Birdhouse in your soul

I've been really interested in bird watching lately. It started when Ben came up with his ingenius plan for landscaping the backyard. He delt with the design part and I envisioned multiple bird feeders and a bird bath all just outside the windows for easy viewing. Now, honestly, the bird things were more for the cats enjoyment, but I gotta tell ya, I've found myself watching them for minutes on end at times. They're so mesmerizing and it's also fun to watch the cats get all crouched down in attack mode for something they'll never get (actually they did get one a couple days ago, but I digress).

Once the weather got warmer, I put out one feeder. Then we went to the nursery to get more flowers and I found a free booklet about bird watching, feeding, etc. The booklet has color pictures of birds common to our area along with what kinds of food those birds prefer to eat, how to make your own feed mix and how to build birdhouses. I was so excited at the thought that I could draw more birds to our windows that I instantly went out and bought a dual shepard's hook and two more feeders. Now we're up to three feeders and the birds love it so much I have to fill them up every couple days!
I've seen all kinds of birds, here's the ones I know off hand: cardinal (male & female), blue jay (m&f), brown-headed cow bird, sparrow, bluebird (m&f), chickadee, mouning dove, goldenfinch (m&f) and red finch.

About two weeks ago, Ben got out all his scrap wood, looked up how to build birdhouses and went to work. I helped, sort of. I think I really just stood there and talked to him and watched, but whatever. He built two houses, mounted (nailed) them to a couple trees and hoped for the best. On Sunday I saw a male & female blue bird checking out both houses and Monday night we were sitting outside and saw them putting straw in one of the houses. As of this morning, the male was sitting on a branch just outside the house, seemingly guarding it. As other birds would fly near the house, he would chase them away. I think they're the new inhabitants of a cozy bird bungalow.

Unrelated news: Polkaboy was AWESOME as usual. The Conley's beautiful new home is coming together nicely. The birthday party was fun. I fell asleep part way through SNL. This weekend is the mini in Indy, pig roast at "the house" followed by hanging with some friends Saturday night in Indy. Should be good tims!