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Since the ground was suddenly covered in snow, the birds have been mobbing the birdfeeders. I've been enjoying watching them. Cyn had to laugh because I was giving a running commentary on all the funny behaviors.
We have a column feeder, platform feeder, suet and a thistle sock for the finches.
The juncos are ground feeders, but apparently they ran out of food on the ground, so they've learned to go on the suet, the sock and the column feeder.
Cardinals chase each other away, but they ignore other birds.
Usually, the goldfinches eat thistle seed from the sock, and the house finches eat saffronflower seeds from the column and platform feeders, but lately they've been on the sock more. It's nice to see the bright yellow goldfinches and the red house finches on it at the same time. And I love seeing the bright red cardinals near dusk, when the light makes them glow. Or on a day like today when it's snowing and all is either light gray snow or dark gray everything else.
I dislike the big greedy blackbirds that monopolize all but the sock. One small blackbird was on the suet cage for several minutes, until a bigger one chased her away. That one apparently decided the suet was too much work and left, so the other one went back. I tried lowering the cover of the platform feeder, hoping maybe there wouldn't be room for the clumsy birds to land, but I guess the screw wasn't holding well in the cold. Twice I looked out to find it had dropped to the base. I'm glad no birds were trapped inside.
When the blackbirds aren't around, a couple of downy woodpeckers hang out at the suet. Also, the occasional chickadee or junco. The red bellied woodpeckers hang at the column feeder. I saw one on the platform feeder once.
I've only seen one robin since the snow came on Saturday. It is recommended to put fruit out for them, but I'm worried it will be all gone by the time the robins find it. Sparrows have also been rare. Mourning doves didn't come around until Sunday morning.
The little birds and cardinals get seeds from the platform feeder and fly to the lilac bush to eat them in peace. Sometime a little bird will land on the feeder and spend so much time watching out for bigger birds, that they'll miss their chance to grab a seed before one shows up.
Right now, we have: dark-eyed junco, goldfinch, house finch, sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, chickadee, cardinal, common grackle, red-winged blackbirds, some other kind of blackbird?, mourning dove, robin, downy woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker. This weekend I saw one other that I don't recognize, that looks like a brown finch but bigger. We saw a flicker last week. We've had a large group of turkeys come through a few times this spring. I've seen kildeer near the yard. I've seen herons and cranes already this Spring.
I had been using a regular mix of seed, but nobody likes millet, so that was always a pain. I switched to a mix of only saffronflower and black oil sunflower seed. That seems to be going over well. But then the feed store had a mix on sale that didn't have millet. In addition to saffronflower and black oil sunflower seed, it has the regular striped sunflower seeds, plus peanuts and craisins. I should put that out on the snow in the morning, for the robins.
And the other night on the way in to work, I really did see two kildeer and two live deer.
Here are two house finches, one of which is eating my hen & chicks.
We have a column feeder, platform feeder, suet and a thistle sock for the finches.
The juncos are ground feeders, but apparently they ran out of food on the ground, so they've learned to go on the suet, the sock and the column feeder.
Cardinals chase each other away, but they ignore other birds.
Usually, the goldfinches eat thistle seed from the sock, and the house finches eat saffronflower seeds from the column and platform feeders, but lately they've been on the sock more. It's nice to see the bright yellow goldfinches and the red house finches on it at the same time. And I love seeing the bright red cardinals near dusk, when the light makes them glow. Or on a day like today when it's snowing and all is either light gray snow or dark gray everything else.
I dislike the big greedy blackbirds that monopolize all but the sock. One small blackbird was on the suet cage for several minutes, until a bigger one chased her away. That one apparently decided the suet was too much work and left, so the other one went back. I tried lowering the cover of the platform feeder, hoping maybe there wouldn't be room for the clumsy birds to land, but I guess the screw wasn't holding well in the cold. Twice I looked out to find it had dropped to the base. I'm glad no birds were trapped inside.
When the blackbirds aren't around, a couple of downy woodpeckers hang out at the suet. Also, the occasional chickadee or junco. The red bellied woodpeckers hang at the column feeder. I saw one on the platform feeder once.
I've only seen one robin since the snow came on Saturday. It is recommended to put fruit out for them, but I'm worried it will be all gone by the time the robins find it. Sparrows have also been rare. Mourning doves didn't come around until Sunday morning.
The little birds and cardinals get seeds from the platform feeder and fly to the lilac bush to eat them in peace. Sometime a little bird will land on the feeder and spend so much time watching out for bigger birds, that they'll miss their chance to grab a seed before one shows up.
Right now, we have: dark-eyed junco, goldfinch, house finch, sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, chickadee, cardinal, common grackle, red-winged blackbirds, some other kind of blackbird?, mourning dove, robin, downy woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker. This weekend I saw one other that I don't recognize, that looks like a brown finch but bigger. We saw a flicker last week. We've had a large group of turkeys come through a few times this spring. I've seen kildeer near the yard. I've seen herons and cranes already this Spring.
I had been using a regular mix of seed, but nobody likes millet, so that was always a pain. I switched to a mix of only saffronflower and black oil sunflower seed. That seems to be going over well. But then the feed store had a mix on sale that didn't have millet. In addition to saffronflower and black oil sunflower seed, it has the regular striped sunflower seeds, plus peanuts and craisins. I should put that out on the snow in the morning, for the robins.
And the other night on the way in to work, I really did see two kildeer and two live deer.
Here are two house finches, one of which is eating my hen & chicks.
