"I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." ~Wendell Berry
When checking the smaller items that were made with the concrete over the last couple of days, we decided that today was a good day to liberate the bird bath from its walls and let it be free. At first, I was disappointed at the ugly structure that emerged from the clay mold, but after studying it for awhile I started to really like it. Is this the way a mother feels about an ugly baby? I wouldn't know - I didn't have an ugly baby.
But this, this is different. I hold no emotional attachment to it, only monetary investment. Or do I? As I studied it, I realized that I was starting to fall in love with it. It needs some work on the spout, but otherwise, it is quite functional. While it may be quite ugly around the edges, a slow realization started to glow in my brain. This is so me. This is the way it turns out for me sometimes. Ugly, but quite functional. I'm not about prettiness in my yard. I've always been about function and this happens to be quite functional as it holds water and will provide my birds with a place to bathe. It's unique. It's mine. It works for the birds and it works for me. Well, it will work for me after some grinding on the overflow spout. I'm willing to bet my life savings that there's not another one like it in the world either. It's so, MINE! It's so "Kathy" so yes, I'm kind of proud of it.
With only 2 pairs of purple martins here, still feeding their young, I have started looking at the other things on my list. One of my major annoyances has been the constant, twice a day refilling of my el-cheapo, concrete, shallow bird bath since the weather has been so hot & dry. It just doesn't hold a lot of water and I finally just gave up and let it go dry. But the birds have still been stopping by and peering forlornly at the empty bath, making me feel guilty
I have seen many DIY projects for building a homemade bird bath, but none of them were exactly what I wanted or envisioned and I was quite sure that what I wanted was not available for purchase. Not at a price I would pay, anyway. I wanted something that I wouldn't have to refill two or three times a day. Something with a 6 to 10 gallon water reservoir. Just over a week ago, we finally setup a prototype of what I thought I might want and waited to see if the birds would like the waterfalls.
3, 18" planter water trays, small aquarium pump, aquarium hose and a 6-gallon reservoir and my prototype was up & running.
Turns out, they love it! But I still wasn't happy with the plastic trays - they were too deep and smooth and I had to add rocks to them to make them more shallow. That would negate their formerly "easy-to-clean" attractiveness. And I just didn't love them. I could live with them, but that's different than loving them. My darling husband knew that I wasn't happy with them and came up with the idea of molding and making our own bird baths with pour spouts at a depth of our choosing. He always has great ideas. I do too, but often his implementation is better than mine. That's because he's more patient than I am and I was excited.
I love making my own stuff and I love being crafty, so with a vacation day on Friday, we put his plan into action. In Missouri, clay is our typical "top soil". So we decided to take advantage of the ability to use it to make a mold for our bird bath trays.
One bucket of clay, coming up!
The form for holding our mold.
The clay was sifted to remove all the rocks & big chunks.
Add water to make a super, gooey, sticky mix.
It has to be so sticky that it can pull your gloves off.
And makes you giggle.
I centered the pan, upside down and shaped the mold.
Final shape, with an overflow spout, to keep the water level where I want it. I had to shape the spout twice. Must remember to think upside-down!
My supervisor is so serious. There will be no goofing off on this project, missy! He told me not to post this picture, unless I was prepared to fight off all the women that will now flock to our home to find this handsome hunk. Bring it, ladies!
My first test-run with a leaf casting, using clay as a practice substitute for concrete.
The pour is done. The Terra Cotta color of the concrete doesn't exactly match the color you see in the bucket on the left. But I can live with it. We added this fortifier, so no wet cure is needed and neither is sealant: http://www.quikrete.com/productlines/ConcreteAcrylicFortifier.asp
I will call this bird bath my "Cucumber Cool" bath, since I used all cucumber leaves under the concrete. For my stepping stones below, I used a couple of grapevine leaves (as in the clay picture above) and some leaves from a Sycamore tree in the bigger trays.
My stepping stones and a 'brick' were poured out of the remaining concrete.
