I never tire of watching the birds....we have our regular crew of crows and ravens and one gull, FlyBoy, who keep us entertained. My husband builds Weathervane Towers, the tops of which spin and the crows like to sit on those and spin....

The coconut story reminds me a lot of the squirrel in the movie Ice Age. I can just imagine the squirrel trying to push that huge coconut around thinking it's a nut.

That is funny about the crows wcgypsy! I'd love to see that.

BaconEater, I've seen the clips of that Ice Age squirrel, and I imagine it would be similarly funny. Unfortunately, the squirrels tend to play with it only when I am not watching! I only know it is the squirrels, rather than the opossums and other before-I-get-up visitors, because it gets moved mid-day, too. I considered rats, but know they would not have been able to get it into the higher planter.

I hung a wire circle (from a tomato cage) in my apple tree between my two hummingbird feeders, and at least one of them likes to perch on it and swing on it. I hung it on the tree to get it out of the way, but they seem to appreciate it.

I need to go through my pics and find one of the crow sitting on one of the tower.s..maybe that would be a good project for me during the many rainy days of Winter...organize my pics...will do....

I think that squirrel may be telling itself to be careful what you wish for...and trying to figure out a way to 'crack that nut'

Interesting, Lars. None of our hummers (Allen's and Anna's mostly) are "swingers". Although they sometimes use the long seed pods of the trumpet trees to perch, they don't swing on them.

wcgypsy, I've actually thought about breaking the coconut open for them. Do you think I should?

Aha ! I did find a couple of shots with the crows on the towers....I also see a whole lot of pics I can delete and a lot of organizing to do...maybe tonight when I'm usually up for several hours in the middle of the night. They seem to prefer the Witch Tower...LOL...

Is that an example of your husband's work? That is cool. I can understand why the crows like to spin--it looks rather fun!

yes.....he made the first ones for me about 8 years ago and is making them again now..now I'll need to dig through more pics....There was a time in my life when it would have bothered me to have telephone lines in front of the house, but now I enjoy them because the crows wait to see the front blinds open and they sit up there, knowing I'm up and waiting for me to feed them...LOL...lately the ravens have started to come down, but only if I put meat out...buy whole chickens now instead of already cut up so that there's plenty to cook up for the birds...

It is nice that you can have such art in the garden, and more special because he makes them. Ravens and crow are very intelligent, and definitely taking advantage of your offering such good meals. Our ravens make due with sunflower seeds and nuts that are getting a bit stale. Don't think I want to start spoiling them with home-cooked chicken. lol

Our Ravens are a relatively new addition to the bird scene here, I'm told...They kinda just suddenly showed up and decided they like it here. I would be thrilled if we could have Magpies also...the crows...how can you not love a bird that recognizes you and will also hold a grudge...LOL...well, as far as the chicken for the birds, our birds do have a more difficult Winter to get through...

My Gull, FlyBoy.....he has no toys, but is nonetheless entertaining....he showed up one day 3 years ago and determined to stick around...he's been coming every day since then....

Some pics, I'm tired of going through them...definitely spend time tonight organizing...I do wish I were an orderly person

Gulls make their own toys--dropping sticks or feathers mid-flight and then catching them, etc.

Those are such nice and intricate designs! Does your husband also sell them?

I know what you are talking about with the photos. I went through all of ours and organized the digital ones a while back. I also went through the decades of negatives and photos, and my husband scanned them all. Now I need to organize those on the computer. It is a huge and time consuming task, but so worth it when it is done!

Um, yes, the digital pics...LOL..it will be a job. I love my little camera too much. Exactly how many pics do I need of that same hydrangea or grass?

uh... all of them? Digital does allow for excess--but I love that about it!

Oh no ! LOL.....they are all much too pretty, but perhaps I can bring myself to be selective. My usual morning routine includes going outside with my camera to see what's going on.....how many pictures of elk do I need? Are they going to become extinct?...well, not yet anyway.....but there they are....elk...gotta take a pic...

lol I've never been good about weeding books or photos. Once went through 750 non-fiction hardbacks--set aside twelve...and ultimately parted with seven. Dismal record. Photos...well, I managed to delete most of the unfocused ones. I'm much more efficient at weeding weeds and plants!

I have thousands of pics also and finally got them all organized. Never delete an old one! You can never capture that second in time ever again.

Sometimes I use them for...when did I plant that etc.

Oh no. Gobluedjm, you are an enabler! lol I always have at least a tiny camera with me, but I don't go out to shoot like I used to. I really should take more photographs. While organizing, I realized how few photo I have of the places we've lived.

It is a great feeling when they get organized, isn't it? I used to go through hundreds of folders, sometimes taking several hours, searching for certain ones. Now, with the complete files, it is much quicker and easier.

She finally made got into one!

One very determined squirrel...had she ever had a coconut before...to know what was waiting inside?

My pics are not organized yet...but I HAVE manged to delete about 5,000 so far....and some went on to a memory stick.....

Not that I am aware of, wcgypsy. I finally broke open the original one for them, but it was old when I put it out, and turned out to be completely dried inside. I tossed it. This fresh one, which I put out the last week of December, had liquid sloshing around. I think the squirrel drank that after opening it. It is funny that this is the first time I actually saw the squirrels working on the coconut--but there was evidence that they had been pulling off the outer fibers. I think once I put out the bird seed in the morning, they prefer to just chow on fast food.