Monday, January 14, 2013

Camp Stranded Update - Bluebirds on my shoulder

I've caught hell for this but I built a birdhouse for my wife and gave it to her for Christmas. In fact, I built two bluebird boxes while #1 and #2 sons built one each.


 

The Mrs. loved them but her friends thought of me as a cheapskate (which is true). They have other words to describe me, but this is a PG blog.

Why did she love these? We built these with our own hands, no store bought fancy-house will grace the confines of Camp Stranded. If we can only get one pair of birds to nest, the thought having those little song birds singing will brighten up the place. That's why she appreciated a gift that will hopefully bring some joy down there during our visits.

We put them up last weekend as I'm hoping they will get aired out by the time they go house hunting in March. Two out of cedar and two out of pine and I coated them with linseed oil to protect them from the elements. I used two clamps through slots on a facing board to attach to steel posts that we put in the open and facing a tree to roost on after leaving the nest. Then I mounted the box to the facing board.

Will we get some boarders? I hope these are inviting to any newcomers to the area and with different woods and locations, I'll have a good idea of what works. We can add more boxes next year, but I better have something different for the Mrs. at Christmas.

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