Bird feeders

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Patchouli

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Having bird feeders around is something I have enjoyed for many years. Recently put up a thing made of seeds that you hang from a tree. Darn squirrel stretches just about as far as he can to reach it.
Then I decided to put up another thing, an actual feeder that deters squirrels. I've also sprinkled piles of seed around.
A sturdier bird bath is next.
The chocolates (NO, actually chickadees) and tufted titmice are frequent flyers along with a Carolina wren and some bird that is smaller yet and has yellow on it.
What about you? Do you feed the birds too?
 
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Wife has feeders on our back deck. Suet feeders attract Red Belly and Downy wood peckers. Seed feeders have anything from chickadees and tufted titmouse, blue jays, bluebirds, carolina wrens, juncos, cardinals, robins. Several others, including doves and mocking birds that try and run everything else off.
 
We
Having bird feeders around is something I have enjoyed for many years. Recently put up a thing made of seeds that you hang from a tree. Darn squirrel stretches just about as far as he can to reach it.
Then I decided to put up another thing, an actual feeder that deters squirrels. I've also sprinkled piles of seed around.
A sturdier bird bath is next.
The chocolates and tufted titmice are frequent flyers along with a Carolina wren and some bird that is smaller yet and has yellow on it.
What about you? Do you feed the birds too?

Patch we had same problem.So put bird feeder on PVC pole away from trees and greased it with Vasoline.
What a show those squirrels put on sliding on the pole ,they'd make a runnign jump and slide down .
Never lost a single seed again.
 
We have many birdfeeders and bird houses...love to watch them...<3.....next month, towards the very end, the purple martins will come in if the temps are right...have houses for them.....late in spring, the Mississippi Kites soar our skies....they call to me and I call back, they will circle around our house...
 
"Bird TV" is a big fascination for our cats. The cats get to sit inside, and watch the birds at the feeder, and the chickens that love to forage for the tossed/spilled birdseed.

We are a " Certified Wildlife Habitat " , mainly because you don't mow wildlife habitats :)
 
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Somehow my message changed the word "chickadee" to "chocolates"! Sorry, I love chickadees and their cute little song.
The seed blend I'm using right now is for smaller song birds. I hope to get some other stuff out there for the rest of the population. There are woodpeckers that show up anyway without food selection. And I haven't seen or heard the blue jays, mockingbirds, or cardinals lately.
@GrannyG : the Kites answer back?! I don't know if I've ever heard them, but I do see them here a good bit.
I didn't want to attract other night-time vermin but I think our resident oppossum family is keeping that in check.
 
I spend a small fortune on birdfeed, especially for the finches. Black Nyjer is expensive, $55 for 50 pounds. It makes a huge mess with all the seeds and shells dropped.
I buy black oil sunflower seeds for the other birds as well as suet.
We enjoy watching them so I just accept the mess and clean it up as needed.
Oh and don't forget the hummingbirds.
I even feed the squirrels.
 
I have no idea what my wife spends on birdseed, and I probably don't want to know. We do enjoy them. Several have made nests in planters and wreaths we have around the outside of the house. We have bird baths and fountains as well. We get some squirrels, but not many. We don't encourage them, but we don't discourage them either. My wife is like St Francis of Assisi. We had an injured goose land in the front yard. Any stray anything will find its way to our door. It's like we have a sign that only animals can read.

Weedy: I don't know what kind of feeders you have, but if the squirrels are climbing up the poles or posts I saw a You Tube video where a guy put Vaseline on the polls of his feeders. It was pretty funny watching the squirrels try to climb.
 
Weedy: I don't know what kind of feeders you have, but if the squirrels are climbing up the poles or posts I saw a You Tube video where a guy put Vaseline on the polls of his feeders. It was pretty funny watching the squirrels try to climb.

I have seen some of those videos. I have watched a couple of them over and over and laughed until I had tears rolling down my face. I have too many trees and the squirrels jump from tree to tree, fence to tree, and tree to fence, tree to roof. They are acrobats. I had a feeder that I watched squirrel grab ahold of and shake it until he emptied seed until I scared him off. I know as soon as I stopped watching that he went back to work.
 
I have seen some of those videos. I have watched a couple of them over and over and laughed until I had tears rolling down my face. I have too many trees and the squirrels jump from tree to tree, fence to tree, and tree to fence, tree to roof. They are acrobats. I had a feeder that I watched squirrel grab ahold of and shake it until he emptied seed until I scared him off. I know as soon as I stopped watching that he went back to work.

So true. They are relentless. If there is food there they will find a way to get to it. I had a next door neighbor that used a pellet gun to keep them (squirrels) off of his tomato plants. It worked, but it didn't sit well with the neighbors who had children. I don't think he was very conscious of the shooting rule " Be aware of your target, and what is behind it."
 
A friend in the area let me know that cedar waxwings have been spotted. They are the coolest of the cool with their look of sunglasses on. Haha
Cardinal stopped by today.
I put out a suet feeder and smeared some bark butter on trees for the creeping birds, wrens, woodpeckers.
There is a tiny bird, smaller than chickadee, that must be a female, has some yellow on it but is otherwise plain light brown sparrow-looking bird. Not sure what it could be.
I was surprised to see the cost of bird seed and all the accessories the other day. @Morgan101 Your wife is a sweetheart to care for the birds, it brings us joy.
I love the chirps and whistles. It's fun to listen to online recordings of song birds, drives the pets nuts.
 
Wife has feeders on our back deck. Suet feeders attract Red Belly and Downy wood peckers. Seed feeders have anything from chickadees and tufted titmouse, blue jays, bluebirds, carolina wrens, juncos, cardinals, robins. Several others, including doves and mocking birds that try and run everything else off.
I've seen most of those around the tiny yard before but just lately trying to lure them in.
Your wife loves it too, huh, @Bacpacker ? My mom and dad fed the birds too.
The birds haven't figured out the one feeder yet.
 
A friend in the area let me know that cedar waxwings have been spotted. They are the coolest of the cool with their look of sunglasses on.
Cousins in South Dakota have cedar waxwings come to their crabapple to feed until the tree is eaten clean, only a couple days.

I love birds and bird watching. I used to have a bird feeder on my classroom window. Children took turns filling up the feeder. Some children want to walk up to the window when there are birds there, not understanding that the birds will leave when there is movement. It takes training.
 
I have had several bird feeders over the years. I love having them, and watching all the varieties of birds. The squirrels always ruin it.

We do too one of my favorites are the doves,the little babies walking are so cute. Lately we just throw out a little chicken feed. All like that, even the crow.

I'm telling you the greased PVC pole works great. And nobody gets hurt or their brains scrambled on a spinning wheel. :ghostly:
 
We do too one of my favorites are the doves,the little babies walking are so cute. Lately we just throw out a little chicken feed. All like that, even the crow.

I'm telling you the greased PVC pole works great. And nobody gets hurt or their brains scrambled on a spinning wheel. :ghostly:
And isn't it fun to watch?
 

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