New season of bird watching and feeding!
I have put out suet and thistle. I need to get safflower , which is a fave here and NOT a fave of squirrels.
My photo is a nuthatch, which likes my suet. They are common here and make a little honking sort of noise.
DG ran Jill's article recently, about cutting a section of your real Xmas tree trunk and using it for a feeder. Boo, I don't want to take my tree down yet!
I'm sure glad I have birds to watch when the plants are mostly brown!
Thanks for the new thread Sally.
Here is the link to Critterologists (Jill) article. There is a great recipe for "PeanutButter Suet" in it.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/467/
Nuthatches are so fun to watch. I like the smaller birds.
and here is the recipe from Jill's article:
Martha Sargent’s No-Melt, All-Season Peanut Butter Suet
I’ve had this recipe in my file for years. Internet sources indicate it has been published in Wild Bird, but I’ve been unable to find a specific citation, other than its being definitely attributed to Martha Sargent of Trussville, Alabama. Thanks, Martha!
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups “quick cook” oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup lard (do not substitute vegetable shortening)
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar
Melt the lard and peanut butter, and stir them together. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture into freezer containers or a brownie pan, about 1 ½ inches thick. When cool, cut into squares, wrap in wax paper or plastic, and store in the freezer. If I’m using this to fill my Christmas tree feeder, I'll add a bit more peanut butter to make a softer mixture.
Cornell is an excelent bird resource
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478&ac=ac
I love to look at the feeder especially when the cardinals come as they were mom's favorite bird, cuz she could see it's color easily. We had a feeder just utside her bedroom window so she could watch while she sat in her chair. Now, it has been moved so we can see it from the kitchen eating area.
That is such a sweet image Jan. How good to be part of a cardinal's territory. I had one male who ruled the roost here for 4 years. Sadly he and his family don't seem to be around since extreem summer heat. Or, I'm wondering if the hawk I see almost daily has gotten them?
On a brighter note, some of you know that my newspaper route includes a large condo building within 100 yards of a bald eagle nesting site. Last winter none of the clutch made it and it was thought that the female also died. Then the severe wind storms blew down part of the 15 plus year nest and tree. So sad,
Imagine how incredibly warm and happy and blessed I felt when I pulled up to the condo early am Christmas Day to be greated by the sillohets of two adult eagles back lit by the sunrise at the top of a tall dead pine a favorite perch!!! I learned from the residents that they are building a new nest about 100 feet from the old!
Happy New Year to all of us who are starting over and rebuilding in 2012! May much new life burst forth come Spring.
What a heart-warming story. Rebuilding! I'm sure you will look for them every day. Exciting!
Birds in view from a window, are a great asset for the indoor bound, physically limited crowd.
Congrats on the eagles. Nice bonus to the morning run!
Several birds singing heartily this morning in the sun. They seem to like nice weather just like we do.
We took JR to the Phipps Conservatory yesterday and had a great time. So what does this have to do with Birds?????
It was Family Fun Day and they had stations set up in different rooms with things for the children to do. One of the stations was to make seed cakes for the birds. It was a pretty easy thing to do for any age child. They started with rice cakes and covered them with shortening, (you can use PB if you want). Just spread it on the rice cakes with a butter knife or spatula. Then roll the cake in a pan of bird seed. You can punch a hole in the cake when it is done and hang it up with a piece of string. I have some old rice cakes that never got eaten so I guess we will be making more of them with Lily & Lucas one of these days.
Sounds like a fun trip. I know what we'll be doing when the kids get back from KY.
My daughter Jen was telling me that they did the same thing at school using corn cobs.
My big, 3-tube bird feeder is broken....Trying to fix it...again! It fell down and broke apart.......
Bought some Liquid Nails glue a few weeks ago. Glued the bottom of the feeder-tubes to the tray below.
Waited several days--checking to see if it had "set".....then decided to fill it and hang it out anyway.
