Peanut butter recipe for log bird feeders

Log feeders are easy to make. Find a log 3 or 4 inches in diameter by a foot ot foot in a half long. Drill 2 or 3 holes on four sides. Each hole should be 1/2 inch deep by 1 inch in diameter. You can also add a pirch if you like. Add a threaded eye to one end and hang from tree limb or feeder pole.

Peanut Butter Recipe
2 cups peanut butter
2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup thistle sead
1/2 cup of any or mix of all peanuts, blackoil sunflower sead, cracked corn, and or pecans
1/2 cup bird sead

mix well, and refrigerate unused mixture. You can also use suet (animal fat) added with or in place of peanut butter in this recipe. If you add suet with peanut butter use 1 cup of each.

Attracts
Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Chickadees

Birds add Color and Liveliness to Yards

Whether located in cities, towns or rural communities, birds add color and liveliness to yards and gardens. Several different types of birds have become accustomed to civilization and living in close approximation to man.

Attracting Birds

Birds can be attracted to your yard and garden through the careful placement of birdhouses, or nesting boxes, bird feeders, and bird baths. Birds are attracted where provisions are made for their feeding and bathing. To keep birds around, provide bird houses.

Bird Houses

Bird Houses should be mounted at a height of about 5 or 6 feet. Mounting to low will increase the risk of predators. Mounting to high will invite sparrows, and make cleaning out the nesting box more difficult. Birdhouses should be cleaned out after every nesting, to encourage the next nesting. You should space bird houses at least 20 feet apart to prevent fighting over nesting area and empty nesting boxes.

Bird Feeders and Bird Baths

Feeders and baths should be placed more than 20 feet away from birdhouses. Placing these to close to the nesting area will prevent nesting. Place these closer to the watching area with the bird houses in the far distance.

Do not place bird houses, feeders, or baths close to any area where pesticides will be used.

Attracting feathered friends to your yard is an enjoyable pastime. Few urban dwellers enjoy this pastime but can if they devote a little time on placing a few birdhouses where space is available and use bird feeders and bird baths around patio area. With a little work, the reward will be bird songs and color in motion for your yard and garden.

SJ State weighs Skype ban

An effort by San Jose State University to ban the Skype phone service has been put on hold in the face of fierce objections from students and staff.

Administrators said they would meet with eBay, the owner of Skype, next Tuesday in order to give the San Jose-based company an opportunity to address the university's concerns about network security.

Read more:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/15576648.htm

There's a New eBay Competitor in Town, and This Time It's Local.

In the last 12 months, eBay has increased auction-format listing fees, final value fees, launched eBay Express, significantly increased eBay Store fees, and made numerous other changes which have severely impacted many smaller sellers' businesses.

Read more:

http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m09/i15/s02

An eBay Storeowner's Review of PriceGrabber Storefronts

As the owner of a small business, your worst nightmare is likely to be receiving a notice that it will cost more to keep your doors open. Running an online store is no exception, and I was certainly among those alarmed by what recent fee increases for eBay Stores would mean for me, especially since I have a hard time turning a profit under the best of circumstances.

Read more:

http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m09/abu0174/s03

Decorating a Birdhouse by James Patterson

Having a craft project to work on as a family is a great way to pass the time. It allows for something to be accomplished together and becomes a point of pride for all involved. This is especially important during the summer months when the kids are out of school and may be stir crazy for something to do.

Building and decorating a bird house is something that parents and kids can do together. It is relatively cheap and can provide hours of entertainment even after the project is completed. If your child is anything like me, they will love anything that can fly and by building a bird house it will help them to watch birds and may even challenge them to find out even more about the types of birds that frequent your backyard.

Building Your Birdhouse

Three are many different ways that you can go about building your bird house. If you want your kids to have some input, it is important for the design to remain simple. However, if building the bird house is simply for your own craft, there are many complicated and fascinating designs that can be followed. It all depends on what you are looking for from your birdhouse. Looking to impress the neighbors? There are designs that will make your own home look like a shack!

If you want your kids to be a part of the process it is very easy to make your birdhouse very simple. It is quite possible to use four or five pieces of wood and construct one with very little in the way of tools. This will allow your kids to claim ownership over the birdhouse from start to finish.

