Show us your feeders, vol. 2

Time for this to move on to a new thread!

Here's a Tree Sparrow on the feeders at a local nature reserve near where I am.

Resin

Nice pic Resin! Thanks for starting a new one! :-)

Anyone have the Globe Feeders?

I'd like to hear what your experiece is w/ them and if you could please say what exact type you have I'd appreciate it.

Thanks Pelle :-)

Heres the feeder I'm talking about.

This one holds 6 pounds of seed but theres also a smaller one that holds 1 pound.

http://www.rachelsrobin.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-3180-20cfdc2d94595341f28edad40aa59e41&ps_session=79ff6a60c13ad0832e6a0f401e5b2621

I was wondering how they hold up in rain and if it might NOT be able to be used by House Finch (that would definitly be a plus). Pelle

This message was edited Oct 18, 2007 7:39 PM

Nice to see the Tree Sparrow, Resin. I understood that they had become quite rare in England!

Yep, rare overall, but where they are well catered for (as here!) they are still locally common. This feeding station supports a colony of about 45 pairs of them. They also have nestboxes provided for them.

Resin

Hello, I am new to this forum and am enjoying learning about birds and feeding. I wanted to share my pic of our new feeding station on the farm. We have a tree that died and noticed the birds seemed to be enjoying it so we have decided to keep it for them. So far I am only feeding Boss and suet. I would like to improve on the diet and need to check out what is available. We have several feeders and also a watering thingy hanging. The birds are fun to watch and so far we have had Goldfinch, Cardinals, sparrows, 2 or 3 different types of woodpeckers and doves. I am hoping to get some pics of the birds if they will behave long enough for me. Some have left for the season I think and we don't have as many as we did when we first started feeding them.

It took over a week for the birds to use this feeder. It's a Sugar Pine pine cone, smeared with peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.

Hi dellrose!

Welcome to the Bird Watching forum!!

Thats a very cool setup you have there!

I saw you mentioned you have woodpeckers; have you tried putting any peanuts out for them? I'm sure they like the suet too.

Gee do I see 10 feeders there? Thats great!

Thanks for posting! Pelle

Hi All,
Have really enjoyed reading & seeing all your posts.
Tried to find a PIC of mine, I used to have 12 different hanging feeders on 2 different 4-hanger posts hooked together along with 4 suet holders & a ground feeder.
Other than bringing them in at night does anyone have any experience on keeping Teddy(Bear) away from here, so I can enjoy them again?
Thanks for any help..:)Anita

If it could prove to be a problem I'll take it down. No sense taking a chance.

When we were up in the Smokey Mountains we got another feeder. The birds haven't tried it out yet, they seem to like the old one. Oh well, maybe they will try it out soon.

Nice to see you irish!!!

Thats a very sweet looking feeder!

I'm sure once their hungry enough they'll try it. :-) Pelle

Well, even if they don't, it is cute to look at (Tee Hee)

Thats the truth! Very cute!

Thanks so much for posting the photo of it! Pelle :-)

That is a cute feeder!

Pelle...What kind of peanuts do the woodpeckers eat and what kind of feeder should I use? I went to Lowe's today and got carried away and bought more feeders and some different kinds of suet. Here is a pic of what I got. I may have gotten carried away and sure hope it brings more birds. I also want to try and build some platforms for the birds that prefer that way to eat. And yes...I did have 10 feeders, now it's more!!

Thank you for the nice welcome...Rose

Wow you did get alot dell!!

Depends on what type of peanuts your using; shelled or unshelled.

Peanuts in the shell can be put on a platform feeder or something similiar.

Peanuts out of the shell can be put in a Peanut Silo or mixed with a regular bird seed meant for medium to large birds.

Hi again Rose, Their are also mixes that contain peanuts and other nuts such as one called
Nut n Berry (make sure if you get this it has the word "nut" first) but it looks like you have alot of Boss (Black Oil Sunflower Seed) there already so it might be nice just to add something like peanuts etc. to mix w/ that. Just make sure the feeder you put it in has big enough feeding ports for the peanuts (out of the shell) to be able to get through.

What type of suet did you get? Woodpeckers love suet!

This is a stack of six pictures that is guaranteed to cause boredom unless you're handy with tools and looking for something to kill time since so many of our birds from the North have left for a warmer sun.

I appreciate f_chisolm giving me the idea on how I can use this 60# load of wood as both a feeder and as a more attractive bird photo platform than a suet cage. Thanks Frank!

#1 The previous owner of my home loved gravel and this is a shot after 20 minutes of digging. It took me a full 1/2 hour longer to get the hole the size I needed to properly cement the log.

#2. Well, the tough part was behind me - Right? Wrong! I didn't check the ID of the tree this log came from but it definitely was a hardwood. The hand saw on top of the log here was a joke. My itsy bitsy electric saw also shown failed miserably as you can see from the feeble cut marks I made trying to level the top.

#3. Out of the neighbor's garage came this super high torque beauty and tho the blade was short it cut thru the log like butter.