I filled all 3 tubes with bird seed--hung it up under my Patio roof--and gave it a couple of "taps"
to settle the seed.
Well. Those "taps" made the bottom tray fall right off the bottom of the feeder tubes--spilling all the seeds below....
So much for Liquid Nails glue and plastic.....
Today--I bought one of those double-tube "mix it" Epoxy Glue tubes ($5.50) and will try to glue it together again.
Need to feed my birds--and am not seeing any of them around as I have NO food out...
I have put out bread crumbs and, today, some C antelope seeds from my C antelope. No takers so far....
Have they abandoned my yard???????
Often, when I cut up apples to eat, I throw out the cut off cores and seeds. Not sure anyone eats those either...
I am trying.....................I really am.
My favorite Bird seed (from my observation) is the Eastern Bird Mix by Wagner's. It has less fillers....
BUT! It costs $15 for a 20lb. bag at HD. The birds sure love it! I don't!!!
Feeding birds is a wonderful thing--BUT--paying mega $$$$ to do so--is NOT my thing....
I buy cheaper seed--and, eventually, it too gets eaten up. Even if it falls to the ground...
If they get hungry enough--they will come and eat is my Motto....
Gita
Remember the massive bird die offs in Arkansas last year? Well, it has happened again! Same town!
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2012/01/02/mass-bird-death-in-arkansas-again/
Disturbing how bird populations are diminishing.
Any one do the Audebon Christmas Bird Count or the Feeder Watch project? Seems "citizen scientists" are ever more important in this and many other aspects of our shared life on this planet.
Gita, I have found that Liquid Nails best use is not as a plastic to plastic adhesive (it ate my tub surround panels). Some plastics are extreemly difficult to glue together even if glue is "super" . The manufacturer of your bird feeder tubes may be able to tell you what product they recommend for repairs, or perhaps it is another example of plastics last forever but not what holds them together. In any event, be sure to clean off old adhesive (solvent) as glues don't adhere to glues. Good luck!
I have a male Cardinal at the feeder right now with a group of LBB's cleaning up the ground at the base of the feeders. I put out my winter heated bird bath this morning and Ric brought me a new thistle sock. I need to fill the feeders soon.
Welllll...........
I glued my 3-tube feeder together today with some of that Epoxy. YES! Judy--I spent over 1/2 hr. scraping off
all the old liquid Nails from both surfaces...
Will let it sit, undisturbed, till tomorrow evening. It should work--as I have used these
mix-it Epoxies on outdoor pots and W-Boxes--and the glued together parts have lasted for YEARS!!!
I filled my smaller, default feeder (it hangs in the open) and have not seen one bird or one squirrel at it.
I think they all must be hibernating....Of course--the birds may have decided that my house
is NOT a feeding station this winter--as my feeder has not been up. I also have cheap bird seed in the default one.
Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a new one....BUT---these cost $40!!!
This is exactly the one I have--just mine is not brass. it is heavy, gray plastic.....I used to have 2 of them....
One is now surviving with parts from both of them. One really broke--as the hook it was hanging from broke--
and the feeder came crashing down on my concrete patio floor.
http://www.amazon.com/Perky-Pet-7103-2-Copper-Triple-Feeder/dp/B00004ZAVR/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325527727&sr=8-1
Have had it for about 9-10 years. Maybe it has served me well. Next time it breaks--I will not fix it....so SHE says.......:o)
Gita
Found this at Ace @ this sale price you get 100# for about $35.00 & tax. I've picked up 180# so far.
Ric
forgot the pic. LOL Ric
Ric---
I have bought this Bird seed at Ace--1 mile up my street---on sale for 3 bags for $10 last year....
Right now it is still $7.99 a bag. I am waiting......
Seemed like a GREAT DEAL.....However--if you really look at these bargain Bird seeds---
much of the weight in the 20lb. bags is Milo and cracked corn. It just ads weight--nutrition for the birds...
Milo is those beige, round seed nuggets--that most birds do not like. ..unless they are starving.
