birdfeeding | Photos: South Lot

These pictures show the south lot.

In the south lot looking east, the mulch pile sits toward the back. We plan to add a garden shed thereabouts.

To the northeast is the big maple tree between the south lot and the house yard. That was an Arbor Day tree when I was little. That tiny little twig of a seedling sure grew big!

To the southeast is part of the south hedge.

To the south is the grass wall. It's like a compost pile only we ignore it instead of turning it or ever taking compost out. It still works. By late summer it usually is a wall of piled grass and leaves and whatever. By the end of winter it has usually collapsed almost flat. <3 my detritus food web.

Looking west, you can see the new picnic table and part of the septic garden.

The upside-down suet feeder has a copper roof that shines in the sun. If I have sparrows and starlings eating all the suet, I can put it in this and tilt the thing properly flat, so that woodpeckers and other tree-clinging birds can still eat but it's much harder for non-clinging birds. I figure if they solve the puzzle, they deserve the food, though.

The new trellis holds a suet cage and a finch feeder. The latter is the same model as the thistle feeder, but filled with a mix that is mostly white proso millet. This tiny seed attracts finches and sparrows to a tube feeder, along with doves, juncos, and other ground-feeders below.

The fly-through feeder hangs in an apricot tree just south of the house.

Here is a closer view of the picnic table and septic garden.

Ice plant is blooming hot pink.

The left flat has a few tiny sprigs of mountain mint and yarrow; it didn't do very well because of the drought. The right has about 10 seedlings of blue false indigo and yellow false indigo.