Saturday, January 11, 2014

Bird Watching: "it can be hard work"

My shoulders and hands are still sore from the job. In a few days, however, life will return to normal.

When a strong wind recently toppled my feeder (its hollow support pole was 3/4 inch pipe, not strong enough) I knew I had a tough job ahead of me. I had to dig through frozen earth to plant a sturdier support pole. If memory serves the labour associated with soaking, chiseling, scraping, shovelling and removing frozen sod - that sometimes flew about like shattered concrete - from an 18-inch deep hole took about 90 minutes. My hands grew so stiff I could barely hold my coffee mug.

["I assembled tools to chip through the sod"]

["I soaked the earth w hot water and grabbed a chisel"]



["I drove the 8 ft. pole about 24 inches into the earth"]

["The top of the pole (and feeder's base) is within reach"]  

["I attach a metal lamp shade to baffle squirrels"]

["Voila!"]

["Soon (I hope) house finches will return for meals"]

Though it can be hard work to fix and maintain a feeder, I figure I'll be rewarded in a number of ways: The feeder won't blow over again, feathered visitors will soon return for meals two or three times daily, and I'll be entertained by avian antics.

Life will return to normal.

Photos by GH

Q: Any interesting visitors or avian antics at your feeder this week?

More Bird Watching

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