FAIR HAVEN, Vt. -
With spring in full swing, the birds are back and one Vermonter hopes his Made in Vermont bird houses are where they flock to.
Thom Bruso always has a pencil behind his ear. He's been a contractor for the past 40 years. "I don't ever remember not making things. I've been making things all my life," he said.
Once a contractor, he's scaled down -- now he builds homes for birds in his Fair Haven workshop. Only these are not your typical bird houses. "The Audubon people will tell me the birds won't nest in that. Well you better tell the birds, because they are," Bruso said.
Bruso likes to think of each house as a piece of garden art -- no two are the same. He uses old sticks and things from his trunk of junk to create one of a kind details. "To do a simple bird house is not a big challenge, but it's fun if you can make it unique," he said.
Some are simple taking only a few hours. Then there are the more elaborate ones that take hundreds of hours to make -- and even the birds can't dream of.
Reporter Gina Bullard: Is this for birds or squirrels?
Thom Bruso: This is for the little people that live out in the woods. You have to imagine them. You gotta remember you have a guy here that looks like Santa Claus, so I believe in things like that."
He calls his biggest creation the Sugarhouse Bird House and Tool Shed. And with Bruso, no detail is missed. "You can't have a sugarhouse without an evaporator and some wood," he added. "It provides a home for the birds if they choose -- and being nature, they're going to choose it, we don't."
And there's no permit or codes to follow when building these Made in Vermont bird houses and garden art.
