Simplify and improve...

Following traditional invention processes, I dreamed about the bottle and realised that it could be made simpler...

The same inverted base but just one bottle involved. No waste!





The Marsh Tits have no preference for either and they are the most frequent visitors.

Meanwhile, on the lawn, the cold has encouraged Blackbirds, Songthrush and Starlings to return. Wrens and Yellowhammers ignore my activity and eachother. There is inevitably, evidence of a recently sighted Sparrowhawk taking understandable advantage. I shall spare you that one.


..and the Woodpecker has become more curious....




The other major predator just can't be bothered.

This one is really worth enlarging!

The bird feeder recipe...

Having tried with limited success (I am still waiting to hear from the moderators at Ehow in California), I have decided to publish my 'Blue Peter Make' here, where I know what I'm doing!

I did a search online to see if there was somewhere that described the use of those beautiful jellyfish


type shapes at the base of pop bottles. I felt that they should at least offer an aesthetic to the 'Bird Feeder From A Bottle'. As it was, my search turned up nothing. So, in true Hesketh tradition, I began by working backwards from deconstruction...

Most of the other recycling sites merely suggest drilling holes in the tops of empty bottles and cutting access platforms... All well and good but not very elegant. Here then is my recipe...


What you need:

2 x 500 ml bottles. Water, Pop etc.
1 Wire coat hanger.
1 Bamboo skewer approx 30 cm, cut into two.
Pliers
Drill and 3.5 ml and 8 ml bits.
Serrated kitchen knife or hacksaw.
Craft knife/ scissors.
Electrician's tape.




1. Cut one of the bottles as shown and discard the resultant tube of plastic. We are only
interested in the top and bottom.
















2. Carefully cut around the top of one of the bottle lids. The aim is to create a threaded sleeve that will unite both bottle necks..

3. Position the two small pieces of bottle as here...

If you have cut squarely (I followed manufacture marks and this worked well..) a simple push fit will result in a satisfactory base hopper unity with no wrinkles or bulges.

4. Using the 3.5 ml bit, drill four holes an the four faces of this unit, being careful to offset top and bottom to allow for the positioning of the skewers as shown..


5. Using the 8ml bit, drill half a dozen holes in the 'shoulders' of the hopper. Positioning is not crucial but cleaning 'sprue' out is. Plastic shards are no substitute for seed!


6. Drill two 3.5 ml holes in the bottom of the complete bottle to allow for the coat hanger wire 'Suspension assembly'.. (If anyone has any ideas how to avoid this patently dampening design fault please let me know..)



7. Position the threaded collar onto the complete bottle with enough thread to accommodate the hopper base. If you have not left enough thread, don't despair. Electrician's tape will hold it all together..
Fill the bottle and screw/tape the two pieces together.

Voila..














Someone likes it!

Northumberland snow

Overnight, 6 inches of snow and rising....


Extra food required. The blackbirds seem to be more tolerant of eachother and smaller birds braver all round..

Compliments..

I feel I have been remiss, no attention to this detail in a few weeks. Mea Culpa.

This prolonged snap has caught many of the neighbours unawares. Those of us without the luxury of four wheel drive vehicles venture out with trepidation and a 'Twenty In Second' philosophy.

Those with the luxury seem to have a different outlook. The likelihood of allowing a small green Ford Fiesta a black bit of road with a reduced chance of ditching seems proportional to the cost of their conveyance.

Short wheelbase Landrovers with long service and Sheepdogs co-driving are liable to stop and allow your passage. They could move aside with ease but are aware of the likelihood of their having to pull you out in the event of an angular accident.

Four by Four Jeep copies are unlikely to move, not trusting the axles to operate as they should and probably being unaware of the small button marked Diff Shift in the gear well...

Then there are the Porche Cayenne, BMW 328 i xDrive 4dr All-wheel Drive Sedan, The RangeRover ('I should really be in Iraq but thought I'd stay and keep an eye on you at home..') and the Mitsubishi Animal. These will edge gradually over to your side of the road, emphasising the relative value of one of their tires and insisting that you spend the afternoon at 45 degrees, trying to get a signal.

Happily, I have opted to stay in and invent a new bird feeder. Based on two empty fizzy water bottles and soon to be published as a 'How To' on Ehow. (I shall alert when done).

Meanwhilem, I shall evaluate the efficiency and get back to you with results. Since hanging it, filled with protein rich food, two Willow or Marsh tits have shown interest and the afternoon squadron of Long Tailed Tits fed rapidly.


It may look elaborate, but it serves seed better than other DIY bottle feeders since it need not be topped up to the level of the bottom hole every time. We'll see!

This lad needs no such nonsense. He arrived in the garden on Christmas morning, accompanied by the distant sound of a Twelve Bore fusillade. I like to think he escaped a seasonal hanging.


Happy New Year!

Another branch...

http://athomium.soup.io/

an experimental scratchpad.. quicker and dirtier than Blogger... we'll see....

Spirited influence on enquiry.. the real costs.

How terrible it is that our forensic system can still be influenced by magic. You have to feel sorry for the Chief Constable that will inevitably have to carry the can for this one...

The Judge who took a victim's belief in the influence of their forgiveness does not deserve our sympathy however.

The catalogue of abuses either perpetrated or sanctioned by sanctimony continues.

Morpeth beware!

A day of seasonal torrential rain resulted in record breaking bank breaking floods just below the cottage.



The road was impassable until leaves had been cleared from the gulleys on the bridge.