Eco-Art. A Butterfly Bower

My eco-artist friend, Deanna Pindell, has created a Butterfly Bower.  Visit
http://mccollcenter.org/blog/view/286/butterfly-bower
Butterfly Bower

I am learning patience.  Build the feeding stations, or bowers or bee nesting boxes and  be prepared for time to pass before the birds, butterflies and bees find them.  Like watching moss grow. Also, be prepared to find yourself doing more 'spotting' than you expected.

Red-winged blackbird - male

Photo by Bruce Kirby

They're down in the Sitka willows by the Lakewood Moorage, but I see more females at the feeder than males.

In praise of bees

In praise of bees. Kathleen Faulkner

Go to Pages link for article on Small Garden Song Bird Project in Lakewood newsletter June 2012

Bees

Introducing Tui Mullein, gardener and herbalist, my collaborator, making our first mini-video last year.

Tui writes about the bees in the garden:

Last spring and throughout the summer months, I saw five different species of bees in the 'untamed garden':

Two types of bumblebees: one was yellow, the other was orange.  They were buzzing in and out of the foxgloves, nasturtiums and evening primrose blossoms.

Honey bees were all over the rosemary, lavender, Japanese pear and apple blossoms.

Our native mason bees were also buzzing around.  They are small, metallic and striped, look like little flies and live in drilled cavities in wood boards or boxes and other spots we can't find.

The other bee I recognized was the Northwest carpenter bee. It lives in Douglas fir and seems to prefer native plants like mahonias, ocean spray and ribes.

Thank you, bees for blessing me with your dance in the untamed garden.

T.M.

We put out nesting boxes for the Mason bees on the north side of the house,

and studied a book, "The Orchard Mason Bee" The Life History, Biology, Propagation, and Use of a North American Native Bee, Brian L. Griffin.

We're thinking about putting a honey beehive at the back of the garden.

Which reminds me of a poem I learned by heart at school!

The Lake Isle of Innisfree   I WILL arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,   And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;   Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,         And live alone in the bee-loud glade.      And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,          5 Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;   There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,         And evening full of the linnet's wings.      I will arise and go now, for always night and day   I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;   10 While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,         I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Link below:

Disadvantages of creating a Song Bird Refuge

If you have any questions about the value of creating a Song Bird Refuge, follow the link above.

Making bird spotting friends on the Internet

I'm 'meeting' many people interested in the Small Garden Song Bird Refuge on the Internet.  Emi Shigano of Florida sent me the photo she took of an American Robin with a grub in his mouth.  She writes in her posts of her children's responses to watching birds and their behavior.  I invite anyone to make comments and post photos on Untamed.

It looks as if the map I'd intended to start with is rapidly becoming national.  The National Wildlife Federation website has been an excellent resource for giving me some possibilities to explore.

Crazy about squirrels

Here's a link:

Crazy over Squirrels

A visitor last week wanted a song bird refuge in her garden but was not keen on attracting squirrels to her garden.  I, on the other hand, am prepared to co-exist and put out some squirrel feeding stations but add some baffles to the bird feeders to discourage them from getting at the bird seed.

We'll talk about our 'squirrel experiences' at the end of May and the compromises we make to keep the song birds coming back, in spite of ....