Martin Howard on wed 18 dec 02
Gail posts
with a cement glaze? That would give a rough surface, but would still
supply a protective coating. I am thinking of something like the following:
CEMENT GLAZE
cement 25
ash 25
kaolin 50
total 100>
1 What cone firing are we talking about here?
2 Would old hardened cement, cement that has "gone off" be suitable if
just ground down to powder?
Martin Howard
Webbs Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
01371 850 423
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
http://www.webbscottage.co.uk
Updated 8th December 2002
Ingeborg Foco on wed 18 dec 02
Hi friends
I have done a number of birdhouse for Chickadees in particular. They have
hung 3 feet from my kitchen nook so I was able to watch this fascinating
process of mating, home hunting, egg laying and baby duty. My only regret
is that I didn't have a light bulb installed in the bird house so I could
really see things in the back.
My experience has been that birds do not need a rough surface inside or
outside for that matter. They are quite capable of climbing in and out
without any type of glaze assistance. To the best of my knowledge they do
not need to have the bird houses cleaned out. They do their own cleaning
when they decide to take up residence.
When it is that heady time of the year, two of them appear and fly from
house to house. They enter one at a time, turn around and it would seem
take endless measurements. This selection process can take days When the
two finally decide on a domicile, they either clean up the house from
previous owners and put in their own stuff, i.e. moss from the tree, little
bits and pieces of things or start from scratch. I always catch cotton
balls in the window which they shred up into unbelievable mounds.
Once the eggs are hatched, the feeding is a major effort for both the male
and female. Interestingly, there are no droppings in the nest. When they
have been fed, the chicks poop in a sack/membrane and the mom and pop pick
up the bird diapers and remove them from the nest and drop the poop bombs
elsewhere, sometimes on the hood of your car! If one of the chicks doesn't
perform in the allotted time, they get a big jab to hurry them up.
The less mucking about people do with the bird houses once they are hung,
the better off things are. Sometimes it takes several years for birds to
take up residence. They are suspicious by nature and just keep watching.
So my advice is, put up the house and leave it alone. Wait and watch - it
takes a bit of patience. The rewards however are worth it. It is fun to
watch.
Ingeborg
the Potter's Workshop & Gallery
P.O. Box 510
3058 Stringfellow Road
St. James City, Florida 33956
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