Rats! No, no. The birdfeeders

Bird-feeding from a houseboat requires some creativity. Not so much hummingbird feeders -- they can still go on windows or be hung on hooks from the house. But for seed birdfeeders -- like my sunflower seeds -- they have to hang out over the water. I was advised of this from the get-go, because if seeds collect on the deck they will attract rats. So the feeders need to stick far out enough for any seeds that fall to get picked up by the river current and float away and not pile up and attract vermin.

When I moved here in November at first I didn't put up any sunflower seed feeders -- I didn't have any that would work and I was so betaken by the water birds I was seeing that came by on their own, especially the cormorants. But it wasn't long before I wanted woodland birds, and right up at the window where I work.

First I rigged up a post that I bungy-corded to a heavy two-person glider and hung a feeder from there. But it was ungainly and too low. Neighbors kept telling me "Ask Bruce" -- that's Bruce Anderson, who's lived on the moorage for decades and is a builder and all-around handyman. Bruce came over and looked at where I wanted it, and created a custom copper-pipe bird hook. It is very clever. It has a straight post attached to the house, and then bends into a horizontal arm that sticks out over the water, and ends with a curved hook for the feeder. He designed the whole contraption so that it swings around so that I could fill it without having to stretch too far unbalanced over the water. This swinging arm turns out to have another advantage -- when I'm in my office, it's in view of the desk, but it its radius is enough that when I'm in the living room or have guests on the deck, I can swing it more in that direction so the birds can be seen from these other places. An added bonus is that birds use the arm that stretches out as a perch. It's fun to watch them land, and then to see some fledglings seem to try and get their balance.

Below are examples of other floating home seed birdfeeders.