Today was warm and weekendy enough to do something in the garden, so I got my first chance to implement something I learned at the Designing With Native Plants conference a couple weeks ago. Steve Kress gave a rundown on things you can do in your landscape that will help the birds.
I am not a birder. One of the things we love about our house - indeed one of the first things we noticed about it when we moved in - is all the birdsong. Comes with living across the street from the Six Mile Creek gorge, I guess. Then our cat proceeded to silence most of the music, until he retired from active duty a few years ago. Now we have birds again, and a birdfeeder in the backyard that I put there for my daughter's pleasure. Now I learn I should take it down and plant hawthorns and dogwoods so the birds can have natural dinners.
Anyway, the suggestion was to make a place where birds can get in out of the rain. Some pieces of drainpipe or wooden boxes with lots of sticks and branches or pine boughs on top. Well as it happens I had about ten feet of drain hose under my back porch from a few years ago when we put in some gutter drains to keep the water out of our basement. And a Christmas tree that was enjoyed long past the last time the City came around to pick them up. Now the drain hose is at the bottom of the wood pile, with a layer of Christmas tree on top. We'll see what happens now, hopefully I haven't unwittingly built a Rat Ritz.
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A rat Ritz is funny. At our house it would be a chipmunk ritz. Birdfeeders are quicker than baby dogwoods for now though, aren't they? Cool idea. Let us know if the birdies find the pipe. They will be looking to get out of the rain today! Speaking of birds in the rain, all those goofy pheasants were standing out in the rain in the enclosure on Game Farm Rd yesterday. They should build them some pheasant Ritzs!
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