Tuesday, June 1, 2010

easy peasy lemon squeezy bird feeder.

I made this bird feeder earlier today.  I have three more bottles so the boys can make their own and either hang in the yard or gift to someone.

2 liter bottle
bird seed
string or yarn
stick

Cut two good sized holes in the bottle (I made rectangles and then rounded the tops just for fun).  Poke two holes for the stick right below the big holes. Add the string to the neck and tie to a tree limb.  Add bird seed.  Sit back and watch! 
We put ours up this morning and already had one new visitor.  Gabriel, in his excitement, scared off the poor bird though!

If the squirrels start getting into it, I'll poke a hole in the middle of a plastic plate (from the dollar store) and string onto the top of the bottle.

A little nature study...in our front yard.




We live in a small town that is {apparently} full of critters to enjoy.  This weekend I thought I'd take some pictures of a few little guys who love our front yard.  The idea is to get my boys interested in nature study without forcing it on them.  If I show an interest, they will begin to show an interest. 

Don't get me wrong...the boys LOVE the great outdoors.  They go on hikes in the woods with Daddy, love playing outside, and explore well enough on their own.  I would like for them to show an interest in learning more about the outdoors I guess. 

Just taking the few pictures I did this weekend sparked an interest in a pair of robins that are repairing a nest in a tree in our front yard.  We can watch them from our front window in the living room. 

Here are a few of the pictures I took this weekend.  From top to bottom:  this silly squirrel spent most of the morning playing and fighting with another squirrel before taking off across the power lines.  That bird in the top of the tree is a Mockingbird.  The next bird is a Blue Jay...one of my favorites.  They are mean but very pretty.  That robin is one of the two who are working on the nest in our front yard.  The next picture shows the other robin carrying some *supplies* back to the nest.  Then the nest itself.  I can't wait to see if we'll have baby robins one day this summer!