It seems not to matter how many books you read or how much research you do when it comes to nature; nature will always do what it wants to do and there's nothing you can do about it. Earlier this year, I had launched my first Mason Bee project. I wrote all about it here:
When I put that housing out on 4/28/2014, I was very worried that I had missed the window to attract mason bees to my housing. Turns out, my instincts were right. Again. Not only was I right about my poor timing, I was wrong about where I placed the housing also. I had gotten the direction right, but after discovering tent worm caterpillars in my housing, I yanked them down from their mounts and did some more reading, eventually finding some text that said, "do not hang in trees". I found out why.
I brought in all my housing, disassembled it, cleaned it all with a 10% bleach solution and left it in the sun to dry for a week. I was very disappointed and frustrated at myself.
One week later, while sitting on our 4-wheelers in the shop, I noticed a small, flying, wasp-like creature flying around the small holes in the handlebar ends on both our bikes.
And she seemed to be carrying something.
Bob's handlebar grip, already stuffed and closed off with a small amount of clay.
Bob researched it that night on the internet and found out that our alien-looking insect was a Potter's wasp. Of course, we were conflicted in our ID, because she wasn't building anything that looked like the typical Potter's wasp nests that you see on the internet, but it never seems to happen that way here anyway. But one id factor in particular helped - she was carrying a small caterpillar into her nest. From the ID link above:
When a cell is completed, the adult wasp typically collects beetle larvae, spiders, or caterpillars
and, paralyzing them, places them in the cell to serve as food for a
single wasp larva. As a normal rule, the adult wasp lays a single egg in
the empty cell before provisioning it. Some species lay the egg in the
opening of the cell, suspended from a thread of dried fluid. When the
wasp larva hatches, it drops and starts to feed upon the supplied prey
for a few weeks before pupating.
Sounds kind of brutal, but fascinating at the same time. Realizing that I had 4 empty Mason bee homes and this poor wasp could not be allowed to continue building in our handlebars, I mounted my Mason bee homes just outside the shop and gently coaxed the wasp outside so she could find her new homes. I figured if the Mason bees weren't going to use my homes this year, something might was well take advantage of them.
It didn't take her long to find them. She must have attracted others because I frequently see at least 2 of them building in their nests. They have been very tolerant of me taking pictures and so far, I have not been stung. I have really enjoyed watching their progress, even if they're not Mason bees. Next year, I plan on getting my housing out earlier and will work on a better location also. For now though, I'm perfectly happy to watch these busy, busy wasps building their nests. Things didn't work out exactly as I planned because Mother Nature decided to do something different and I'm perfectly happy to take an alternative path with Her.
Photo taken 6/21/2014 - 2 weeks after placing the housing.
7/2/2014 - can you find her? Tip: she's in the upper house.
7/4/2014 - Closeup of the top home - notice the dried clay that has fallen off the entrance holes. While she is completely capable of finding her own clay or making the seal on her own, I do spray water on the ground to keep some clay wet for her close by.
My lovely darling - 7/17/2014
8/1/2014 - can you spot the food that is trying to escape?
Yes, the escaping food is the glow-worm at the top there. I imagine she'll return to catch him before he gets too far.
As I completed my last two nest checks of the year and reflect on the lessons I've learned this past season, I can think of a couple of things I wanted to share:
Lesson #1: Always assume you have an owl problem. If you don't have one right now, you will soon enough.
a. Plan accordingly. Protect your housing. Period.
Lesson #2: I have learned that a combination of nest changes and Sevin dust (added to the new, fresh nest) work best to help reduce the population of mites. This year, the mites were particularly numerous. I also learned that they will rain down on you when you are winching down your gourd systems. Wear a hat or scarf over your hair.
Lesson #3: Always assume that a mite has landed / crawled on you after you have conducted a nest check or lowered your systems to inspect the gourds / housing.
a. Given that you are now contaminated, know that anything you touch will also be contaminated. Hence, the lack of pictures for this post. There was no stopping for a photo op after learning this lesson.
Last month, after doing 20+ nest changes in one session, I grabbed the hose to wash my arms off with high-pressure water. One week later, I picked up the same power nozzle to wash out a few containers and found the nozzle covered with mites. It was a good thing Mr. Freeze didn't touch that nozzle first, or he would be on medication and covered with insecticide right now.
