This last season we drastically pruned back the elderberry shrub so that it can come back as more of a shrub and less of a tree. (Side note: an old African gardener here told me I could make elderberry wine from the berries but to be careful doing it because if you pick them too soon, they’re toxic. Then he paused and we had a good laugh.)
The Umbrella Cafe used to hang on the elderberry but now the available branches are so low that hanging out a birdfeeder there would really be like hanging out a catfeeder. So – we hung the Umbrella Cafe from the corner of the lower roof that juts out from the deck. And that means the birds hang out all around the feeder, right by the big window that looks out over the back garden: on the lower roof, on the deck railing, and at the Umbrella Cafe itself.
Here’s Montgomery wondering when the Greasy Spoon will be open. Soon, Montgomery, soon. We even have bacon lard sitting in the fridge for you.
963 