How Do The Birds Know?

Our garden is always filled with wildlife activity. Today when I looked out the window I saw a hawk sitting on the fence by the feeders. This picture is from my window...look closely and you will see the hawk. 

I've seen hawks in the garden many times but today was different. In fact, I've seen this happen in our garden once before. Even though the hawk was on the fence, the other birds (bluejays, cardinals, titmice, sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, mockingbirds and others) were busy with their regular activities. They were at the feeders right by the hawk, at the suet  and on the ground. I watched for about 20 minutes as the hawk "walked" up and down the fence, "fluffed" his feathers and stretched his wings like he was sunning himself. At one point a crow (there were several on the ground right under the hawk) flew up and landed on the fence about three feet away from the hawk. The hawk jumped over to scare the crow away.  It was obvious that was what he was doing, not trying to catch the crow. After a while he flew towards the trees you see in the background. None of the other birds seemed to care about the hawk. Which leads me to my question....does anyone know why this happens? To me it seemed like the other birds instinctively knew the hawk wasn't hunting. Could this be? This is absolutely fascinating to me and I would appreciate any feedback you can give me!

Happy Gardening!

Words and Photos Property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden

Meet Our Kids!

 My husband and I share our home with our six "kids". Gardening with these kids can be interesting and challenging. To keep them out of the flower beds in the backyard, we put up a little wire fence around each bed. However they like to help "mommy" garden, so they either squeeze through the fence or move around the outside so they are able to keep me company while I work. 

This is Penfold. His hobbies include sleeping and eating. Penfold and Madeline (who you'll meet next) are brother and sister. They rode in the backseat of the car from San Diego to Tennessee when we moved here. They were such troopers on the trip. They are the oldest of our kids.

 

This is Madeline, AKA "The Princess". She has some hip problems but still rules the roost. She must be involved in everything.

Here's our boy Lucky. Lucky was the Junior Mascot for Precious Friends Puppy Rescue in 2006. Lucky believes he is in charge of security.

This is Rascal, AKA Cuddles, sitting on the ramp we built for our kids who are getting older. Rascal pictures himself as a great hunter because he caught a couple of moles last year.

Here's our baby Charlie. He's appeared in an earlier post so you've met him before. Now he thinks he's an internet star. Charlie loves to play tug with his Daddy (my husband) and his brothers and sisters.

Here's our other girl, Bella. She enjoys digging for moles and squeezing through the little wire fence I put around the flower beds so she can help me garden.Believe me when I say this girl can fly on those little short legs!

One day my husband and I were doing some tractor work in the backyard. Bella and Charlie decided we weren't doing it right and decided to show us how it's done. They actually got up there all on their own! We thought this was so cute we had to run in and get the camera!

Well, now you've met our kids. I don't know how I'd get anything done in my garden without all this help!

Happy Gardening!

Words and Photos Property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden

OH YES I CAN!

I LOVE to garden. During the winter months when I can't be outside working in my garden I spend hours looking through gardening magazines, gardening books and flower and seed catalogs  dreaming about spring.  So when I found out I had a fracture in my foot I looked on the bright side and thought "at least it happened now and not in the spring!" However, every now and then we get a really nice winter day....a day to be out in the garden. Yesterday was that kind of day. I so badly wanted to be out in my garden but I thought "I can't work in the wet garden wearing this boot." Then I had an idea and thought "OH YES I CAN"....I put one plastic bag inside of another, pulled it over the boot and put the belt to my hubby's robe (sorry honey) through the handles and made a knot to hold it up. It worked like a charm and I was able to spend the afternoon working away in my garden! It was a very good day!

Happy Gardening.

Words and Photos Property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden

Our Outdoor Rooms

 

I LOVE projects, especially garden projects!! My husband and I are a great team and we've found we can build just about anything we set our minds to. I thought I'd share with you the three pergolas we've made (all by ourselves) for our gardens. This small pergola was our first. We built it in 2005 (our first year here) and it faces our pasture and woods. There is a yellow climbing rose that covers the sides and top and a Japanese Privet in the back. The Privet blooms in the Spring and the flowers are incredibly fragrant. 

This was our second pergola built in 2007. It is surrounded by a very large flower bed. There are Clematis on two sides that grow up the lattice. There is a small shade garden just to the left of this pergola. In Spring I will bring out the table that matches these chairs (we put away most of the garden furniture and decorations in Winter). This is a lovely spot to relax with a glass of tea and watch the wildlife that surrounds us!

We built this pergola in April 2011. As you can see it's built on our concrete patio. It was quite a job for my husband to drill into the concrete to place the anchors/brackets for the 4x4s. He also made all of the corbel cuts on the 2x6s using his jig saw. 

Here's a side view of the finished project...(that's me with two of our "helpers"!) We wanted it to be like an outdoor room, so we added an outdoor rug and hung a window on the back of it. To shade us from the morning and evening sun, we hung blinds on the East and West ends. We also installed a misting system to cool us off on those hot Summer days! Notice the small pieces of wood under the shelf? Those are the pieces that were left over from the corbel cuts.  They added a little "pizazz" to the shelf!

Here's my hubby with three more of our "helpers".  You can see how he finished the bottoms of the 4x4s by boxing them in to cover the brackets. This project took us about three days to complete. We have spent many hours relaxing in our outdoor room.

What are some of your favorite projects?

Words and Photos Property of Christy's Cottage Wildlife Garden.

Wildlife In Our Garden

 

My husband and I love watching the wildlife on our property. I never know what I'm going to see each time I look out the window! Since we enjoy the wildlife so much, we became a Certified Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation. To become certified you must provide four things: food, water, cover and a place to raise young.

 

 

My goodness, who is this I see? It's Charlie the Pug, one of our six dogs. The dogs enjoy keeping me company while I'm working in the garden. 

 

 

 

This pitchfork makes a nice holder for apples and other fruit. I've seen Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Sparrows and Finches eating the apples.

 

 

 

We have several birdbaths in our gardens. We keep this one heated in the winter so our feathered friends can always have a bath and get a drink.

 

 

The suet feeders stay very busy in the winter. We provide several varieties so that different types of birds will visit. Remember, it's best not to use suet in the heat of summer as it tends to turn rancid.

 

 

 

We have two feeders filled with sunflower seeds. Not only are these seeds great for the birds, but I've found that if I throw some of them in the garden, I can grow some beautiful sunflowers!

 

 

We also put out unsalted peanuts. The BlueJays love these.

 

 

 

Here is a Dove couple sitting near a Bluebird house. The Doves love to visit the sunflower seed feeders.

 

 

 

Mr. BlueJay looking for his peanuts.

 

 

One of the dozens of Cardinals that visit. They love the sunflower seeds, suet and apples. 

 

 

 

Cedar Waxwings love fruit and insects.

 

 

 

Last, a picture of one of the hawks that come by. I always know when one is around because all the other birds take cover in the bushes and trees. This is Mother Nature at work!

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the wildlife in our garden.

 

Happy Gardening