Lesson #4: Fill a bucket with water and have a bar of soap and an old rag next to it to use after nest checks. In the interim, put a supply of alcohol-soaked (Isopropyl alcohol, not the drinking kind) in your nest-check kit. I had thought about putting in an outside shower, but the cost was going to be too steep. I may still put in one of those camping shower bags, but for now, a bucket of water, a bar of soap and an old rag will have to do.
Lesson #5: DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING after conducting a nest check! Usually, after completing a nest check, I try to calmly walk back to the house and strip in the garage while Mr. Freeze opens all the doors, turns on the shower and gets out of my way. It could only turn out badly if I had to touch any of the aforementioned items on my way to the shower. But I'm only calm on the outside, so that he doesn't panic - on the inside, I'm screaming, "OH.MY.GOD!!! Get out of my way!!!". Funny how a hot shower & soap can soothe that all away. :-)
As of today, I only have 5 nests with young that have not fledged. It has been getting pretty quiet around here during the day. About 90% of my colony has left to start their migration. I've been very surprised during the evenings when 6-7 nests of newly-fledged martins return with their parents to stay the night. I counted at least 30 birds coming in tonight, with 7 new fledges cramming themselves into one gourd. Hopefully, they've been told the stories and will keep the partying to a minimum tonight.
I have been fortunate this year with only 2 or 3 jumpers. Without banding it's difficult to tell whether it's the same guy. Actually, I don't know that I should call him a "jumper" so much as a "failed launch". I had to chase him around the gourd pole twice in the rain and by then we were both soaked, so I put him in the garage until he dried. The rental price for anyone staying in my garage is to hold still while I take a photo. He looks stubborn. Almost defiant. Good.
With all the owl trouble and fledging going on, I haven't had much of a chance to keep up with nest checks and really thought everyone had at least left the Trendsetter. So, when I saw an ASY male & ASY female martin entering house cavity #1 yesterday, I was surprised to find these four darling, 7-day old nestlings that will not fledge until around 8/5 to 8/9. The mom & dad of these kiddos deserve medals for courage and bravery. You've all seen the nighttime videos. They lived it, yet they hung in there when the beast was shaking and beating his giant wings against their home, threatening to make a meal out of them, yet here they are feeding 4 little winged wonders! Hooray!
Speaking of my Great Horned Owl, we have not had an attack for 8 nights now. Yes, a full 8 nights. I can't even begin to express to you how happy it makes me to pull the cards out of the game cameras every day and find...nothing. Nothing except normal, delightful daytime photos & videos of my martins flitting around trying to get their stubborn children to fledge. Normal! I do enjoy normal!
I'm not sure if the addition of Ellie Mae to my yard along with the radio & bright lights has kept him away, or my random visits at night with Ellie Mae, or just the fact that the noise level has significantly dwindled here over the last 8 days has caused him to avoid us or lose interest.
Whatever it is, I'll take it, but I can't really breathe a sigh of relief until the 4 darlings pictured above are winging south with their parents. Until then, Ellie Mae and I will continue to be vigilant. August sure seems like a long way away right now.
Make no mistake over this writing - I am extremely distressed over this
issue, but this is how I deal with my distress - I write to make myself
feel better. When I was a small child, my grandfather taught me to play checkers. As I matured, he taught me to play chess and it was obvious that chess required a lot more thought, planning and strategy in order to win. I loved it, especially the knights and bishops pieces as their moves were the more complicated and aggressive on the board. I never became a pro at the game, but I learned a lot from it that I now apply to real life.
If someone or something presents a smart move to you, make a smarter move in return. That's the way I feel about my dealings with this owl. I'm still not 100% sure, but believe my owl to be a Great Horned Owl - one of the most aggressive owls around. In chess, the best games are played against a knowledgeable, respectable challenger. Well, I think I have met quite a respectable foe in my current battle to protect my martins. They don't call them "wise, old owls" for nothing.
