What's at your feeder

I am having a blast feeding the birds and watching them do what birds and bees do...(we are going to have lots of babies) They are eatting me out of house and home but it is worth it!

Just wanted to show you the feeders I made out of a couple of Maxwell House coffee containers.

While I was sitting here typing this...a piliated woodpecker landed in the front yard....he/she has a wing span of about 4ft. He is flying from the woods to the hard...I've never seen them hang out in the open like that....oh...and an indigo bunting just landed too!!! WOW!!!

While I was sitting here typing this...a piliated woodpecker landed in the front yard....he/she has a wing span of about 4ft. He is flying from the woods to the hard...I've never seen them hang out in the open like that.

That's pretty cool to see a pileated so close to your house! Love your feeders, too. What kind of seed are you putting in there?

there were some Western Kingbirds flycatching thursday afternoon in the trees at the playground. i haven't seen them around in years. i hope they fly a few more miles back to my yard.

Thanks Ruby...I just have a general mix...I think I got it at Walmart. I think I am just going to get plain sunflower seeds though..the other stuff if just really waste.

at walmart i get:

one 50lb bag of wildbird seed mix
one 22lb bag of thistleseed
one 10lb bag of wildbird seed & fruit mix

i'm lucky if it lasts 3 weeks.

the tiny finches really love the thistle, we were finally able to coax the lesser gold finch to our tree.

migration is slow starting this year, Steve has only seen one Black Headed Grosbeak, and nothing else.

I only put 3 types of seed in my feeders...one feeder has only safflower seed...this squirrels can reach and, while they may eat a few seeds, they don't really like it so it's no big deal.

The majority of the other feeders hold black, oil sunflower seed although I do have a thistle feeder...I also put out suet...

I have downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, common flickers, hairy woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, blue jays, northern cardinals. dark-eyed juncos, house finches, purple finches, black capped chickadee, house sparrows, white breasted nuthatch, red-breasted nuthatch and lots of American gold finches. Later I will have Baltimore orioles, red-throated hummingbirds, rose-breasted grossbeaks and indigo buntings. And, I have a new and unexpected guest lately...a red-winged blackbird has taken to the sunflower seeds and shows up a few times a day...I love the trill he makes...

Every spring, usually around Memorial Day, I start to look for bears...I've had a couple hooligans over the years...hooligans are young, male black bears...they are a PAIN!

Your backyard sounds wonderful, Mata!

I put out black oil sunflower seeds, thistle, suet, and a clean seed mixture with no hulls. There is no mess under that feeder. My feeders are near a large evergreen tree which the birds love to hang out in.

I don't have to contend with bears, but every once in a while an opportunistic hawk swoops down to pick off a bird.

the black headed grosbeak was here this afternoon, he's sooo pretty.

i can't wait to see new birds in SC next week!

you are going to SC again????

i haven't been there yet.

the 22nd thru the 29th, the wedding is on the 26th.

where in NC are you? close?

all i've got is a bunch of ugly black birds and some colorless finches...we're getting a fence in a month or two and i'm gonna line that sucker with bird and squirrel feeders and just sit back and watch them go nuts

Saw some goldfinches checking out my thistle feeder for the first time this spring. And I think a couple of blue birds are moving into the bird house. There's a new neighborhood cat that likes to come into my backyard and sit under the bird feeders. He's a nice cat, but I think his presence is keeping the birds away. :( Any idea on how to keep him away?? Grrrrrr

A dog?

LOL, good idea Ruby!

get your neighbor to put up a cat feeder

We have a birdhouse made from a birch log I got last summer. It's a wren or chickadee house and we now have tenants! A sweet little pair of chickadees have been working on a nest for the past three days. I brushed out my dog's undercoat yesterday on the back patio and the birds have been taking all his winter fur for their nest. =)

Sass...that is so cool!!!

Chick A dee...are my favorites!

I like Chick-fil-a too!

I'm so happy! Just the first pair of goldfinches at the thistle feeder.

!*@&#^$% Squirrels!!

The robins have been back for a couple of days. They've been round in the valley for a while. Chickadees and white throated sparrows woke me up this morning.

I had the best morning....I was sitting on the porch enjoying a cup of tea and watching the birds...waiting for the sun to peak it's rays over the trees....when a gold finch landed on the feeder in front of me....he sat and sang and sang. I was afraid to breath! What a wonderful gift to start the day with!

I woke up to see a Red-breasted woodpecker on my suet feeder...his red head was brilliant...nice way to start the day...

well, they're not at the feeder but blue herrons are starting to return here...after months of not seeing any it makes you do a double take when you see such a large bird in the sky

Woodpecker out there too. I can see four finches at a time.

