I’ve said this before, in order to see the birds and critters around us you need to draw them in. There was a couple of years that I really didn’t see many birds around here. And where are the squirrels? When I set up bird feeders and kept water in the bath, they all came around. Even rabbits unintentionally.

The pictures below show the extent of my bird feeders. Almost. I missed one but rarely fill it. At the moment of minimal supplies, I can fit everything into a metal bucket purchased at home depot for this purpose. If I leave seeds and suet out in the open, the mice may get in. The metal can prevents intruders. I don’t necessarily care that they eat the food, it’s just that they gnaw through the garage door to get at it. Also, birds find their way deep into my garage from the smell of the seeds.

I bring the can out and pour seed into the first two feeders that have a long stock and windows throughout that allow the birds to feed. The feeder dangles from a standup wrought iron rod made to hang plants. This is an area in front of a window of our daylight basement. From here I watch the birds, photograph them, and I’m able to identify them. There is also a squirrel proof suet feeder that looks like a round cage.

Below is a portion of a tree that I drilled out four holes and placed little horizontal ledges for the birds. Inside the four holes goes suet which i stuff inside with my fingers. This is located just beyond the basement window.

This feeder is a recreation of one that stood here but was rotten when we first moved here in 2015. I took the old one apart and created templates from the old wood to make a new bird feeder. It’s gone through some repairs and I painted it redwood. Squirrels love this feeder.

One of the feeders I neglect is below. It doesn’t hold much and I can’t see birds eating from it. but I know they do, especially those that live on that side of the house in the vegetation. I made this feeder.

Can’t leave the hummingbirds out. The feeder below is the only one I have for them though I used to have one in front and one in back. What is shown here is empty. I filled it after taking this photo. I take it inside and dump out the old water. Maybe clean it. I poured powdered sugar in it then ran scalding hot water to fill it up. Let cool outside in the garage then set out.

The bird bath in back is below. It’s a concrete wonder I picked up at a back country yard sale for $5. It came in heavy pieces and they were glad to get rid of it. I packed it with cement and painted it white and later purple. It had a leak that I finally plugged using cement. That piece in the middle is a round rock and concrete piece I added. I used it as a table to place sticks on it while doing a project. I thought the sticks looked good and the birds might like the effect so they stayed. The birds don’t use this bath too often. filled today.

the bird bath in front has not moved since we moved here in 2015. It’s shallow in close Proximity to many protective trees. I try to keep full all the time. the birds love it. Something about this design is perfect for the variety of birds we get here. You can’t see it but there is a squirrel crawling up the side. A great bath.

Below is a shot of the front yard with the feeders in front of the basement windows at right. In the center is the bird feeder on the side, you can’t see it. Move to the left and there is the dangling suet feeder. the feeder I recreated that looks like a house is that red square on the left. The front yard bird bath is to the far left.

In back are a feeder and two suet feeders. The one cage suet feeder is to the left.

There are three other feeders not pictured. On is on the opposite side of the house that I never fill because no one can view the birds feeder which is the point of having feeders. Another feeder is in back on a tall pole with a long stick running under it as a perch. I don’t fill it too often. Why? I have to climb up to it and walk along railroad ties to get to it. What’s so hard about that? I’ll think about it. Lastly, there is a bird feeder that has a camera. I don’t use this one because I get notifications on my phone. Too many notifications occur and I don’t need another feeder. I have one more plastic, useless bird bath that the birds avoid. I’m may smother it with concrete and make some kind of odd yard art out of it. See below.