Great Horned Owl image: National Geographic Online
Renowned
for ferocity, Great Horned Owls kill and eat small to medium mammals
of many kinds, especially hares and rabbits. They eat mice, rats,
squirrels, opossums, woodchucks, bats, weasels, and the occasional
domestic cat. Great-Horned Owls also eat skunks, which are sometimes
such a prominent part of the diet that both bird and nest may smell
of musk. Although mammalian prey typically comprise more than three
quarters of the diet, more than fifty species of birds have been recorded
as prey. In addition to hunting small songbirds, Great Horned Owls
have been known to eat large birds such as grouse, herons, ducks,
Canada Geese, hawks (including Red-tailed), and even other species
of owl. A woodland with resident Great Horned Owls usually lacks any
other raptors in the immediate vicinity.
Well, that may explain what has happened to some of the feral cats that have been roaming around here lately. If I were an owl, I would prefer a larger return for the amount of effort required to hunt - a meal such as a cat or rabbit rather than a scrawny little songbird. What is it about my purple martins that makes him want to come after them so aggressively anyway? Do they taste like lobster or some other special delicacy?
My first moves in response to the owl were to put up the wire fencing around my Trendsetter and the array of garden stakes around my gourd racks. We had multiple days where the owl did not make an appearance, then when he did show up, the game camera pictures showed him using the tops of the racks as perches from which he was hunting for ground-dwelling prey.
Then one night, he upped the ante - I found a bent garden stake in front of 2 gourds, which I replaced with an even thicker stake. As the stake he grabbed was just out of view of the game camera, I was unable to see what had happened, but I did verify that the martins in those 2 gourds were safe & still feeding their young. In response to his move, I decided to stand watch and wait for him and hopefully give him a good scare. He flew through my yard at 9:10 PM on 7/4, circled to some trees and at 9:25 PM, he returned to perch on the perching post, 20' from my martin housing. I flipped on all the lights, including my million-watt spotlight and ran at him, screaming a lot of words that probably shouldn't be printed here on my blog. Regardless, he left in a hurry. Despite my feeling of victory in the battle that night, I knew that the war was not yet over, but I still hoped I had provided him with something to think about before he landed here again.
As most of you know, he upped the ante again on the nights of 7/7 and 7/9, challenging the integrity of my wire cage on the Trendsetter and flushing out several martins. http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/07/caught-in-act.html
While these videos have indeed been alarming to me, I saw his increased aggression as another challenge to which I needed to rise and hopefully, respond with something even better which will perplex and discourage him. As of yesterday, we had 3 peaceful nights with no owl attacks, but knowing that he is probably not done with me or my martins yet., I built a scarecrow and christened her, "Ellie Mae" before sticking her out in the yard to stand guard duty last night.
As I sat with Ellie Mae in the yard last night, I saw a large bird with a large pair of wings silhouetted against the southern horizon moving steadily northward toward my colony. "Holy Moley - he's bigger than I thought - not tonight - you will NOT eat martins tonight!", I thought. Grabbing my spotlight as I rose and tensing in preparation to start my own running, screaming, scary attack, I stopped mid-step as my eyes identified my attacker - and I allowed the Great Blue Heron to pass, unmolested by my colorful words and lights. I did find it odd though that after flying another 5 seconds north of my house, the heron suddenly turned 180 degrees, emitted her own alarm calls, and flew back southward. What had scared her? Had she spotted my owl perched in a tree north of the house and changed course? I'll never know.
All the game cameras confirmed today that we have now been 4 nights without any night visitors.
Whether Ellie Mae is helping or not is yet to be determined. I'll move her around the yard to different spots, keep playing the radio and keep the lights on all night. If anything does happen, I'm sure I'll be dismayed, saddened, alarmed and very, very upset again. But I will regroup and deal with it.
For now though; "Dear Mr. Owl - Your Move".
I've been monitoring my colony pretty closely and even ran the owl off the perches on Friday, 7/4. I had to leave for a business trip last Sunday however, so my husband was leaving the radio and porch lights on to try to keep him frightened away. Upon returning today I pulled the game cards out of my cameras and was quite alarmed to find these two new videos of the owl attacking my Trendsetter. I've had a lot of fledging going on this week, so I suspect he was after the new fledges that often hang out on these porches at night. He obviously left empty-clawed but, he's definitely shaking up the tenants of the house.
This one happened early in the evening on 7/7/2014. You can click on the YouTube icon in the picture and embiggen them for better viewing.
This one happened 2 nights later.
Looks like I'll be staying up late in the evenings until all the martins are gone now.