I didn't realize until this week that the gold finches stay around here all winter but they loose their gold feathers and turn a pretty plain brown. I was looking at them in the binoculars the other night and bless their little hearts they look like they have the mange (sp?)...but they are almost gold again!

We have goldfinches here too, CG. I forgot that they have a "winter coat." There's 2 males that are having mad aerial dogfights all over the neighborhood for the past few days. Every once in a while there's a pause, where they refuel, and away they go again.

There's many kinds of birds singing all day in the woods below the house. I love it!

I love it too...the doves are the ones doing the dog fights. It is so funny....and they aren't very graveful either! LOL

We had a peregrin falcon take out a an English sparrow yesterday while Birch and Abby were working in the garden. Our yard sees quite a bit of rapter activity. I missed it but it was the first thing I heard about when I got home so it must have been cool.

Sass, I heard a hawk screeching yesterday in town.....I just wonder when the squirrel population will begin to shrink........there are 'fewer' of the squirrels around lately so...hmmmm?

We have a red shouldered hawk in our woods...and it does appear our squirrel population had decreased...DUH...I didn't htink of that!

The squirrels have it coming.

I love hearing the trill made by the red-winged blackbird. He calls on his way to the birdfeeder so everyone knows he is coming...he is big enough that everyone leaves when he is nearby...except the black capped chickadees, of course...they are fearless!

aaahhh....let's see.....peeking through the blinds....oy vey....I have pinwheels and ferris wheels out there....cosmic!

I had a mystery bird at the feeder the other day and I've id him as a white throated sparrow! Kinda punk little guy with yellow stripes on each side of his head!

They have the most lovely song.

Had a black-winged Red Bird here this morning. Wasn't sure if it was that or the charcoal-winged not-so-red bird, so I shot it, took its picture and looked it up on the interwebs.

Yup, a black-winged Red Bird. Thought to be extinct, but I have a picture proving otherwise.

NF....what the hay is that? You shot the bird, then you brought into your house and then looked it up on the internets? Oh that's right, you didn't bring it into your crib you just took a picture of it. You did that? Am I getting this story straight? Wow man....are you an orthinologist or something to that affect? That's is way too cool brother.....i'm impressed....like what kind of camera did you use? What was the website you found this on?

It was one of those polaroids from back in the 60's, the kind where you had to wipe the picture with some kind of liquid on a small spone shortly after it developed. Sadly, it's only takes black and white pictures so I can't be absolutely certain whether it is a black-winged Red Bird or the more common red-winged Black Bird as seen by Mata at her pad over in St. Croix Falls. I tried hard to remember which way it went and think I got it right, but who really knows?

You are quite a scientific genious! That kind of work deserves recognition and you should publish this in some sort important journal. Maybe those guys over at the National Enquirer are looking for your sorta thing. You could be famous man. I mean just shootin the dang thing without blowing it up like puff ball....you're a marksman too man!

i haven't opened this in a while. hilarious.

i went hiking yesterday and got to see the black headed grosbeak.

Managed to attract a Baltimore Oriole the other day for the first time. He has stuck around for four days. I'm hoping he finds a mate and they next nearby. That would be a treat to see all summer!

A Downy Woodpecker this morning! They are so cool.

I'm really bummed.....no bluebirds this summer.....damn purple finches keep chasing them away....

LOL anyone else seen the video of the Squirrel feeder made out of a Skeet Throwing machine?

Nope, haven't seen that one yet.

I have about 12 bluebirds hanging out around here. House and purple finches are, too. One group stays on the east side of the yard, the other group on the west side. THe finches weren't happy about some bird trying to build a nest on my bedroom porch, where, they've nested before.

I've got a Peterson box which has been inhabited by swallows and bluebirds for several years but last year a gang of purple finches nested in there....2 broods......and that was after me taking out their nesting material (without eggs) every time they tried building one....they're persistent little devils. I might relocate the box in a more opened area because of the Norway spruces next to it have grown to high & wide not allowing the bluebirds a 360 degree view.....

In the meantime, i'm building a Kestrel box.....however, by the time its finished it'll be too late for Kestrels this season but perhaps a barn owl might take to it. I'm hoping to cut down on the Voles....little monsters are always chomping at my Roma Tomatoes.....

we're getting a 4' fence in a couple weeks...i was wanting to load it up with feeders and boxes...will birds use hoses if they're that low?

Quote:

LtDan
LOL anyone else seen the video of the Squirrel feeder made out of a Skeet Throwing machine?

no but we stayed at a cabin in the smokys a couple years ago that had one of those that swivels...now that is entertainment