Bird House

My mother had a bluebird box kit (Ages 7 & up, adult supervision recommended) that she was going to sell in one of her garage sales--probably for 50 cents. Instead Shari scooped it up, being over 7 and an adult and all. She put it together in about 20 minutes in the garage. Now, where to put it?

Next to our house is a field that people around here call "the slump."

It was one of the selling points of the house (no neighbors next door). It looks like it was dug out as a drainage catchment, though it would take The Flood to ever fill it. No one seems to know who owns the land. So we figured our bird house could squat among the prickly pear and half-dead pines.

For $12 at Lowe's we bought a pail, a post and 40lbs of cement. In another "I've never done this before" moment for me I dug a hole for the pail. It was both easier (basically digging in sand) and harder (lots of roots to cut through) than I thought it would be. I thought 40lbs of cement was way more than we needed. It wasn't; it didn't even fill the pail. Add water and stir. This morning, I'm happy to report, it was still standing.

Makes a great sundial too!

Now will the bluebirds nest in it? I often see them in the dead tree nearby, so they shouldn't have a hard time finding it. We read that you're supposed to put 2 boxes up: one for the House Wrens that are more aggressive for the bluebirds and one for the bluebirds. Why the wrens won't take over both boxes is not explained. Anyway, House Wrens would be OK too.

Bluebirds start looking for nests in February. It will be interesting to see if we attract a pair, especially since the guy next door, who has lived here a lot longer than us, says he's never seen bluebirds around here while I see them all the time.