fears of dabblers, pruning will spur cane and root growth. The most damaging pruning is no pruning at all. The dead wood builds up and the flowers go to seed. Roses love to be pruned, mulched, and watered. No other care is needed. 

The bird population has increased since I build up every possible way to attract them. I am not spending much on food. Suet lasts a long time and is very inexpensive at the meat market. I scatter seed to watch the varied species according to their Creator's design. 

By Norma Boeckler

Birds want water most of all, for bathing and drinking. As I mentioned before, a robin was willing to approach me because the shovel left on the ground held some rainwater. She drank from it and walked away, the most daring of the larger birds. Soon I will have garbage cans collecting rainwater from the two downspouts and the lids serving as ponds at the Jackson Bird Spa. One might go in the far backyard for the shy creatures, like cardinals, that avoid the crowds.

The male birds are singing to establish their territory, find mates, and build nests. This is a good time to put string and dryer lint out for their nesting. I leave twigs for them. My random stick pile is one place, part of the Jackson Bird Spa. Pruning the crepe myrtle adds twigs and bits for the front yard nesting stash. What does not make it into a nest becomes food for the fungi and bacteria in the soil. 

The Apostle Paul said to the Second Corinthians - 

9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

The spider tirelessly catches insects that would eat our flowers and crops.

This applies to treating the birds well, promoting microbial growth in the soil, and planting seed, fruit, and flowers. Some things will fail, and the failures are larger on a bigger scale. But the harvest is so abundant that the non-growth does not matter.

Random success is great fun, when one afterthought turns into one of the best experiences. When I walked Sassy past the veteran's home, I recalled, "He has all kinds of materials I can use, and he was worried about how to reduce his pile of paving stones, and other materials." 

I even covet his leftover autumn leaves. He is using Jackson Mulch for his rose gardens this year, after seeing how mine grew without weeds and without pests.

He is going to prune my trees soon, to let more light into the front and back yards. He is after his brother to remove the last of the leaves, and I may help with my wheelbarrow. They are ideal for the straw bale area, where we have to walk to water and care for the plants.

As Sharon Lovejoy has noted, gardening means being eager to get in the morning and see what has changed.

Birds and Squirrels Flock to the Jackson Bird Spa as the Snow Falls

The squirrels in Bella Vista were almost as aggressive
as the raccoons.

I bought several new foods at the Walmart Supercenter (a locally owned market) - just before the stormy weather began. Although we did not get feet of snow, we did have a lot for this area - five inches of accumulation.

Alex and I already had already squeezed four pounds of suet hanging in mesh bags. I filled the bird feeder near our window with a finch mix - thistle and hulled sunflower seeds. I placed the squirrel block on the wooden filing cabinet in the trees - a combination of corn, sunflower, and other seeds. I had several lumps of dried meal worms to add to the Jackson Bird Spa.

I added water to shallow dishes once a day.

All the creatures were so hungry that they ate together. The squirrel sat on the corn block but various birds harvested loose corn below. Later a male and a female cardinal worked on the block.

Finches and cardinals came to the finch mix in the feeder while starlings swung on the suet bags hanging from it.

The Jackson EZ Bird Swing saw more activity.

Our birds included:

• Thirty or more starlings at one time.
• A pair of cardinals.
• Purple finches and chickadees at the feeder.
• Some tiny birds at the feeder - too shy and quick to be identified so far.
• Mourning doves on the ground.
• Downy woodpecker at the suet, when the starlings left it alone.

I shoveled snow for our neighbors on each side, and we had the cleanest walks on the block, thanks to early salting. The early bird has the least amount of work when it snows. Filtered sunshine and salt combine to reduce the load - instead of ice building up under the footsteps of procrastinators.

Late Winter Breaks into Spring Life

The snow melted in Springdale, except for the north side of everything. Even the crepe myrtle bush has a tiny pile of snow on its northern exposure. This morning I tossed a clump of wood on the mulch around the crepe myrtle. Throwing organic material away is impossible when the secrets of fungi and microbes are known. Old pieces of apple and citrus will either feed the larger creatures or the microscopic ones. Either way, discarding organic matter is the same as throwing away the best top soil.

A juvenile squirrel is eating in the backyard right now. Above it is a downy woodpecker, feeding from the suet hanging from the tree. For a long time I only saw the woodpecker in the front yard, but now the front suet bags are empty and the backyard ones are temporarily full.

A pair of chickadees can strip a garden of pests,
just to feed their young.
Art by Norma Boeckler.

The Jackson EZ Bird Swing
I knew birds would start using the Jackson EZ Bird Swing in a few weeks. Yesterday we saw a purple finch light on the swing, move to the birdfeeder, then fly away. In time, several birds will rest up there and give us a little free show as they preen or rest or enjoy a seed.

