Have you ever been on a birding tour in Belize? The numerous species of resident and migrant birds that pass through makes you excited! The best time for bird watchers to come out in Belize is early in the morning. The guides that do birding tours for Ian Anderson Caves Branch say that this is the time when most bird species are feeding or are moving to new locations. It is definitely not unusual to spot over 100 species over a couple mornings close the jungle lodge.
(Photo by Elba Ramirez Velez)
Now, what if you were told that you can have a chance to have this same experience in your own backyard? Maybe you won’t see the same species that you see in Belize but there are beautiful birds everywhere. You can make your own bird watching area if you have a little space in your back yard and a couple extra bucks to find old stuff on sale for cheap. Here’s how to do it yourself:
- Get a hose and connect it to your outside faucet or one inside if you don’t have one outside. You will only need this once a day.
- Plants trees and colorful flowers that have seeds and other shrubs in a garden if you don’t have one. This can be at the center or the corner of your yard or anywhere you choose – even a park.
- Collect old hubcaps and spray paint them or, if you are artistic, hand paint them and glue tightly to a log to make it higher than the ground.
- Fill this with clean water every day. Put little rocks in there and a little bit of sand. You have just created a bird bath.
- Collect bird seeds or buy them from the store. You can have other little can covers lying around with a little bit of bird food in them. Make as many as you like between the flowers and small trees.
- Just wait and see as your private bird watching area starts to attract birds.
All the best and good luck in creating and keeping a well groomed garden and healthy bird bath. Remember your bird watching etiquette because all year round your little area will attract resident and visitor birds.