Cracked Corn is great to toss on the ground for squirrels, Chipmunks etc.-- and a few birds--
but it does not appeal to the smaller birds. Neither does Milo.
SO! The 20lbs. of Bird seed is NOT really all Bird Seed. It is more like a filler....
I suppose, if the birds get hungry enough, they will eat it. But--some cannot because of the size of the seeds.
HD also has 40lb. bags of Bird seed for about $8.99. Seems cheap! Same issue, though. Too many fillers....
I always look on the back what the main weight-wise ingredients are....Milo and corn are the main culprits.
As I said--my favorite seed mix that the birds gobble up is "Wagner's Eastern Bird See Mix".
Price???? $ 15.97 for 20lb. bag. Nada!!!!! NOT buying it!
Big Lots also has assorted Bird Seed---but the mix is also not so great....5Lbs. for $5. Mostly the small seeds....
A few years ago I drove miles to my closest "Truckers Supply" to check them out...
It was like---at least 40 minutes drive from my house--to Aberdeen.
I bought a 40lb. bag of Bird Seed for about $12. Do not remember the contents of that seed....
All I thought how inexpensive it was.....Sunflower seeds were GREAT DEAL, THOUGH.
I guess my main message here is: Check the contents!!!! Fillers just add weight--but you pay for the pound....
but not, necessarily, flavor or popularity among the birds....
The higher quality Bird Seed costs way to much to buy on a regular basis.
I try my best--but I am also aware of the cost of bird seed---when they could easily find nutrition elsewhere...
Same for the squirrels.....There are acorns galore everywhere--IF you feed them Peanuts--they will just
run and bury them in your beds and pots....
ALL these creatures have survived very well before people started feeding them.
We seem to be enabling them to be dependent on humans......HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM????
Gita
Gita, hows the feeder holding up now?
When I find my crowbar, I will crack open my wallet and buy safflower at the Co op, which prices it per pound. I think ten pounds or more goes to maybe 1.29 a pound? It's not the cheapest but it is the one that is well used by my cardinals, doves, juncos, sparrows and not well liked by my squirrels. Black oil sunflower and striped sunflower are squirrel candy. Jays rarely visit unless i give them some striped sunflower though.
Nothing has yet visited my refilled thisltle feeder that I've noticed, and it was sure cold today. I wonder if they remember that the last time they saw this one here, it had been filled for months with seed that, I finally realized, was all moldy and stuck together. Maybe they don't trust me anymore.
Many of these creatures survived - before we cut down half the trees and paved half the meadows. If we feed the creatures, we can support more of them than can live on the remaining resources. Then again, to some extent, they will prefer to fill up easily at our feeders than to hunt and peck for an hour for it. I have no "agenda' about bird feeding. I like to feed them and watch them.
Funny about the thistle feeders, I can have a lot of activity at that feeder and then they all seem to disappear for months next thing you you they are back again. I just put up a new thistle sock but haven't seen any activity at it yet. The other feeders are getting a lot action.
Sally--
My feeder seems solidly glued. Time will tell....Now I have to use this same Epoxy glue to mend some cracked pots.
I have not filled the feeder yet. Too cold to go out there....
All stores sell Safflower seed...HD, Lowes, Wallmart, etc....I think it comes in 10lb. bags...
Don't know the price--offhand.
As for Thistle socks--check the produce dept. in your store. Some things come in very
finely netted baggies. These can be used for Thistle socks...
Hate this cold! All of a sudden--it is winter.....Ugh!
I found safflower 50# bag at a local farm supply store. Forgot how much it cost, but it was pricey. However, the cardinals like it and squirrels don't. I didn't want to travel back and forth to this store, so I bit the bullet. I also got black sunflower seed and a smaller amount of smaller seeds. I am hoping to not have to get anymore for the season.
