Birdwatcher's Daily Companion by Tom Warhol

Author:Tom Warhol
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rockport Publishers
Published: 2011-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

Tiritiri Matangi Island bird sanctuary, New Zealand

THURSDAY day 186

Up Close and Personal

A window box feeder will bring some of your backyard birds right up to your window for close-up, intimate viewing. And it’s easier to make one than you may assume.

Begin by cutting a 3/4" (1.9 cm) board into the following:

one 11-3/4 × 22" (28 × 56 cm) tray piece

two 11-3/4 × 12" (28 × 30.4 cm) walls

two 11-3/4 × 10" (28 × 25.4 cm) tray supports

one 2 × 23-1/2" (5.1 × 60 cm) back support

Cut a piece of 1/8" (about 3 mm) acrylic sheeting into one 9" × 22" (23 × 56 cm) roof panel and one 11.25" × 20.25" (29 × 51.4 cm) back. Cut acrylic by scoring it deeply using a sharp utility knife. Use a rigid straightedge as a guide for the cuts. After scoring, clamp the acrylic between two pieces of wood, with the score line aligned at the wood edge, then apply pressure on the scored side to snap it.

Along the 22" (56 cm)-long back of the tray piece, 1/2" (1.3 cm) in from the edge, cut a groove that is 1/8" (about 3 mm) deep and 1/8" (about 3 mm) wide along the entire length of the tray piece. Use either a 1/8" straight router bit, or a circular or table saw with a 1/8" kerf.

Cut each wall with angled cuts that will allow the top of the wall to remain 11" (28 cm) wide while reducing the bottom of the wall to a width of 9" (23 cm).

Make additional cuts to the top of each wall at the corner opposite the 11-3/4" (28 cm) width of the angled cut to remove a rectangle measuring 3/4 × 2" (1.9 × 5 cm).

Along the top edge and rear (the non-angled side) of each wall piece, cut a groove that is 1/8" (about 3 mm) deep and 1/8" (about 3 mm) wide, 1/2" in from the edge.

From each tray support, remove a 4 × 4" (10.1 × 10.1 cm) square from the same corner, resulting in an L-shape.

Cut a groove 1/8" (about 3 mm) deep and 1/8" (about 3 mm) wide along the entire 22" (56 cm) of the 3/4" (1.9 cm) side of the back support and a groove measuring 1/8" (about 3 mm) deep and 1/8" (about 3 mm) wide along the entire 22" (56 cm) of the opposite 2" (5 cm) -wide side, 1/2" (1.3 cm) in from the edge.

Using waterproof wood glue and two deck screws for each wall, attach the walls to the tray, with the outsides of the walls (the sides without the grooves) flush with the outside of the sides of the tray and the short bottoms on top of the tray. The grooves along the back of each wall must align with the groove along the back of the tray.

Apply silicone glue in the grooves along the tops and backs of the walls and the groove along the rear of the tray. Slide the acrylic roof panel

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