#4. This is the bottom of the log stuck in wet cement. (The cement was left over from my new fence so my out-of-pocket expense for this entire project was zero)

#5. This shows the bottom with the dirt filled in. Note that this log is larger than your usual fallen limb. Also visible here is the branch I left for a bird perch.

#6. This is a shot to show that visually it seems to fit in ok with my other feeders and hopefully will become as productive.

Now that the manual labor is done, I'll be planning the strategic placement and size of the holes to drill - first to meet my desires as a photographer and then to make the birds as happy as I can. If I ever get this project completed with a bird on it, I'll post some more pics (maybe not 'til Spring tho).

Some of you may know that I'm a newbie at birds so I'm curious to know watcha think. Can't beat the price. Maybe worthwhile just as an excuse to give DH some exercise. Thoughts? Comments?

Dave





This message was edited Oct 19, 2007 12:58 PM

Hi Dave, I've been trying to get to your post ever since you put it up but I'm having trouble connecting to the internet.

Well excercise is always great so theres no comment needed on that. :-)

Sounds good to me; can't wait to see the final project with the holes drilled etc.

Keep us updated! Pelle

Saw the thread - Vol 1 also. Quite amazing how many varieties of feeders are in use!

So you think you have problems with your feeders?

Check this out ------- the comments are also enjoyable.

http://www.photographyvoice.com/pv/potd/ViewPOTD.aspx?c=13568

This message was edited Oct 24, 2007 10:55 AM

Oh he's beautiful Dave! Thanks for posting!

I would give anything to only have Bubba Buck, Very nice pic, I have lots of them here, my dog's keep them away from the house, it's Teddy they don't keep away:(

Hi Everyone! Bought a new thistle feeder today. This is one that I recommended to someone else earlier. I was having a problem cleaning some of my old thistle feeders since they only open from one end.

This one opens from both ends so each time you fill it you fill from a different end, that way keeping the seed fresher and of course much easier to clean. The spiral design has a few more feeding ports in it also.

I was going to buy it in yellow but already have yellow thistle feeders so decided to change it up a little. :-)

They seemed hungry to me. :-))

I just had my peanut silo apart and the bottom on the ground for the 3rd time - called Droll Yankees and they are sending a new perch - very easy and friendly service. Has anyone had trouble with squirrels taking them apart? So far I am not using baffles.

Sorry I use a baffle; squirrels LOVE peanuts!

Glad they helped you out; their a good company.

Just thought I'd add this pic of the Goldfinch using the feeder.

The weather is terrible here.

Hey There, had to give you an update. All the birds are starting to eat out of the new feeder finally. They are even bringing their relatives. What a relief!

That's fantastic! I like the spiral "foot rest". How long do you think one fill of seeds would last? What about rain protection?

Hi irishsoul, Thats great! So glad to hear it!

Hi Dinu, I have alot of birds that eat thistle so it should go pretty fast and thats good because thistle only stays good for 3 or 4 months.

Rain can pretty much get in any feeder. After alot of rain I always have to check all and any types of feeders I have. This one does have drainage holes and the fact that it opens from both ends means any problems will be able to be taken care of with ease. :-)

That means, less work. Thanks Pelle.

Pelle,

We have used both globe feeders, the 10" large one and the 6" smaller one at different times. No, they are not House Finch proof (both of them). They can hang on, get and eat the Sunflower seeds. We started the Winter of 2000 and we feed the birds every day since Dec. 2000 (on the ground as well 10 feeders, 14 in the Summer, which includes 4 Hummingbird feeders.

We first got the large one and had problems a few times with small birds falling in when the opening area that you add the seeds to, became opened with wind. The first time my husband and I noticed there were 2 small birds that 'fell' in and couldn't get out (but wanted to) and we got them freed. The second time, we found a bird had either fallen in or flew in to get to all the seeds and couldn't get out and sadly, died. That's when I called Duncraft and told them the problem. The woman said that they might have to change the way the 10" globe feeder is designed. At this time we ordered the 6" one and we been using it since. I don't know if they ever changed the opening of the 10" feeder. The one we had was an oval opening the had clear plastic (like the feeder is) slide over the opening easily to close and when wind was strong enough, it easily slide open.

We have never had the same problems with the 6" feeder and birds fallen in, since it has a small opening.

The only 'House Finch' proof feeder we have is the upside down thistle feeder that only the Goldfinches can use. We've seen once in a great while, a House Finch try to use it, but they can't get the seeds out, then they give up and fly to another feeder.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Marilyn

This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 12:08 AM

This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 12:12 AM

Thank you very much Marilynbeth!

I hope they did change the opening on that feeder w/ problems like that.

I do have an upside down feeder and love it (especially watching the House Finch trying it and being so confused).

Thanks again, Pelle :-)

I have finally found feeders that are not a problem. Both are a cinch to clean. They are open on all sides so seed can air dry. Feeding is not limited to ports and perches. We are all very happy with these. The one on the left is for peanuts. I put thistle seed and safflower seed in the one on the right.

Do you know what company made the one on the right sybil?

I don't. I'll check the feeder. I bought it at Fleet Farm.