Learned a new word today
neophibia
It's a term used to describe the behavior of birds avoiding certain sources of food and feeders. Came from this article by Nat Wildlife
http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Birds/Archives/2009/Which-Birdseeds-Are-Best.aspx
- Birds may need to consume up to 10,000 calories per day
That's a lot of bird seed!
No birds out and about yesterday, much too windy!
I got 10 pounds of safflower, bulk, 1.79 a pound. I know that won't last till March. Under ten, there, is 1.99 a pound.
I also bought a small bag of Beedo mix and hope to put out a dish of it for taste testing- About a dollar a pound by bulk there. This place also sells bagged larger quantities.
I've been growing sunflowers but the birds love them so much in the summer I can't store any.
There are 2 Blue Jays at the sunflower feeder. Really I should get some pictures.
Saw a red bellied woodpecker at my feeder but I startled him and he flew away, def want to get a pic of him
this is the best pic I could get of him(or a relative) from last winter
Dang it! The safflower at Lowe's is 1.50 a pound, in 6 pd bags.
Since I now know I will save money next time I buy safflower, by going to Lowe's, I spent 2 bucks on a distressed but still awesome variegtaed ginger plant. I really had to buy it, since I already passed up a five dollar clearance ginger, smaller one, at the grocery store in the fall.
Twisted your arm, eh, Sally? ;)
ROflL- I had time to kill between errands...I KNEW I shouldn't go in Lowe's and think I would leave without a plant!!! But it was funny that it was the same kind that I almost got the other time.
It has some brown spots on the leaves but I figured that was cold damage. And I made sure I picked one with lots of shoots so I can divide it easily...
Beware Holly- next year, with that greenhouse up and running,...cheap clearance palms to put in the greenhouse and get them nice and big by spring...
Sally--
Next time your errands bring you MY way--stop in for some well-growing Brug cuttings...PLEASE!!!!
I am getting stressed out as to what to do with them. They are growing too big....
Reminder to self.......Fill that glued back together bird feeder today. It will be spring-like outside today...
Reminder #2---check Ace Hardware, at the end of my street, and see if their 29lb bags of bird seed
is on sale yet. Last year they had it 3 for $10. Not the greatest mix--but it is food....
G.
Oh Sally I know. It was terrible hard especially when we take those trips south in Sept and October. The plants I could have brought home.
Gita, I'll think on that. I'll even buy you lunch!
coleup, I suspect your word is neophobia- Phobia, VS philia (love) Simple typo as I am always making. Neophibia- a new love hate relationship!
Sally, here is a quote using the word neophibia
"Birds are remarkably proficient at assessing potential food items for nutritional content and quality. If you watch your feeder closely, you may observe the animals lightly rattling individual seeds in their bills to weigh and taste them before deciding whether to drop them to the ground or eat them. Low-quality foods are discarded and a consistently low-quality food patch may be avoided for a while—a behavior called “neophibia” that explains why birds learn to avoid your feeder if you put out old, moldy or inedible seeds."
So, I think it is not a typo of neophobia, a fear of the new, but a learning to avoid something one favored in the past like not going to a favorite restaurant for quite sometime after experiencing, say, a bit of "food poisoning" the last time you ate there (or was it a touch of the stomach virus going around?)
Safflower seed and cost. Are you all quoting prices for regular white safflower seed or the new hybrid golden safflower seed called NutraSaff?
I don't regularly feed the birds here except when the weather outside is frightfull as it was during the first part of the week. I put out mainly black oil sunflower and then a mix to give my feathered friends a little boost to make it through the hard times. Happy to rport 3 male cardinals and 2 females, lots of chickadees and sparrows (two kinds), tufted titmice, a bluejay, and a mocking bird.
I should have taken a pic of the squirrel hanging upside down outsmarting the squirrel proof feeder eating safflower seed
Gita, did you take home that green gazebo-type feeder that didn't work for me because the location wasn't right for its shallow tray (kept getting wind-dumped on me)? Have you tried it? I liked that it held a fair amount.
