Do you feed the birds

[Magpie]

Bird feed is expensive here, and there's a good bit of food to forage for birds. I leave the seed heads on plants etc and feed them when it gets cold, sometimes buying the fat/seed balls which I hang in the trees by the ditch. We started when there was a hard winter in 2010 and the gun club was asked to put out food in fields, I sometimes put out dripping and porridge oats on a tray if it's bitter out and I have no feed for them.

 

[Magus]

If I could find some hemlock, I would gladly feed it to the woodpeckers. I hate those. They destroy the house. They are protected here, like they are some kind of gods. Destructive bastards. Worse than squirrels. Worse than mice.

Got any hot peppers going to seed? the slightest amount is deadly to most birds I'm told. boil up a bunch and paint where they're pecking.

 

[BBLife]

One time I told a very conservative friend that I was thinking of putting out a bird feeder, his reply, "So you're going to make democrats out of them.". Our son and his girlfriend gave my wife a bird feeder, I hung in out on our deck and then moved it due to extremely messy birds and their deposits, another issue is wild bird feed is rather expensive, so we mostly let birds find their own food.

Sounds like the democrat analogy fits well! Give them free, easy food that they don't have to work for and they just crap all over the place and make everything a mess.

 

[Cabin Fever]

The moose love pumpkin, have you ever tried pumpkin on deer? The wife won't let me feed the moose anymore.

Oh yes, during October and Halloween time, my wife has many pumpkins in our home and on the porches as decorations. The outdoor pumpkins eventually freeze. Once froze, I chop them up with a shovel and the deer have the pieces cleaned up in no time.

 

[Cabin Fever]

Around here our modus operandi when it comes to bird feeding is during the warm months we take the feeders inside at night due to the bears. During the winter, we leave the feeders out 24/7 when the bears are in hibernation. We started leaving the feeders out all night starting a few weeks ago. The bears were in hibernation.

Well, we've had several days in a row of Indian Summer where our high temps have been in the 50s. Evidently, this was warm enough for at least some of the bears to come out of hibernation. And, you guessed it, this morning we found our bird feeders were destroyed.

 

[Aklogcabin]

Yes. A bag of sunflower seeds is 35$. Not much. And we get to see a bit of wildlife right outside the window. We do not feed in the summer. But during the winter there is not much for them n and I enjoy helping them out. Usually a couple families of chick-a-dee,dee,dee,dee,dee s. Nuthatch n red poles. A few gross beaks occasionally.
We enjoy their company n songs during our long winters

 

[joel]

I plant seed bearing plants for the birds.

 

[Neb]

Ben

 

[Patchouli]

I’m In Texas, @Turtle989 I try to make sure there’s fresh water for the birds and squirrels in the spring, all summer, and into the hot autumn. At night other critters drink from it too. Bird feed has gotten pretty costly as mentioned. Try to feed them all winter but haven’t started yet.
Do you participate in the annual bird count? I have, that’s fun. There is also a website I’ve used to help identify birds unknown to me in the yard.

 

[Magus]

Shaggy has moved in, but he needs to realize the litter box isn't a bed!

EDIT:
HE NEEDS TO REALIZE CRAPPING IN FRONT OF MY BED ISN'T HEALTHY!

 

[viking]

I used to put out bird feed as much of the year as possible.. Possible translating to between the time bears den up to the time bears un den... I had about a 2x3' open feed station with a roof.. All this about 2' off the ground..

I had the scruffiest rough grouse you ever seen stay around pretty much the whole feeding season.. They were fun to watch.. Even with my bad, bad hearing I could hear them drum in the spring as they searched for mates.. Again, everything centered around bear activity.. You do what you can depending on local circumstances..

A number of years ago my wife and I were out in the woods west of our home looking for Salal bushes to pick for flower arrangements that a local business would buy and while I had stoped to check out some bushes, I heard and felt a low frequency thumping, on my chest just below my Adams apple, I realized that it was coming from a grouse that was drumming on a log, we actually walked up on it as it was drumming, it's funny to see them doing that and also being able to feel the low frequency of drumming in my chest, too bad I never carried a camera in all our outings because we've seen so many amazing wildlife creatures that a lot of others have not had the opportunity to ever see.

 

[lonewolf]

we feed the birds every day.

 

[Tim Horton]

we feed the birds every day.

== ==
Considering your location I imagine you can feed birds year round.. Likely garden year round also ?? I presume by your location and trade currents and all you have a pretty mild climate ?? Do you do any fishing along the coast ??

 

[lonewolf]

== ==
Considering your location I imagine you can feed birds year round.. Likely garden year round also ?? I presume by your location and trade currents and all you have a pretty mild climate ?? Do you do any fishing along the coast ??

yes we feed birds year round, the wood pigeons will be feeding US post SHTF.
we could garden year round but most plants need some protection over winter as it can get frosty even in this mild climate.
we are too far from the coast to do any sea fishing although I used to do that when I lived on the coast.

 

[Magpie]

yes we feed birds year round, the wood pigeons will be feeding US post SHTF.
we could garden year round but most plants need some protection over winter as it can get frosty even in this mild climate.
we are too far from the coast to do any sea fishing although I used to do that when I lived on the coast.

Were you a River Cottage follower @lonewolf ?

 

[lonewolf]

Were you a River Cottage follower @lonewolf ?

yes I am, the original series were best, the newer series are too upmarket.
the simple life is the best.