Time to begin work on the outside of the house. I did a bunch of redos and upgrades in the house over the winter which I will share with you later. Today I want to show you my new bird feeder.
My wood deck has become the sorse for wear over the past few years. Traveling back and forth to Ireland a couple ot=f times a year was not conducive for long rnge projects and I simply let the decl go. Last year I had it power washed in preparation for repainting.
The power washing removed much of the paint and showed areas of the deck where the wood was damaged. A mere repainting will not be enough to preserve it going forward. I got three estimates for repair. One guy wants to paint it, but the other two recommend hand sanding after another powerwash and using two coats of special paint to preserve the deck. I do not want to replace it. If I had to replace it, I would prefer composite decking rather than wood. As it is, the repaint project will cost three thousand dollars!!
I had an open try feed on the corner of the deck. If I go through the expense of upgrading the deck, I want to upgrade the bird feeder. I can sit in my living room and watch the birds come to the feeder. This is a past time I enjoy and wish to continue.
The birds, the weather, and wear and tear have just made the deck look awful. Paint has even chipped off the railings.
Last year, I had a Coopers Hawk that killed a few birds in my backyard. I thought about putting a tree in the corner to shelter the birds, but I wanted to use something other than a heavy planter on my deck. So, I came up with an alternative idea. I placed a tall planter in the corner and removed the open feeder. Instead, I installed a feeding pole in the center of the planter. I also plan to put a thick, fast-growing bush in the planter to give the birds additional cover. This is Dwarf Forsythia. I will grow to a 3 x 3 ft bush, and it is evergreen after the spring flowers
The open-style bird feeder trays allowed the seed to get soggy after a rain, and the local doves would just lay in the trays and not allow other birds to feed. In my search for a new feed, I wanted the seed to have a covering, and I did not wish to have an area for the doves to lay down. In the end, I found a plastic house-style feeder. The chimney comes off so you can add seed, and the house itself is sealed against the weather. Perfect.
I have other bird feeders on the property, but this is the only one I can see from the upstairs sitting room and sunroom. I have another open tray feeder with a plastic dome cover for the backyard tree and a tube feeder to hand in the garden pole, but I can only see them when I am out on the lower patio.
Now I only have to wait for the painters to get here.
If you are bird lovers, I hope this posting gave you guys thoughts on how to pretty up your deck and bird feeders.
