here is my first try at posting a picture, this is very early in my garden and is embarassing but oh well! It will get better next year!

Here is a link that might be useful: bird area

Your garden is not embarassing. That is one of the prettiest water features I have seen! I have Limelight too and love it. I hope the SAC takes off. It should cover that fence and the smell will be heavenly.

Good idea having the hydrangea near the bb, that way it will get more moisture which is a good thing.

Here is what I do for birds. First I plant lots of tubular, red flowers for the hummers. Secondly the gold finches love the spikey seed heads of echinaceas and cosmos. They are already working on mine. About this time of year, I start leaving old blooms to dry for them.

I don't feed wild bird seed mix anymore. It seems to draw the flocking type birds like house sparrows and starlings and grackles which I don't want to encourage! I just feed black oil sunflower seeds in winter. I toss cracked corn on the drive for the pair of doves who are ground eaters.
In the winter I hang bags of suet out and I also make some suet cakes with lard, cornmeal, and peanut butter and some other things which escape me at present.

I do have a bird bath in the HB Bed and I keep water out even in winter when I have to do it daily if it is freezing out.

Another idea you might consider is planting a small tree behind the Limelight or nearby the birdbath to encourage them to come. They like shelter they can get to quickly.
Maybe something with fruit/seeds that the birds enjoy. I like to do native plants for that. I have aronia sitting in a pot that already had seeds on it for that. Need to get it planted this fall.

How many feeders: I keep one on the east side for me to see and one on the west side for DH to enjoy (that's where the tv is so he is there more than the kitchen (east) side.)
These are for the sunflower seeds.

I have a thistle feeder to attract the finches in winter. Both Gold Finches and Purple Finches come to it. It is hanging right outside the kitchen window so I can enjoy it up close.

I hang gourd birdhouses around in various trees for the wrens to build in and they always come.

Here is a link that might give you some ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants for Birds

Very pretty water feature.
kay

It looks nice. I have 3 birdbaths and 2 birdfeeders and suet baskets.
My favorite birds that are always in my backyard, is the Cardinal and
Goldfinch. I also try to plant flowers that have seed for the birds.
Right now the Goldfinches are eating the Love Lies Bleeding flower seeds.
I didn't even know they liked those. I find out what they like to eat by
accident. When I see them eating a particular flower seed. I plant more
of that flower the next year.

I have one feeder and I located it by my pond and a nearby garden bed filled with shrubs and flowers. Goldfinches just love nyjer seeds. Yesterday I counted some 8-10 birds trying to get to the feeder. I noticed that they love to eat cornflower seeds, love to hide in my limelight hydrangea and sit on my honeysuckle vine. They also seem to be eating the seeds of my lunaria.

I forgot to mention how adorable your pug and baby bulldog is. I was
almost going to buy a pug at one time, but I have a beautiful 8 yr old
daschund. She is my gardening buddy.

Food, water and shelter doesn't have to be very fancy. Birds are used to the wild.

I've aspired to being Wing Haven South for years, starting with a simple birdbath and a big rock with a depression that holds water. Fresh water is what they need. When I consider cutting down the wilderness of nandina, catbrier and wisteria by the fence corner, I think of the 'Bird Tangle' at Wing Haven and leave it for another season of baby birds to escape the cat. There were 3 mockingbird nests among the vines in the grape arbor when the grapes got ripe and I got in close.

Nell

I've been a birder for many many years. Here I have a 3-tier fountain and a bird bath in the backyard, 4 seed feeders, 2 thistle feeders, (these on shepherd's hooks), a couple suet feeders in winter, 4 hummer feeders in summer, and a couple feeders and 1 birdbath in front. Many of my plants attract birds too. I truly beleive that attracting birds is an integral part of organic gardening, and I rarely have insect pests. I also have many birdhouses and yearly get bluebirds nesting and purple martins, and barn swallows. Others come and go. My favorite is the busy little wren, which eats bugs but that's ok too. In winter I gradually move the shepherd's hooks a little closer to my big window and get a closeup of the birds when I'm too cold to go outside.
laurie

lil, We love birds too, but discourage the spuirrels who eat us out of house and home. I have 22 feeders for suet, nuts, thistle safflower, plus hummer, oriole and cardinal feeders hanging on the overhand, shepherds hooks and sitting on poles, for winter, we add a huge seed block on a table. I had a cute corn on the cob holder for the squirrels too, but it attracted mice, so I am storing it for awhile.

