Coastline Treasures

With so many homes being put up for sale, I was finally able to move into my dream home. I grew up in the noisy city, so I looked for a quiet suburb with wide-open spaces. This is the first time that I had a tree in my backyard. This is also the first time I have felt the fresh wind in my face.

It does take me longer to get to my office, but it is definitely worth it. The first thing I did was to buy the essentials for my new home. When the lounge chairs, kitchen sink, and bathroom showers were all in place, it was time to decorate. I found great things online, including a nautical birdhouse that never fails to lift my sprit as it tinkles with the wind.

Here is a week-end project that will be fun for the entire family; making a beach birdhouse.  Start by getting a plain wooden birdhouse; you can build one or buy one at your local home building supply store.  Next, go to your local craft store and search the isles for miniature beach scene items.  It can be a beach ball, surf board, beach chair, life rings, crabs or anything else you desire.  Pick up sky blue, ocean blue, sand and white craft paint.  You won’t need much; the small 4-6 ounce bottles will do the trick.

Be sure to prime the wood of the birdhouse before beginning.  Once dry, paint the roof sky blue and the house sand color allowing time for it to dry before adding clouds to the sky and ocean blue along the base of the house.  Using a hot glue gun, add your miniatures along the house creating your beach scene.  Once done, hang it in your yard and watch your feathered friends enjoy a day at the beach!

If you have a few hours and some basic tools, you can build a decorative birdhouse for your yard.  This is a great project to include children.  While working together you can teach about birds, building and safety with tools.  First you need to gather the necessary tools; saw, hammer, screwdriver, goggles, paint brush and a tape measure.  Now gather the supplies; plywood, wooden dowel, screws, wood glue, nails, sandpaper, and exterior paint.  Once you have everything, you are ready to get started.

Cut two rectangles cutting the tops so it forms a peak for the roof.  This will be the front and back walls. Drill a ½” diameter hole in one of the rectangles for the bird’s entrance.  Pre-drill a ¼” hole for the wooden dowel to create a perch.  Cut two rectangles for the side walls and 2 for the roof as well as one piece for the floor.  Glue the sides and roof together letting it dry.  Once dry enough nail it all together.  Turn the birdhouse over and screw the floor in place, no gluing.  During the off season, you can remove the floor of the decorative birdhouse and clean it out.  Go ahead and sand and paint creating the look you want.  Be sure not to paint the inside as bird will not nest if painted.  Have fun and get creative.

Birds are fun to watch and who doesn’t like the chipping sounds that they bring to your yard?  You have hung your decorative birdhouses and now are waiting for visitors.  To get our feathered friends to pay us a visit be sure to have fresh water available at all times.  A simple bird bath with two inches of water is needed.  If the bath is brightly colored it can actually confuse the birds and they won’t stick around.  Next, be sure to have food close by where predators cannot get to it.  Birds will not come if they feel threatened or their food is gone!  Try to make the area as safe as possible.

Once you have done all these things, sit back, relax and watch to see who comes for a visit and maybe will even stay for awhile.

What is it about lighthouses that fascinate us?  Is it there history and mystique of all who lived there and the sailors whose lives were saved by them?  Is it there beautiful setting, along the sandy beaches or the rocky peaks?  Have you ever seen the view from atop of a lighthouse?  It is like you are on top of the world and able to see way past the horizon.

Whatever it is that draws us to lighthouses draws us to surround ourselves with them.  I know that I have a lighthouse magnet from North Carolina and a small lighthouse statue from my visit to Georgia.  I have seen yard décor lighthouses, a lighthouse birdhouse, solar lights, yard flags, stepping stones and so much more.  Whenever I visit the coast, I make sure I visit the local lighthouse.  Walking up their grand staircase to the top and looking out to the ships they protect is exhilarating.

Home is where the heart is, and that is no different for a bird.  Some make homes in trees, others in roof tops, some in decorative birdhouses, and others on a buoy in the harbor.  The truth is, birds will nest anywhere that it is safe.  Just like people want to find a safe place to have a family, birds want to make sure where they build their nest is not at high risk for predators.

For this reason, birdhouses are great.  Especially when placed in the right location, birdhouses are four walls and a roof to ward off hungry animals and dangerous weather.  And unlike their feathered exteriors, birds are not feather-brained.  When it comes to finding the best place to nest, they look at everything.  Instinctually, birds know not to build a nest too low to the ground.  Keep a home great for a bird, and you will always find them in your yard.

When a bird is trying to find a birdhouse, he is looking less for the nautical birdhouse, though we want these for aesthetic purposes, but for the same things we look for in a home, protection.  It is essential for the bird that the house will keep it, and it’s family, safe from predators as well as give easy access to food and water.  Keep in mind the types of common predators the birds need protection from.

Birds have many different predators, even in a safe backyard.  Dogs may get young birds during nesting season, and cats are always a threat.  Squirrels may try to eat the eggs; protective sheet metal will help prevent this.  Other wild animals, such as snakes and raccoons, are also threats.  To cut down on the possibility of predator attacks, mount your birdhouse to a metal pole instead of to a tree or hanging from a branch.

It’s all too easy to forget that birdhouses can offer a multifaceted appeal. They are obviously appreciated by birds because of the valuable shelter they provide. Birdhouses allow birds to lay their eggs and tend to them without interference from predators or the elements. And of course they act as a safe haven during a storm. But birdhouses can also be appreciated for entirely different reasons.

Birds don’t much care about a birdhouse’s aesthetic appeal, but people certainly do. The best birdhouses fit in with the exterior décor of a home. If you live in a seaside bungalow, for instance, a beach birdhouse offers an excellent complement. Likewise, a lakeside cottage retreat is accentuated perfectly with a fishing cabin birdhouse.

You just bought a lighthouse birdhouse to add a little decoration to your garden, but where is the most functional place to put it?  Well, that is up to the birds really.  When trying to find the best place in your backyard for the bird house consider, of course, what type of bird you are trying to attract.  Then, pay attention to the natural patterns of this type of bird and try to recreate it.  If you notice the bird likes a certain type of tree or bush, putting the house next to these would be appropriate. 

There are other things to consider when placing your birdhouse as well.  Birds generally like a direct flight path, so keeping the entrance easily accessible is important.  Also, keep the entrance away from direct, hot sunlight.  A little morning sun is okay.  Finally, if you can, keep the entrance away from prevailing winds so rain doesn’t fly in.  By following these ideas, you have a better chance of having your birdhouse occupied.

Decorative birdhouses have a much more practical use than just adding flair to your garden.  There are over fifty North American species of birds that will reside in birdhouses.  Birdhouses also help to add refuge to birds that have lost their natural habitats.  Particularly in more suburban regions, birdhouses are particularly essential because development destroys much of the natural nesting areas.

But birdhouses are not one size fits all.  Because different species of birds have different behavioral and physical characteristics, one birdhouse style of birdhouse may not be suitable for the birds in your region.  A bird will only nest in a birdhouse if the habitat is conducive to them.  Also, because of size variations, try adding many different sizes of birdhouses to your yard as to attract more feathered friends to your garden.