Re-purposed House
We had a very hard winter this year, and in winters like that Old Fuzzy tries to keep the bird feeder full.
It's a catch 22 because in hard winters it takes more feed and our upkeep increases as well.
One morning I looked out the window and saw a poor cardinal hunkered down on the flower barrel that sits close to the feeder.
The feeder had been empty too long and the poor bird was a sad reminder we needed to fill it. Once a program is begun the creatures depend on it not going away while needed.
When spring comes we let the feeder air out until the next winter. At one time the feeder was a traditional wooden feeder, but that fell apart eventually so we replaced it with a handy dandy, store-bought model.
It's a plastic model that looks like the old red barn. It has a fake door, and maybe a fake window. Old Fuzzy bought the quaint red barn from a local farm store.
Three years ago we had neighbors move into the fancy dancy house. Imagine our surprise when one early June morning a pair of wrens set up house keeping in the bird feeder.
Wrens, of course, are very tiny birds. These ones figured out how to slip in and out where the seeds and whatnot feed out into the tray.
For the last three years we've had a pair of wrens nest in the bird feeder, raise their babies then move on.
Here's a video of some wrens making a nest in a regular wren house. Hope you enjoy the video, even if it isn't the nice little red barn ours have.
