North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

Charlie,  We've had a chickadee flying up into a peach tree every time we
get near their birdhouse.  We put up bluebird houses, but too many for them
to all be used by bluebirds, not enough space between them.  (I like to give
them a choice) So tufted titmice or chickadees tend to use one of them every
year.  You can put up houses that are 1" smaller all around for these
smaller birds.  I just lucked into some good plywood being thrown away, I
wasn't going to pass it up, so as I was picking up the smallest peices I
realized they would be ideal for replacing some birdhouses that are really
falling apart.  We've made them before out of 1x6's overlapping on one side
all around, so they made a nearly 5" square space inside.  Then instead of a
hole, you can leave an open space at the top the size the hole would be, is
it 1 1/2" for bluebirds?  I have read this makes it cooler, and they seem to
like it fine.  Maybe not such a good idea if you have crows or something
like trying to fish the youngsters out, but we haven't had any depredation
like that.  Though I spotted a black racer (of all things, given we have so
many egg eating rat snakes around) falling out of a cardinal nest one summer
with a baby in it's mouth.  The nest was empty, it must have gotten the
others previous days.  I am always glad to see something reduce our high
levels of resident cardinals.  They specialize in eating peas out of the
pod, both green peas and crowder peas, and when there's nothing in the
garden to destroy, they live on chicken feed.  I have to cover all my pea
rows in early spring or they will eat the seeds, though the voles are worse
and harder to stop.  Donna