One Picture to start

birdfeeder ( photo / image / picture from AAnightowl's Garden )

I already have this in my garden photos. I will try to get a current shot of it when the weather clears up. This is a jungle gym that was given to my kids. They never would agree to share it, so when they grew up and left home, I claimed it. It took me two weeks to put it up and I cut my hand with the hacksaw trying to remove rusty bolts. I had to remove the rungs from the ladders so I could put the legs over steel posts. My grapevine and the bluebirds love it. About the same time, someone gave me a bluebird house, but they did not use it this summer for the first time? Guess I will scrub it up and put fresh grass in there and maybe they will use it for shelter over the winter. I have always cleaned out the old nests when needed, so no idea why they did not use it this year. The grapevine had been on the ground for who knows how long when we moved here 25 years ago.

 

I like it, AA, what kind of 'grape vine'?
I think Bluebirds are migratory so may not over-winter in your zone.. I've heard or read that they tend to return to same area and nests year after year, so if that's true, maybe your resident Bluebirds were unable to return this past year.. Hank

 

Great re-purposing with the swingset.

Leave the bird box up year round, but let them fill it with their own nesting material. I have seen bluebirds here during the winter, not many, but I have seen them. They aren't as bright as during the summer, but still a distinctive color. I had someone at a farmer's market tell me to add a wooden block below/around the hole, so raccoons couldn't fish for the nestlings, too. She didn't say how deep of a piece, though, so I guess it would be, well, a guess, but I am thinking it should stick several inches out from the bird house. Maybe next year you will have some. Add some dried mealworms to the bird food if you feed birds, they love them, although they are expensive. You can buy them by the (little) bucket at bird seed supplier places, but the best deal I have found them at is the chicken feed supplier.

 

I do have bluebirds here year round some years, it depends how severe the winter is. There are tons of bugs here naturally, so my birds have lots to choose from. I make suet for the birds in cold weather, and there is lots of natural seeds and foods for them. Sometimes I buy some bird seed, and sometimes not.

I do not know what type of grapes I have, but they are small and purple and taste similar to concords. One friend thinks they are "wine" grapes, whatever that is. I like them, but I do not do wine. The vine was here when I moved here over 25 years ago, and it was on the ground which was not good for it.

The bluebird house has been there since I got it as a gfit back in the mid 90s. I thought perhaps if I took it down and washed it out, they might be back. Some bluebirds were checking it out this spring, and I went and trimmed some of the vine away from it. I might have scared them ?

I have over 35 species of birds in and around my yard here. There are lots of woods. This summer, we found a dead yellow breasted chat in the driveway. It is only the third one I have ever seen. I have indigo buntings, cardinals, goldfinches, titmice, rufus sided towhees, Bewick's wrens, and many others.

 

I did get a few pics today after the showers, however, when I tried to put them in here, I got some kind of error message about the card reader having to be formatted first. I never had probs with it or my disk from my camera before, so I have no idea what to do. It brought up some kind of menu box, but I didnt have a clue what it was talking about. If I can get my son to help me, I will post them soon. Or I could try one of my other cameras tomorrow?

 

That's a great looking area and good idea for using the old jungle gym.