My cardinals started to get suspicious about me last week.  I showed up in the backyard with a tape measure, and I put out little flags.  The cardinals paused in the trees to keep an eye on me.

Then I started to dig up grass.  I haven’t done this in a while, and I’d forgotten what a pain it is!  The Brown Thrashers didn’t mind me stirring up the dirt for them.

My dad came over and together we started behaving even more strangely.  We brought some long pieces of wood into the yard.  Mrs. Cardinal posed on them in beautiful morning light.  Until we took the posts and put them into the ground…

Then we put a roof on the posts and started nailing lattice around the edges.

By this point it wasn’t just the cardinals who were questioning my feather-brained plans.  My neighbors were also out wondering what in the world we were doing!

Have you guessed it?  Yep, my bird blind is up!

This isn’t just a bird blind.  It’s a trellis for my hummingbird vines, and it’s big enough that I can slip inside and photograph from within.  I can’t wait for this winter, when I can sit in it and photograph my Painted Buntings.  Since it’s a permanent blind, the birds will get used to it, so they won’t be as skittish around it as they are with my portable tent blind.  Now I just need to get the vines growing on it!

I’ve had the idea for this blind since last winter, but I only recently had time to work on it.  Rich and I were eating at the Macaroni Grill a few weeks ago, and I started sketching the idea out for him on the table paper.  I showed him how I’d stagger the lattice to give myself good vantage points at ground level, sitting, and standing.  He started embellishing the concept, adding a bird feeder and colorful birds.  Each time the waiter came by, he saw more of our drawing, and he asked more and more questions.  Finally we told him what it was.  “Oh!” he said.  “So you put the people in the cage!”  Yes, something like that. :)

I’m excited about how the bird blind turned out.  I slipped inside and took my first shot from within, with my iPhone.  You can see the whole yard!  It’s set up to be perfect for afternoon light, when I’ll have the most opportunity to use it.  On cloudy days, I can shoot from the sides too.  I can see my hummingbird bushes, my bird feeders, bird bath, and I intend to put out “pretty perches” and try to get the birds to land on them.  That’ll be the next challenge.

Now the only problem is…my hummingbirds need to come back so that I can take their pictures! :)