Painting Your Birdhouse

This is where your kids will have a blast! If you approached correctly, your kids will realize that this is actually a house for birds and they need to decorate it as they would their own house. Again, this will be a great exercise for kids to visualize and might spark a greater interest in birds and other animals. Although there are many ways to go about painting your birdhouse, one the best ways to go about doing this is to use a sponge brush. This will give you enough control to do what you want. Sponge brushes are also great for kids. They don't hold too much paint, but are still able to get the job done.

One thing to keep in mind is that the paint you use should not contain any chemicals that will have potential harm to the bird who will be visiting. Please take careful notice of the type of paint you are using. Not only could this be fatal to the birds, but it could also be traumatic to your kids.

Another thing to consider is to leave the inside of the birdhouse free of any paint. It should be completely natural and free of chemicals so that the birds can freely make a home inside.

How Bright Should My Birdhouse Be Painted?

Although it might be fun to paint your birdhouse a loud color that will stand out in your yard, and this might be your kid's color of choice, it is important to recognize that bright colors will not necessarily attract more birds. In the wild, female birds are a more subdued color for protection. This will often translate into where birds attempt to find shelter. If your birdhouse is too bright, it might not attract birds.


About the Author
James has been in the bird world for over 10 years, spending most of it breeding exotic birds.He has also written many articles for his local bird club's newsletter.Site: http://www.birdflights.com/beak.pl/cedar/how/butterfly-audubon.html

Protecting Birdhouses from Predators by Harriett Allen

Bird houses can become easy targets for predators if not placed properly, and birdhouses may be in danger no mater where they are placed from some predators. Some predators to worry about are Blue Jays, Starlings, Grackles, Opossums, Red Squirrels, cats, and Raccoons.

Blue Jays and Starlings will run off the birds you would like to nest in your boxes, and if they can peck the entrance hole out large enough, they will take over the nesting boxes. Squirrels will chew on the wood at the entrance to enlarge the opening enough to gain entry. Cats and Raccoons will sit on top of the bird house and reach in for what they want.

Protecting against Predators

The ideal way to protect birdhouses from predators is to not put the nesting boxes where predators can get to them. This is impossible in some locations, but there are some things that can be done to keep predators away.

Don't place nesting boxes in trees or hang from limbs.
Mount bird houses on metal poles
Use Predator Guards
Place birdhouses in open areas or at the edge of tree lines.
Predator Guards

There are several different predator guards that can be used and function in different ways. Many of these can be made with materials around the house.

If you are mounting the nesting box on a wood post, you can wrap the post with sheet metal under the birdhouse. This will offer a no grip policy that will keep the cats, squirrels, and raccoons away. You can also place a sheet metal conical collar under the birdhouse, and around the pole. This baffle will keep these same pests from reaching the bird house.

Mount birdhouses on a slick metal pole 5 or 6 feet up from the ground in an open area.

Use a predator guard on the entrance of the birdhouse to prevent unwanted birds from pecking the opening out large enough they can enter, also to deter squirrels from chewing on the wood entrance. This can be done by adding another piece of wood to make it to much work for unwanted birds and squirrels. You can also cut out a piece of sheet metal to the entrance size you would like and place over the entrance. The unwanted birds and squirrels wont peck or chew the sheet metal.

If you have more tips, please comment.

Woodwork for Wildlife

The Importance of Garden Decor By Denny Soinski

Transform Your Life

Gardens and their ornaments are symbols of enchantment, of mystery, of meaning, and of ultimate being. Another way of looking at this is to see that gardens and garden accents provide the power to transform one’s mood and one’s life. To be sure, garden accessories can become symbolic reminders of life’s blessings as they encourage people to enrich their surroundings by transcending the mundane.

The Gardening Imagination

Garden ornaments help people take an active stance in their lives by enabling them to create a niche in the world that is in concert with their values and their dreams. Indeed, it is this “gardening imagination” that provides people with the opportunity to select meaningful objects that speak to their senses, to their experiences, and to their lives.

An Invitation to Add Garden Decor to your Life

Websites that sell garden decor can be viewed as invitations for people to experiment and let their imaginations run free so that they can, with conscious effort or with playfulness, select the accents that they like—decor that speaks to their dreams and to their soul. With this in mind, look at the different products that are sold and select garden accessories that help elicit childhood fantasies. Examine the different garden accents and choose ornaments that speak to your inner self.

Let Your Personality Shine Through

Garden decor helps calm the spirit, soothe the soul, and delight the senses. By letting your individuality shine through as you select your decorative accents, you will transform your garden into one of the most meaningful experiences in your life. The challenge is to capture moments of wonder, joy, and inspiration and experience the lasting pleasures of beauty and the splendors of nature by decorating your garden in a way that is congruent with your noblest thoughts, feelings, and aspirations.