The Jackson EZ Bird Swing is easy and inexpensive.

1. Buy two lengths of chain at a hardware store.
2. Purchase one package of screw hooks for hanging the chains from the eaves.
3. Get a metal rod small enough to rest in the links of the chain.
4. Dangle the chains from the screw hooks attached to the wooden eaves.
5. Place the metal rod in chain links, with extra space on each end.
6. If necessary, wrap the rod/link connection with electric tape.

The swing works well because birds like to get in line for food and have a safe place where they can spot potential predators. Once they see their friends are safe, more will stop and stay for a time. Nothing is more fun than seeing a visitor look at several birds enjoying the swing from a few inches away.

Having it hang outside a window near the feeder means a good view of the birds, all day long.

Bulbs, Pruning the Roses, Then Planting New Ones
I was skeptical that February would be offer good weather for planting. We had an early spring then snow and cold weather, not what anyone wants when digging new holes in the soil.

The daffodils are coming up, and the rose canes are greening up again. Roses are much more resiliant than people imagine. Once the cold snap is over in a week, our helper and I will reduce each bush by about 2/3rds, trimming unwanted growth at the same time.

Newbies cannot imagine this, but severe pruning gives the most growth. Joining the local rose society is one way to learn more from the veterans, although I fear many older rosarians are stuck in the chemical style of gardening.

The American Rose Society has gone organic with one or more gardens. Chemicals are expensive, toxic, stinky, and provide enormous setbacks for soil life. We weer debating a point about roses in Seattle when I mentioned my membership in the ARS. That was treated as a joke, and I said, "Really I am." That does not mean I know everything about roses, only that it is the only group I find worth joining. We may go to their local meetings, if they do a lot of practical sharing.

If most of the roses come at once, that will be fun. I know where certain ones need to go, but digging all the holes will be a challenge if the weather is bad.

My opinion is that they are better off dug in than soaked in water, but they do have to be kept moist, one way or another.

Chicago Peace Rose

Better Than C. S. Lewis - Secret Plans for the Jackson EZ Bird Swing Released to the Public

When dawn, the rosy-fingered child of Morn appeared, Sassy Sue was inkling her need for food. She acted as if she wanted to go out in the dark, but stopped at the watering jug, which is also next to food barrel.

Do you want to go out?

No motion.

Do you want some water? Have some.

No motion.

Are you hungry?

Sassy smiled that I figured her out so fast - for a human.





I got Sassy some breakfast and blogged. The thaw began in earnest, so I decided to pick up some meds and stop at Lowe's, to repeat the glorious experience of the Jackson EZ Bird Swing. I am not sure if I copied the idea or figured it out.

This Jackson EZ Bird Swing parts are simple to buy, inexpensive, and simple to install, assuming a wooden overhang.

1. Measure from the eaves or wooden structure to the mid-point of the window from inside. A good place to observe the birds is halfway down the window and a little distance from the feeder.
2. You will need two chains cut to the length measured above. The exact length is not crucial because...
3. A metal pole with screw threads hangs from the two chains. Extra length of the pole is good for stability in hanging. The diameter has to fit through the links.
4. Two screw hooks are needed to hang the chains down from the wood. They will not bear much weight. so I get large, thin ones. The hooks are secured  to allow the pole to reach through the chains with several inches at least on each end.
5. I secured the pole to the chain on each end with electric tape, to keep the pole from coming out, but that is unlikely with the threading and the gentle action of the swing.

Why does this work so well?

Birds do not stay on a feeder too long. They like to fly from a perch to the feeder and then to their perch again. The small ones feel safer taking a sunflower seed away and opening it up. Chickadees pound it open with their beaks, holding the seed in their feet. If the little ones open the seed on the swing, that is the best show in town.

A cardinal will sit at the feeder and do the work with their beaks alone. They seem to be grinning as they man-handle the seed.

The swing is an ideal resting place. The birds can observe everything around them, and they are away from obvious danger, such as a bush hiding a cat. They may eat or preen or relax on the swing.

Once they are used to humans nearby, they become oblivious to being watched. The bird-watcher can be inches away.

Some enhancements.

• Drape lint and twine around suet baskets hanging from the feeder. Birds will come to it for nest material. Dryer lint can also be  packed into empty suet baskets.
• Place seed on the window sill. Often baby squirrels will sit there and eat, and so will smaller birds. My ledge is narrow, so that excludes larger animals.
• Throw bonus amounts of food around the base of the feeder. Extra activity draws more birds, and more will land on the sill and the bird swing.

The squirrels have left empty corn cobs below the two feeders they use - a message?