Simply For The Birds

Chickadees are small agile birds that are a joy to watch, and are an integral part to maintaining a healthy garden.  Chickadees feed on harmful insects and caterpillars, helping to keep your plants safe.  In addition, chickadees provide a breadth of aesthetic appeal with their pleasant chirps and unique feather coloring.  To attract chickadees to your yard, you will want to install a number of chickadee houses.  These special birdhouses have a smaller than usual entrance hole, designed for a chickadee to fit inside and to keep out other kinds of birds.

Chickadees will also eat various types of nuts and seeds, so a birdfeeder filled with mixed seed, or a suet feeder will often attract chickadees.  The birds will also work to cache seeds for the winter months, so if you have chickadees in your yard, continue to fill the feeder during the fall and winter months.

Mosquitoes are pure pests that provide no benefit to an outdoor location.  They travel in swarms, can carry a host of harmful diseases and illnesses, and cause irritating bumps and rashes on the skin.  To combat a mosquito infestation in your yard, first try to eliminate any stagnant pools of water around, as this is where mosquitoes breed.  You might find infestations in kiddy pools, birdbaths, or puddles; ensure these are cleared out and covered up.  To remove an existing mosquito population, consider purchasing a bat house.  If you can convince bats to nest in your yard, they will whittle away at a mosquito population over time.

In addition to eating mosquitoes, bats are fun to watch and listen to at night, and will keep several species of harmful pests out of your garden.