I’m a little bit geeky when it comes to my birdfeeder. When I first built it, I was super disappointed that it took a whole month for the birds to find the feeder. But when they finally did, I spent a lot of time watching them through the dining room window. And the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. It’s become a winter tradition for me.
This year, I wanted to make installing the birdfeeder just a little bit easier. Unscrewing the feeder from its base and hammering the pole into the ground was a bit too much effort–and we ended up breaking one of the brackets off the post last year.
Not the best approach. So the post went to my cousin’s for repair, and I went to work.
I found a length of pipe–because we just happen to have things like that lying around here–and cut a 16 inch section.
Then, I used a very narrow shovel–since we don’t have a posthole digger lying around–to dig a 16 inch deep hole.
The object of the game was to have the top of the pipe level with the ground so that the lawnmower can drive right over it.
I carefully backfilled around the pipe (not in the pipe), and then my sidekick inspected to make sure everything was as it should be.
When the repaired birdfeeder post returned to the farm, I slid it into the sleeve–perfect fit.
I screwed the feeder into place, stocked it up with seed and waited for customers.
This year, it took just a couple of days for the birds to find the feeder. The chickadees were first as usual. I’ve also seen juncos, a woodpecker and a pair of blue jays (small consolation for not seeing the other Jays now that they’ve been knocked out of the baseball playoffs 😦 ).
This post has the story about where this birdfeeder design came from–and plans to build your own feeder.
Who else enjoys bird watching? Do you have a feeder at your house? What birds do you see in your neighbourhood?
Good idea to put in the sleeve for the post. Will you cover it with something in the summer so it doesn’t fill up?
I can just imagine watching the birds in the lovely snowy weather on your farm. That must be great – I would love it!
I’m not planning on covering it. I really don’t think too much should fall into it.
Great idea putting the sleeve in the ground! Very handy!
Do you feed your birds only during winter? Do you have a certain time frame you usually have food available for them?
We’ve always only put the feeder out in the winter. Early October until the trees start to bud in the spring (and there’s other food sources for them) is our usual time frame.