Birdfeeding: Friends of a Feather Flock Together

Today is partly cloudy and cold. It snowed a bit more last night, leaving white patches sprinkled over the yard.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/10/25 -- I finished assembling the lantern terrarium with the air plants.  \o/  It looks pretty good.  I had to put it on the table with two other terrariums, though, because today is too cloudy to see where the light falls in the planter window.

Also I need to bring in the ceramic pots from outside, which I should have done earlier.

EDIT 11/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a large mixed flock of sparrows and house finches mobbing the fly-through feeder.

Most of the mulberry leaves dropped all at once, and this year they're a muddy shade of yellowish-brown instead of the normal bright gold.

EDIT 11/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 11/10/25 -- I brought in the goddess statue and the ceramic pots.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Today is sunny and mild, a beautiful fall day.

I fed the birds. I've seen a large flock of sparrows. They drained the hopper feeder and the small metal birdbath.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 11/5/25 -- I finished spreading the last bag of composted manure on the tulip bed. Both flowerbeds are now ready for leaf mulch. \o/

EDIT 11/5/25 -- We started picking up sticks from the entrance to the south lot and where the wood chips will go. I found two large, old pieces of deadwood that I dragged to edge the wildflower garden.

EDIT 11/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 11/5/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've also been working on the main branch for the lantern terrarium, gluing more pieces onto it.

EDIT 11/5/25 -- I bagged up Ambrosia apple and yellow pear seeds in damp sand to cold-stratify in the fridge.

I set up the core of the next bonfire so we can dump more sticks on top of it.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Today is mostly sunny, breezy, and cool.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

10/22/25 -- I installed the larger of the two wormstones beside the barrel garden. First I picked a spot, then I cleared the weeds. I dug into the ground a little so that the stone would lie closer to the surface. I had to move a few tulip bulbs that turned up there. Then I put the stone in place and pushed the soil back around the edges. \o/

10/22/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

10/22/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

10/22/25 -- I installed the second wormstone by the barrel garden.

10/22/25 -- I planted 10 'Flaming Beauties' tulips around the barrel garden. I still have 10 left. These are streaked tulips so they are yellow/red, purple/white, etc.

10/22/25 -- I planted the rest of the 'Flaming Beauties' in the tulip bed.

As it is almost suppertime, I am done for the night.

Today is mostly sunny and sweltering. It is 90°F in mid-September. Fuck climate change. >_<

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds. The metal birdbath was empty again.

EDIT 9/14/25 -- I set up 9 crabapple seeds in a baggie of damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator.

EDIT 9/14/25 -- I disassembled the fairy garden so I can use its lantern container as a terrarium.

EDIT 9/14/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/14/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

9/'14/25 -- I watered the irises, old picnic table, new picnic table, septic garden, telephone pole garden, and a few seedlings in the savanna. *goflopnow*

Cicadas and crickets are singing. I've seen a lot of butterflies today -- cabbage, painted ladies, and monarchs. :D

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Today is sunny, steamy, and hot. :P It's 86°F with a heat index of 92°F. I still have a bunch of things to plant, but I doubt I'll get much yardwork done in this weather. A beautiful day to stay indoors and write! Or possibly work on the in-progress terrarium with the fern. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, two brown thrashers, and a male cardinal.

I put out water for the birds.

I put out the 3 partial flats of pots and watered them, along with the strawberry towers.

EDIT 5/15/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

It's currently 87°F with a heat index of 92°F.

I've seen several mourning doves, a female goldfinch, and a young fox squirrel.

EDIT 5/15/25 -- I've seen a brown-headed cowbird.

The pink bergamot in the strip garden is blooming! :D I confess that I picked off the trumpets from an entire flower head and ate them all.

EDIT 5/15/25 -- I assembled the cookie jar terrarium. \o/

I've seen a female rose-breasted grosbeak. :D No male, but one visited earlier in spring.

EDIT 5/15/25 -- I rearranged pots on top of the new picnic table.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Today is cloudy, cool, and damp. It rained last night and this morning, and is spitting rain again now.

I fed the birds. I've seen several house finches and two mourning doves. Something drained about half the seed from the thistle feeder, likely the house finches, so I refilled that too.

I put out water for the birds.

The rain had nicely refreshed all the moss in the yard, so I picked out a nice piece of shaggy yellow-green moss to use in my antique jar terrarium.

Squirrels have been digging like crazy.  There are little craters all over the yard, and hunks of moss flung everywhere.

So many new things are sprouting!  The plum tree is blooming.  The first of the hosta leaves have unfurled.  The celandine is sprouting.  The biggest of the bluebells has buds already.

EDIT 3/29/25 -- It's raining lightly now, with small puddles on the patio.

I put a layer of substrate in the antique jar terrarium.

EDIT 3/29/25 -- The rain seems to be dwindling.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put the moss in the antique jar terrarium.

