show us your bird house pictures!

Here he is again.

Luckily my neighbor's cat took off across the street to go visit the farm.

I took the opportunity to move the baby to a more sheltered spot a few feet away. One of the parents flew out of a tree and swooped over my head. I was very glad to see that. Once relocated the parent started feeding the baby under the shrub.

Meanwhile there are tree swallows in my neighbor's yard across the street. (maybe the same ones that left my yard a few weeks ago?)

What a beautiful bird!

This bird was very patient and let me take pictures from several different angles. :-)

gorgeous teal blue feathers.

one more...

Great pics Lily!! Those tree swallows are so beautiful!

He/She sure was posing for you!

Truly a gorgeous swallow! Nice photos!

And, Janet, I do so love Chickadees - can't imagine how tiny the babies must be! Sounds like you have a great variety that come to your yard to nest!

Thanks everyone! I have an update on the blue jay baby. I was so worried about it the first day I found it because it was so young and didn't fly yet. It didn't seem to do more then sleep either. Not much hopping around or anything. So I was sure it would fall prey to one of the neighbor's roving cats. Well four days later and it is still here and MUCH more active. Its still not flying but hops all around the yard. It has not only survived the cats but it also managed to deal with the yard getting mowed (I gave my mower explicit instructions to avoid the area where the bird was) and a cold front that had temps down to 40 after a cold rain storm. YAY HOPPALONG!!! (my little mental nickname)

Here are some pictures from yesterday. He doesn't let me get as close anymore - very good Hoppalong!!

Here he is hopping across the front lawn.

Oh - I love seeing those blue jay baby pics. What a little sweetie - so glad to know he's hanging in there! I need to get a better camera to get close to the birds I have around here.

Well, this guy isn't a bird, but he's moved into the bird house again...cheeky little devil. Do you have any stowaways in your houses?

Oh oh oh!! I would LOVE to find a flying squirrel in one of my houses! Do you see them often? I know we have them in this area but I have never seen one. That is SO adorable!

Is that a rugosa rose that the house is surrounded by? I love those. I had two Fru Dagmarr Hastrupps but believe it or not, I lost one in the cold snap we had about a month ago. I can only figure its because it was so warm right before that it had lots of tender new growth on it. The other one 5 feet away is just fine. I did have a squirrel try out a shelf I put up for the robins to use but I think I got too close and after scolding me he ran away.

Well, that squirrel isn't a flier...but he did get there through impressive acrobatics! Love your squirrel photo, too. He's a big guy!

I'm sorry you lost your rugosa. The rose in the photo is a white rugosa (can't remember the name) that is taking over. We have the pink ones growing wild in places, but this one I planted, and now I am beating it back with a stick to keep it from coming in my back door. It's very fragrant, so it can stay for now.

Here are a few of my birdhouses.
They are all made from 120 year old reclaimed barn wood.

I have more pictures at http//community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2
or google Extreme Birdhouse

This message was edited May 22, 2007 8:44 AM

OMG Their incredible! You are so talented!

Have a few questions. What types of birds do you see using the birdhouses? Do you make different size holes and compartments for different types of birds? How in the world are you able to clean out all the compartments?

Thanks for posting these; I did look at the pics at Bob Villa's site, very nice!

Omigosh - those are incredible!!!!!

Nevermind the birds... I want to move into one of those houses!!

Oh my, they're fantastic!! I want to move into the one with the blue roof :-)

I'll take the one with the bright red top floor.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments.
I have been posting my birdhouses in the woodworking section for over a year.
I didn,t realize there was a bird watching section until today.

pelletory

I get mostly sparrows and swallows in these houses .
I have built different styles with different size holes including purple martin houses.
All the insides come out for easy cleaning.

I don,t put up purple martin houses in my area due to all the sparrows.
I do get a pretty large variety of birds in my area.

thanks again
john

Do you all remember the mockingbird babies posted further back in the thread? If not here is a reminder because they showed up on the deck again this afternoon. Here is one of them from 16 days ago...

and here are two of them on my deck this afternoon. They are as big as the parents now but still acting like babies. They make the exact same screech they made when they were nest bound. I missed getting a picture of the two of them hunkering down with their mouths wide open and their wings wiggleing when a parent landed near them. I can tell that this phase is going to end soon and the parents will start ignoring their helpless act. I wonder if they will lay eggs again in the same nest?

looking hopefully at the seeds on the window sill...

Mommy, Daddy get them for meeeee!

He is SO cute!!

Delightful photos and commentary, Lily!

What a little cutie! Those are great photos.