We've been spending $ on bird feed this winter, too... It's more an indulgence for us rather than a necessity for them, as birds have many food sources, but we really love seeing them up close when they swoop by to get a snack. I don't get the cheaper mixes with corn, because we get flocks of starlings then, but I don't shell out for the special blends, either! They go through it pretty quickly, but we really love seeing them up close. I just got a new mixed-seed feeder by No-No (they make really sturdy feeders with wire mesh for clinging birds and perch rings/trays for others), and it was very popular yesterday. It hangs right outside the window (inches away) from a flag pole hanger off the deck railing... fun! I've got the hourglass no-no feeder full of sunflower at the edge of the patio (I like to add peanuts to that feeder but haven't been able to find them on their own lately, only in a mix that's significantly more costly. Various other feeders hang from the frame of the deck canopy (canopy is down for the winter) -- PB christmas tree feeder, corn cob that the squirrels mostly ignore since they like PB, thistle feeder for the finches (also by No-No), and a new little round ball feeder that Joyanna claimed as her own to fill with sunflower seed and hang right outside the door (also by No-No, so it's a good sturdy one). Oh, and also one of those wire suet feeders that holds about a 4x4x1" chunk of peanut butter suet.
I've been mixing safflower with a millet blend, hoping to brush off squirrel interest, but they're still willing to dig around for that 1 in 500 sunflower seed. The millet attracts all sorts of sparrows (lately, a large group of english sparrows, but others also). Plenty of other birds love the safflower, but the sparrows make such a mess digging around in the seed that most of the safflower ends up on the patio below. It still gets eaten, but that's not a good birdwatching location for us, LOL. I suppose I could suspend a seed-catch tray below the bottom tray of the feeder I might try the millet mix in the morning, without the safflower and se if it's less messy.
ROFLOL, Jen! I've been bribing my squirrels with handfuls of "easy" sunflower seeds right outside the patio door, so they "hit" the feeders less often... the protection of the glass has made them fearless... kitty TV!
Nope--I did not take home a feeder from your house.....Someone else must have...
I never heard of "No-No" feeders...Are they high priced? I hate to spend $20-$30 for a feeder--as I am
too frugal to do that. When the big one I have breaks again--I will have to buy something. Bite the bullet...
Because I hang the feeder under my high patio roof, it stays dry and squirrels cannot get to it...
They try--Oh, they try, but there is NO way. They just feed on the fallen seeds and the sunflower
seeds i toss there at times for them.
There are plenty of oak trees just a couple houses away. They would not starve!
When i was in the grocery store yesterday, I made a point to see what small produce comes in the
fine mesh bags that could be used for Thistle socks.
It is the small cocktail-sized onions, Cherry Tomatoes, and all kinds of other , small things.
Look for them near the salad fixings section.....
Gita
Well, that IS a new word by me- Thanks coleup!
I'm afraid my birds really have it. Feeders have been very quiet. My thistle feeder was really disgusting when I cleaned it out in the spring. Maybe a real cold spell will force them to try it again.
Gita- that mesh has to really fine, those thistle are very tiny. Has anyone tried the produce mesh, or any other improvised thistle sovk?
Sally---
I went on a hunt looking for the baggies i was talking about. Finally found them in my shed...
The openings are a bit bigger than the real "sock". I have one and I compared.
I don't think the Nyger seed would fall out of them but the holes are about 2x bigger.
Besides--the material is of a much stiffer quality. Might work for small seeds?
Oh, well.....it was a decent, frugal suggestion.......gita
I haven't got a thistle 'sock' because the one time I did, it got a hole and dumped all that precious seed Boo!
Sally, that's just why I was going to suggest shelling out a buck or two for a "real" thistle sock... not worth improvising if your improvisation dumps that $$ seed!
Gita, let me see if I can at least find a photo of the feeder I was talking about... got mine at either HD or WalMart, maybe $10? Here it is at the Walmart site, in a different color: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Recycled-Gazebo-Bird-Feeder/16783131