Your Garden Sanctuary

Strive to decorate your garden with ornaments that magically call you to return to your garden sanctuary. Look at different garden products and decide on decorations that motivate you to tap into your playfulness or into your artistic bent as you contemplate how you will decorate your garden. In a word, you can add richness, depth, and a sense of discovery to your garden with different garden ornaments.

Summary

In conclusion, garden decor is significant because it is an invitation for people to open themselves to the magic, to the wonder, to the meaning, and to the pleasure that gardens and garden related accessories can bring to their lives.

About the Author:
Denny Soinski is the owner of the highly successful company Water Fountains and Garden Decor. Dennys website http://www.water-fountains-and-garden-decor.com features garden decor accents including water fountains vases birdhouses lanterns sculptures plant stands birdfeeders lighthouses wall plaques planters and windchimes.

eBay Store - Odds Ends: How to use RSS Feeds

eBay Store - Odds Ends: How to use RSS Feeds

How do I use eBay store RSS feeds?

What is RSS?
RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. RSS feeds are an easy and efficient way to receive notification when new information is available in a specific area of interest.

eBay store RSS feeds are an easy way to receive notification when new items are available in specific stores. Our feed will let you know when new listings in our store are available for items like Tie-Dye T-shirts, or squirrel in a jar feeders.

How Can I Benefit From RSS?
RSS feeds save time, allowing users to receive notification only when new content is available. Web site visitors choose the information they wish to subscribe to and can unsubscribe from any feed at any point.

eBay store feeds will allow users to receive notification only when new items are available. You will be notified when new items are available in our store like novelty Tees, and trendy youth shirts.

How Do I Subscribe to RSS Feeds?
First you will need an RSS feed reader (also called a news aggregator) there are a number of RSS readers available. Popular RSS readers include AmphetaDesk, Radio UserL and NewzCrawler.

RSS readers are simply programs that display the contents of an RSS feed in an easy to read format. With eBay store RSS feed you can keep up with newly added items such as funny T shirts, and bird houses, and other woodwork for wildlife related items.

Once you have an RSS reader you simply click the icon or a link to the RSS feed and paste it into your RSS reader. Some readers will auto detect the presence of an RSS feed on a website and you can optionally choose to subscribe.

Subscribe to eBay store links whenever you see the RSS icon .

The RSS icon is located at the bottom of the page in all eBay stores that make a feed available. Click the icon and copy the link in the address bar and paste the link into your reader. Soon you will see newly added items for biker T's, rude T-shirts, and bird feeders.

Odds & Ends T-shirts and Woodwork for Wildlife RSS eBay store feed.

More information from eBay's help pages Subscribing to RSS Feeds

Platform Bird Feeders by Pam Caouette

What are platform bird feeders you may be wondering and what is their purpose with feeding birds? Well to put it simply a platform bird feeder is designed for birds who like to eat bird seed off of the ground. Platform bird feeders can be places slightly above ground, or the can be mounted off a deck a tree or a stump. You can also order a platform pole mount to mount your platform bird feeder on a pole.

The main difference between hanging bird feeders and platform bird feeders is that with a hanging bird feeder the bird seed is dispensed through a crack or a small opening in the bird feeder. With a platform bird feeder the bird seed is placed on a platform, or a plate and the birds peck the food from a pile or scattering.

With a platform bird feeder, or a tray bird feeder the birds that are attracted depends on the seeds, but if you are using a platform bird feeder, or fly thru feeder then you may end up seeing a cardinal and other various birds.

Platform bird feeders can also be squirrel proof. By having your platform bird feeder hang, squirrels are less likely to reach your bird seed, saving you money and allowing the various birds to eat. Some platform bird feeders, or tray bird feeders come with a screen big enough for the birds beaks, but too small for the hands of the squirrels, this is a great feature.

Platform bird feeders and tray bird feeders also know as ground bird feeders are easy to maintain and clean, and will bring different types of birds to your backyard than that of a hanging bird feeder. If you decide to buy a platform bird feeder, be sure that you have an adequate location in your yard before you make the purchase.


About the Author
Pam Caouette is the main author for http://www.aplusbirdfeeders.com Visit http://www.aplusbirdfeeders for more great information on wild birds and bird feeders.