We've 5 bird baths-one on each side of the house and an extra small one by the kitchen door which I plan to move to the other family room patio garden...now that I think of it. The precious old cement and stone bath is one DH grew up with and is the focal point in the kitchen patio garden. The blue one is planted with impatiens, wax begonias and ivies and is the focal point in the family room patio garden.

I've four functional wren birdhouses and I couldn't begin to guess how many ornamental ones-30 maybe. In the front "Welcome Garden," it's not the bird stuff, but the rose tree & lights that are the focal points, depending on the time of day.

My goal is NOT to arrange the functional ones in some disignerly way, but to have them where we can see them most often by the study window and kitchen patio door. They hang from the overhang, ornamental crabapple trees ( which they love for winter eating), lilacs, Russian peashrub, metal poles and one big wood and glass one sits on a large cruciform wooden pole. On top of that, I don't deadhead for pretty either, rather let the seeds dry for the birds to eat & me to dream of planting...not likely in MN.

My favorite guest is the Rose Breasted Grosbeak. They don't come as often, so when they do, it is a time of celebration-yelling at each other to come see and getting the birdbook off the shelf so we can mark the date we saw them by their pic. The colorful blue jays, goldfinches, cardinals and wrens thrill us too, especially when they bring their babes around to feed. Today, I had a new guest an LBT (little brown thing) teeny and squeeky with a stubby tail, maybe a warbler.

Everything is surrounded by flowers except outside the study window and this is an area I am barely beginning to develop. The more I think about it the simpler I think it will be with existing huge wooden bird feeder, bird bath and a small bench (maybe one end topped with a flower pot) on a bulge in the straight path. We'll see. gramma jan

Forgot to mention the bird bath heater to keep the water open in this climate.
gramma jan

We also have five birdbaths, GJ, but 22 feeders-oh my! I would need to take on a second job to keep them all filled! We have two plus the suet feeder and lots of natives with berries for the birds. I put a heavy plastic bag over the baths in the winter to keep rain from freezing in the concrete and cracking it. I shape the bag to the basin, though, so it will still hold water-looks stupid, but it works. My favorites are the cardinals and the chickadees, I think. Still, I do love the catbirds, mockingbirds, goldfinches, and robins. I don't think I've ever seen a rose-breasted grosbeak. We do have a towhee that visits now and again in spring and fall. The bluejays, especially the young ones, are a hoot to watch in the bird baths. They also love to splash in the dogs' water dishes-too funny. One of the best things about a bird-friendly yard is the birdsong in the morning when it is not quite light or just as the sun begins to rise. Pure bliss.

Cynthia

I depend on the birds for insect control as our garden is almost 100% organic (annuals get a bit of fert).

We only have one feeder and use only black oil sunflower seeds. We feed all year except when we are away. I used to worry about the birds starving when we were away but I've been told they don't rely on only one feeder but travel to many. Several visitors have commented that we have a lot of birds.

There's a row of coniferous trees nearby where they perch until they feel safe. They are back and forth constantly. We also have two birdbaths altho the birds mostly use the old plastic one that's elevated 6' high. We rinse and refill at least daily and if I see those filthy pretty robins I wash and refill again. :-) The nice decorative glass totem birdbath I made is mostly used by the squirrels and chipmunks. I only occasionally see a bird in it. Not sure why. The birdfeeder is also on a tall pole. We had an outdoor cat a few years ago who was a "birder" so DH put the bird's food and water up high as we were losing one bird a day which was sad.

The area around the birdfeeder is a wild garden and I let it all go to seed for them.

We live in a forest so haven't bothered with birdhouses. I think they do OK in the wild. We do leave the old snags up for shelter.

