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11/21/2005: "How's Your Weather? (Where to place your birdbath in your yard)"

The other day I came across an excellent article, which I refer to you. Have you ever wondered where the best place in your backyard might be to place a birdfeeder or a birdbath? Certainly we all have our preferences but have we ever looked at the problem with a scientific understanding of weather? In the piece “How’s your weather” in the booklet by Sunset, Great Patios and Decks, Sunset Books, 2000, the developmental editor Linda Selden gives us some ideas. As she writes, the site’s exposure to sun, wind, rain and snow can limit the appeal to humans, and if I can add, to wildlife. Microclimates can be caused by these factors. The sun’s rays strike the yard at “predictable” times during the year. Wind can be determined by studying “annual prevailing winds, seasonal breezes, and stormy blasts". A study of the wind currents can tell you where you might need shelter or where the area is sheltered. Also, you may want to locate the feeder where it gets less of the storm blast. Cold spots, which aren’t any more hospitable to wildlife than they are to humans, also occur where the “air puddles in basins” as it flows downhill. Remember, hot goes up and cold goes down.