EDIT 3/29/25 -- It's drizzling again.

I did a bit of work around the patio.

As it is wet out, I am likely done for the night.

I discovered a reference to bumblebees nesting in a birdhouse.  It turns out that you can also build a house just for the bumblebees.  

Today is cloudy, mild, still breezy, and damp. It stormed last night. Our hygrometer/thermometer blew down and is not currently working.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity today though.

I put out water for the birds.

More flowers are blooming including several daffodils under the maple. In the goddess garden, the first of the orange crocuses are blooming and the winter aconites have come very late to the party -- they used to be first to bloom.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- I'm planting rocks today! :D The soil is soft from the rain, so I've been digging sockets for the new river cobbles around the purple-and-white garden.

I also emptied the potting soil from the trough pot that doesn't have drain holes and rarely grows much. I figure I can use it as a mini-water garden for the tree frogs who like to hang out amongst the pots on the old picnic table.

I've seen a pair of house finches at the hopper feeder and a male downy woodpecker at the fly-through feeder.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- I finished planting the new cobblestones. I also adjusted some of the other rocks nearby. There's still a lot left to do on the purple-and-white garden, but this is good progress.

Then I went looking for the stepping stone beside the barrel garden. It had crawled halfway under the concrete blocks that hold the barrel. WTF even, stepping stone? Maybe it's shy. Maybe it doesn't want to be a stepping stone. I dug it out for now. I may look for something else to put there, and move this one to the purple-and-white garden. Huh, and some people say rocks aren't alive. I have some very opinionated ones around here.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- I planted the fossil rock in the forest garden by burying the bottom portion so it stands up. It's about a quarter to a third sunk into the soil, which is usually enough. If it doesn't stay put, I can always dig it in deeper. If you want to make stone monuments, even small ones, I highly recommend the book Stone Circles by Rob Roy. It includes the history, theory, and practice of making things with big rocks, such as megalithic math and both ancient and modern methods of moving rocks. Mine was small enough to carry, but I did use the digging technique of making a straight wall and a slope so as to slide the rock in and tip it upright. \o/ While digging, I found a lot of worms and several large grubs. I left the worms alone but extracted the grubs and dropped them in the metal tray feeder in case somebird would like a snack.

My bluebells are sprouting in the forest garden. :D Lots of bulbs too, but that's the first of the wildflowers I've seen there.

The first couple of Shithouse Marigolds are sprouting under the plastic tub on the new picnic table! \o/ The proves the concept for both starting things in small pots outside and for using translucent plastic tubs as greenhouses. I'll have to watch for more tubs at thrift stores or yardsales. So I watered the pots under the tubs, since they missed the rain.

I also tinkered with the trough a bit. I found a sycamore branch to go from one end to the other, then anchored it with a couple of brick pieces and a lava pebble. The top brick already has a bit of moss on it, which is nice. :D This provides both starting decor and a way for wildlife to crawl out if anything falls in.

In the cistern garden, garlic chives have been up for a while. Now the chives and perennial leeks are also sprouting.

Egyptian walking onions are greening up in their pot. I don't think the potted perennial leeks survived though. I kinda had to throw things in the ground really fast at the end of the fall when I grabbed them from the Charleston Food Forest, so I wasn't sure what would survive where. I tried to spread them out in hopes that some would make it, and all of the root crops I took should reproduce easily.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard to show what I've done today and the new things sprouting.

My sacrificial offering of grubs was quickly gobbled up by the birds. :D

It's starting to spit rain so I don't know if I'll make it back outside.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- It has stopped spitting rain, so I was able to do a bit of work around the patio.

We also got the hygrometer/thermometer working again, and I hung that back up outside.

I've seen several blackbirds and a robin.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- I sowed Bee Lawn Mix on bare patches in the south lot.  There is still a lot of that to do.

Both rain gauges read about 3/4 inch from last night's rain, so the tilt on the septic garden gauge isn't making much of a difference.

EDIT 3/15/25 -- It started raining, so I am done for the night. 

Today I made a tiny terrarium in a spice jar to hold some lichen-covered twigs.  Earlier I was out walking and spotted some good ones.  Then at lunch, I used the last of the pumpkin spice blend, so I put the fresh bottle in its place.  Then I washed the new bottle and used it to make a tiny terrarium for the lichens.

I recently bought a big jar to make a terrarium.  Spotting the twigs and spice jar reminded me of making terrariums out of random containers when I was little, usually using all found materials rather than purchased ones.  Everything but the jar came from my yard.  Total cost: $0.  Technically the jar of pumpkin spice was $4.75 but since I bought it for the spice instead of the jar, that doesn't count.  I didn't buy anything just for this project.  You can do the same thing with a bigger jar if you like.  Juice jars are often lovely, with a slightly wider mouth and sometimes decorative designs near the top.

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These are some gifts you might get for fellow fans of birds and nature, or put on your own holiday wishlist.

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