Lilyfinch
that is a cute puppy! I can almost taste how soft his/her face is by looking at him/her. I hold my puppies til they can't wait to get away.
Oh! and I like those roses too!
Duane

Mother Nature takes care of it all for us. I don't do a thing. There are soooo many birds that I see that I have no idea the names of. I am lucky to be able to sit and listen to them and often see their private ways and their antics. Mornings in my garden are unbelievable with the sights and the sounds.

MeMo

I have 22 feeders...

GrammaJan, talk about a full time job! ;)

We used to maintain about 7 seed feeders including one for the squirrels. Gradually paired down and eventually gave the remaining feeders to a neighbor. She's great about keeping them filled and even has one of those bungee corn feeders for the squirrels. Since our climate is moderate there's usually an ample natural food supply for the birds year round. That's a totally different story for those of you in northern climes. We have four bird baths and 2 fountains. One fountain is a combination bath/fountain.

My main focus is hummingbirds. They're a big factor in the majority of my plant choices ... anything that encourages them to visit and provides food and cover. I supplement natural nectar & insect sources with feeders. In addition to the spring/summer Ruby-throateds we also host some of the winter migrants like Rufous, Calliopes, and Buff-bellieds. I keep 7-9 feeders up year round.

I started putting seed out for the birds in the winter only. But they hung around expectantly in the spring, so I've continued feeding year-round, adding a couple bird baths. The entire area behind our tall, wooden fence has grown tall and wild - it's an unmaintained strip of "public utilities" land, and has become a natural habitat for birds (and other critters). So we have our backyard and gardens and the birds come and go from behind the fenced area.

I bought an Audubon bird field book and enjoy looking up new visitors. There's always a new bird to id. Over the years I've added many suet feeders that attract all kinds of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and sapsuckers. All of the other "regulars" enjoy the suet occasionally, too, and all of them eat from the suet feeders year-round, not just in the winter.

The biggest attraction, though, comes by way of everyone's favorite food that I now put out regularly on the deck rail - at least all the insect eaters: I buy inexpensive jars of dry-roasted, UNSALTED, peanuts. I run them through my food processor until they are crumbly. I have yet to see a bird that doesn't come and gobble them up, including the woodpeckers and especially the cardinals. We have hundreds of cardinals. The best part is in the spring, when the mother birds cram as much crumbled up peanuts as they can into their beaks and fly off to feed their babies, then come right back for more. This goes on all day and it makes me feel good that so many babies are being well fed. We've had several bluebird and mockingbird families come to our deck, as the young'uns grow and learn to fly. Later in summer, the visits pare way down, so I know they're on their own now as far as feeding themselves with insects or whatever they'd eat naturally. They don't come around much at all during the summer.

It's really fun and interesting - I didn't start this expecting to be a "birder", but I guess that's what's happened. During the early winter, we have many birds stop by that aren't usually seen in NC, on their winter migrations to someplace warmer.

Sorry for the long post!

Pat,

Love the ground peanut idea! I'm going to start that this weekend. I also find the birds eat less this time of year, but I also feed year-round. Spring is an especially important time to put out suet since that also goes to the babies!

I never expected to become so taken with watching the birds, either. It really is fun, isn't it?!

Cynthia

Do any of you participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count? Maybe something to consider.

Here is a link that might be useful: CBC

Hi Cynthia! So happy you're going to try the ground up peanuts. Just please be sure to only buy the unsalted kind. Unsalted is readily available everywhere and it's a permanent item on my grocery list. (I don't know that salt to do them any harm, but no need to risk it.) After the word gets out in your corner of the world, I'll bet you start seeing many new birds. And it really is great fun and makes you feel good.
Pat

I had sunflowers volenteer themselves from my seed, i had no idea how the birds would eat from these drooping heads! Today i watched chickadees hang in the craziest ways to eat these fresh seeds, even thoough theres a feeder right by it! I must find a place to plant a patch of sunflowers next year!

Thanks, Pat. I will be sure to get the unsalted. That is what we try to eat, too! Not as tasty, but healthier for DH and his high blood pressure! Wouldn't do anything less for the birds!!!! lol.