Feed the birds, tuppence a bag...#2

Never going to happen! I cannot see a brush pile in my back yard.

The two fence pannels that I put behind the raised bed nicely covers my neighbor's junk.

I do have 3 semi dying off Chinese Boxwoods at the corner of my patio,
right under my "moon"....The sparrows are always going in and out of these shrubs.
Sadly, these shrubs lost a huge chunk off of the part facing the pario with
the 4' snow we had in 2009 (?)...It just broke off.

At the front of my house I have nothing but big, bushy shrubs.
Maybe the birds can go there. They DO nest in these--as it is quite noisy in the soring...

Re the birds feeding--I will just look at how much $$$ I am saving not having to buy
all that bird seed.
Gita

Our feeders have a a good bit more activity in the last week or so. I think the meadows and fallows look as though the wet weather has beat them down a lot more also, making foraging a little more work intensive. Ric

Ric, I do think you're on to the key there. We had some real downpours last week, that wet day, huge puddles.

I'm having a lot of fun doing the annual Great Backyard Bird Count again this year. Feb 17-21. I've seen three more species of birds so far this year than last year. May be some unusual sitings due to unusual warmer weather this winter.

Here's the link: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Good activities for kids, too.

We're having very light feeder activity still. I am prettty glad I did not invest in a 50 ld bag of seed. I have not refilled my feeder once!

LOL... I am out of seed, again. Need to go to WM for another 25 (maybe 50?) pounds of BOS and at least half a dozen little bags of millet mix (the cheap 4 pound bags are just the right size to fill my new feeder). I do have some thistle left from my 10 pound bag, have probably gone through maybe 8 pounds so far this winter. I'm nearly to the bottom of my second 10 pound bag of safflower, but I've started using it only in the little window feeder, so it will be enough.

over 2 million birds counted so far and 585 species reported.

What I like about the site above is that you can put in your zip code, town, or state and see the counts for this year . Then you can compare them to counts for previous years from 1999 to 2011. There is also a list of species we might see in our area at this time of year. Every thing links to Cornell Ornithology Lab for ID, pics and song.

Here's Maryland so far (It is updated every 30 minutes or so) http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report?cmd=showReport&reportName=StateSummary&state=US-MD&year=2012

Here are the reports so far for Annapolis
_______________________
Great Backyard Bird Count


2012 Results: Annapolis, Maryland

This town report includes all data submitted to the town and to all postal codes associated with the town.

Other years: 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Species [taxonomic]
[alphabetic] Number of Birds Number of Checklists
Reporting the Species
Canada Goose 228 5
Wood Duck 5 1
Mallard 17 4
Bufflehead 4 1
Great Cormorant 1 1
Great Blue Heron 2 2
Black Vulture 15 2
Turkey Vulture 10 4
Bald Eagle 3 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 1
Red-tailed Hawk 4 2
American Coot 6 1
Ring-billed Gull 13 3
Mourning Dove 31 9
Belted Kingfisher 1 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 15 9
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 1
Downy Woodpecker 5 5
Hairy Woodpecker 2 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1 1
Blue Jay 36 7
American Crow 27 9
Fish Crow 12 5
Carolina Chickadee 21 11
Tufted Titmouse 21 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 12 10
Carolina Wren 6 5
Eastern Bluebird 6 2
American Robin 89 13
Gray Catbird 2 1
Northern Mockingbird 2 2
European Starling 50 6
Cedar Waxwing 15 1
Pine Warbler 2 2
Song Sparrow 7 4
White-throated Sparrow 12 3
Dark-eyed Junco 18 3
Northern Cardinal 35 12
Red-winged Blackbird 24 4
Common Grackle 513 7
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 1
Purple Finch 3 2
House Finch 24 8
American Goldfinch 25 10
House Sparrow 13 4
Total 1,346

A total of 46 species were reported.

Jill, here is Frederick report so far

Great Backyard Bird Count

2012 Results: Frederick, Maryland

This town report includes all data submitted to the town and to all postal codes associated with the town.

Other years: 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Species [taxonomic]
[alphabetic] Number of Birds Number of Checklists
Reporting the Species
Canada Goose 81 3
Mallard 280 3
Great Blue Heron 2 2
Black Vulture 1 1
Turkey Vulture 3 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3 3
Ring-billed Gull 2 2
Mourning Dove 26 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 1
Downy Woodpecker 2 1
Blue Jay 5 3
American Crow 11 3
Fish Crow 5 2
Carolina Chickadee 8 3
Tufted Titmouse 5 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 2 2
Brown Creeper 2 2
Carolina Wren 2 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 1
American Robin 41 3
Northern Mockingbird 2 2
European Starling 60 2
American Tree Sparrow 2 1
Fox Sparrow 7 1
Song Sparrow 8 3
White-throated Sparrow 9 2
Dark-eyed Junco 11 2
Northern Cardinal 18 7
Common Grackle 6 2
House Finch 19 5
American Goldfinch 13 3
House Sparrow 65 2
Total 704

A total of 33 species were reported.

Sally---

I still have no activity at my feeder either. The seed in the 3 tubes is still to the top--even the black oilers tube.

Whassup????? saving money--that is for sure...

I still feel that there must be something that repels them here. They were washed. the only thing is
the Epoxy glue I used to fix the bottom tray to the bottoms of the tubes.
This dries rock hard..so should not have an odor......

Need to put out my Thistle seed. Haven't done that yet.....I do have an unopened bag.

Gita

I forgot to keep a tally today, but hopefully we'll have the same visitors tomorrow and maybe more since I just refilled the feeders with the last of the seed. We heard our bluejay today but didn't see him. I had a hard time convincing Joyanna that the "cooo coo!" we heard from the mourning doves wasn't "whooo whoo! from an owl. LOL

Joyanna's little seed ball feeder (with sunflower) attracts some of her favorites as customers (downy woodpecker, chickadee, tufted titmouse), especially when the bigger feeders are overrun with sparrows.

Our activity is up as is the feeding. We're filling usually ever other day and the feeders are empty by then. The finch sock isn't getting much action though. We've probably gone through 100-120#s of song bird and 65-70#s of sunflower. We have been out of suet and I need to remember to get more. Ric

I need to figure out which local grocer carries lard now (used to get it at Super Fresh), so I can make peanut butter suet. Joyanna would get a kick out of making bird cookies, I know!

Foster & Smith is having a sale (through the holdiay weekend I think), and since I need a test kit (aquarium) maybe I'll get some bird seed from them... don't think it will be a problem qualifying for the free shipping LOL, and I've heard good things about hte freshness of their seed, although i haven't ordered from them before.

I saw tubs of lard in Safeway--on a small rack next to the meat case aisle.

Is there not a kind of lard that comes in a 1lb. chunk like butter and is in the dairy aisle
where the margarine and butter are?

G.

Thanks, Gita! If Giant carries lard, nobody there seems to know where it is... I've checked with meat, dairy, and baking. Hoping to get out to WM today for sunflower seed, so I'll check there, but it's good to know it's at Safeway.

Lard could be seasonal/ regional...as you probably know

Well, Jim came back from WalMart this afternoon with a 4 pound tub of lard. !! I was really thinking 1 pound, maybe even 2, but I guess I didn't specify an amount... LOL, I'm lucky it wasn't available in 20 pound slabs. I think I've got everything else (bought PB on a good sale before Christmas), so Joyanna and I will make some no-melt suet, maybe even form some into patties & coat with seeds/nuts for "bird cookies." I"ll check the basement also to see if we have pine cones to stuff & hang.

Maybe you could take pictures and show us how you make suet? Also--a short tutorial.
After all--this IS the bird feeding Thread!

I know you wrote an article on this, but just here-- would be more fun and casual.
Now that we can post up to 5 pictures--it would be less sending....

Joyanna can model the steps.....:o)

Thanks, Gita

The birds are good forecasters- they were vey active on my feeders today in advance of the storm.

Welllll.....

I actually saw a few birds at my feeders today. Whoppie!
I know it is mating season--as I see the Doves chasing each other--and the Starlings
cleaning out their favorite nesting site in a dead branch of my Kwanzan Cherry tree.

I was worried they would not come back--as I cut this tree down to the nubs last year.
BUT--they are so very territorial....NO ONE else will ever have this deep, spacious dead trunk but them!
It is amazing how they come back to it each year--and fight off anyone else interested.

Do you remember my story of how a squirrel had claimed this space--and how the black Birds fought her off?
Then they cleaned out all the insulation the squirrel gad stuffed in there and proceeded to nest in there--as usual.
There was tons of fluffy insulation all over the grass under the tree.....
It was like David and Goliath!

Gita

Sounds like some of your old feathered friends knew just where to go this spring!

The "bird cookies" Joyanna and I made are a big hit... even the red bellied woodpecker finally made an appearance!

She and I made one batch, but since Jim brought me such a huge (4 pound) bucket of lard, I made a big pot of suet mix during her nap... dumped in a cup of so of cayenne pepper (didn't want her handling that) plus a bunch of odds and ends from the pantry in place of some of the flour & cornmeal. We also had some old dried fruit that had darkened enough that nobody wanted to eat it, but we diced it up and the birds like it fine.

I took a couple of photos, will try to come back & post them with the recipe in a bit... but right now Joyanna and I need to watch some You Tube. :-)

Always fun to do projects with children. She will grow up with such a love of nature.

Birds have been active here too. Maybe its gearing up for egg season, maybe its natural sources finally running out, maybe its migratories making more traffic.

hee hee 4lbs of lard ought to hold you over for awhile...LOL

grackles here and raiding my feeders...I need to get out there and wrap it in chicken wire, good thing they are easily scared off by just opening my slider

I always throw crumbs and leftover baked goods on the deck...leftover cupcake from son's class(lovely color isn' it?) birds won't even eat it!!!!

Your birds thought they were smurfs and wouldn't want to touch them ;o)

LOL

EEwww smurf body parts !!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I haven't seen a crowd of grackles yet. I'm hearing lots of robin activity. I quit doing bread scraps because it seem the grackles are very fond of those.

Here's the red-bellied woodpecker on the suet "cookie"

In the past, we've seen him at the big sunflower seed feeder only when we've added peanuts, so I guess he decided the PB in the suet mix would do!

They say they prop up with those tail feathers. Makes me think of toothpicks in my but# !
Cute photo

It's way funnier to watch a Junco at the suet feeder... maybe they're "supposed" to be ground feeders, but we have a couple of PB addicts among our locals... they can't cling well of course, so they flap their wings like mad while trying to get a bite... flapping makes the feeder spin, so then they have to flap even harder... it looks like a carnival ride! But it must be worthwhile to them, or they wouldn't keep coming back for another try. LOL

I love peanuts too, can't blame them