Bird feeder

I have had some feeders out since I first set up the camper before we got the boat up here. The thing is that we always had a generator running during day time hours. Now we have been on quiet electrickery for a month or so and the wildlife is coming in more every day. Now that things are quiet, I have deer walking right past the boat ( Hence forth to be known as cabin ) Boat just sounds weird when one is on a 1400 foot hill not due to marginal navigation skills. We see one or two new species of birds every day and the numbers of those species are going up as well. We now have two pairs of Cardinals , two pairs of red bellied woodpeckers and so on around the place . A dozen or so tufted titmouse ..... sparrows till the cows come home and two pairs of blue jays. Junkos and wrens. I am waiting for the day that I do not see a bird species that we have not seen here before but so far ....Mother nature just keeps coming up with new ones that pay us a visit. No matter how much they eat, I can keep up with it. I have around 150 pounds of bird food that I mixed myself and about 30 pounds of DIY suet blocks that fit into those little cages. The kitchen has had a remodel and is now a bird watching station with a breakfast bar along 3 windows facing the feeders. Hey Jonathan .... what ya think of it so far ??

ATB

Michael

your probably going to want a bear tag. used to hunt them when i was a kid when the grass first got green again. they like that first spring meal to be fresh green grass. they find that bird feeder they will hang around. where i was in the fall you found them often in the oak brush eating acorns. they eat amazing amounts of feed in the fall. trash cans can be an attraction too. make a bigger mess of your trash than a dog will. anyway its just something to keep in the back of your mind. you dont want one coming in the house.

I imagine Jonathan is looking down from heaven with a smile!

Chris

Suet is a bear magnet!

My birds like oil seed sunflowers as much as anything. The gold finch went for whole sunflower seeds over thistle seed by far. The squirrels like them too.

I bought big bags of black oil sunflower seed, crushed corn dried meal worms, sunflower, peanuts. and thistle seed. Then mixed batches of suet blocks and filled the feeders. The corn I just scattered around a little farther away for the turkeys. From what I have heard so far from people, bears are pretty thin on the ground around here. I guess we will see.

Keep a" Yard List" in what you see and you will know from year to year what comes in migration and what is local.

Squirrel resistant feeders pay for themselves in the matter of weeks.

Watch those sparrows there are about 10 species to work through. You can always remember the White-throated sparrow cause he sings "oh sweet Canada-Canada "

Sparrows are tough to tell apart. Well the Jack Sparrow is easy because of the funny hat and the eye patch. But theaters are not easy to tell apart. Getting there though. On the upside, these birds are way easier to feed than the ones I used to have on the boat. ....... before it was a cabin

We buy 400 pounds of black oil sunflower and 3 dozen suit blocks every year. Bird count is way down this year.

we don't have spring bear season but depending on where you are people mark first bear sighting in the spring and then always put the feeders away the week before first bear sighting the previous year.

soon you will fill your deer tags from the porch

just eat the squirrels their tasty

If I leave the sliding door open, I could hunt deer and watch TV at the same time. But it would freak the cats out if I did take a shot lol

We gave up feeding birds even tho it was very enjoyable to watch them.

The Coons, deer and turkeys made a mess of the yard around the feeder.
The coons would wake us up at night with all their fighting and growling.

After the turkeys first showed up bought some corn and threw it out on the driveway.
Let me tell you $5 of corn disappears very fast with over 30 turkeys.
Gets expensive in a hurry.

I have fed the bird for years, in the last 4 years we are getting fewer and fewer birds, I bet out numbers are down by 85% or more. Same place, same food. I will keep a watch on this thread.

As far as bird count goes, I have nothing to compare it with as the birds I used to feed ( 3 of them ) just ate fish and turned up at the fridge like clockwork. It does seem quite lively out there though now that the word is getting around that there is free food to be had.

Jonathan would be proud !

You are on to a great start.

I feed just chopped suet from my local butcher, nothing else added. In three cages on pulleys , around 17 feet up the trees, to keep the occasional bear from accessing them. Flying squirrels like it too . A light available at night will show them gliding from tree to tree.

I feed sunflower seed and millet. There are birdies who prefer the millet , such as Song Sparrows , Juncos, etc.

If you want to target only the wee ones, a couple globe feeders ( no perches, just holes to grasp along the side and reach in) are the way to go. I have two of those , along with two large platform feeders with easy removable trays.

The millet I just sprinkle on the ground. The ones who like it are generally ground feeders anyway.

A birdbath will have you enjoy all the ones who are not seed eaters. You will see them all, that way.

I also encourage indigenous shrubs that wield berries all over the property, or plant them purposely , if needed. Grouse and turkeys, and everyone else loves them all summer and winter.

You are in for lots of enjoyable life experiences from the flyers, Michael.

Good encouragement Sharon, and sound advise.


Beef suet in 1/4 or 1/2 inch hardware cloth cages usually free from the butcher is the way to go; on a pulley system.

I think 330 trapper has some nice feeder pics of how to make a feeder for Pileated woodpeckers

"I think 330 trapper has some nice feeder pics of how to make a feeder for Pileated woodpeckers"


These hold 3 full suet cakes

And this one holds Two full cakes

No melt suet is costly to make with all the berries and raisins...but the Birds love it !!!

Those are really nice suet feeders 330.

Nice feeders. My buddy gave me some Bear fat that I plan on mixing with mixed seed this week.

Birds Love Bear fat!

I used to go through two or three 5 gallon pails of bear fat every winter. Everything will eat it, but the birds go nuts over it.

I hope so have about 5 pounds of it.

Works of art, those suet feeders are, Scott !

N50, every once in a great while, I will have a small black bear try to climb up to access the cage, but rarely. Never a grizzly , though they both travel through here, it's only the blacks , small young ones. The big bears just walk through on the deer trails.

Interestingly, none of them have shown any interest in the seed feeders. Must be something they need most in the diet here, which is more protein based, maybe.

Once in a blue moon a coon or two climbs the trees, they have much difficulty trying to grasp the cage and hang onto the tree all at once. Fun targets with my Marlin 22 rifle

Michael might have possum visitors from time to time , too

Thanks Sharon

You're always so kind!

My wife and I have had bird feeders here since 1976. We have 4 seed feeders, 1 suet feeder and 1 oriole feeder. I also have woods and prairie gardens that produce a lot of seed those tweeters like.
Most years, we get to see a new specie. Sometimes after stopping here in migration a couple of years, they have started nesting.
We feed birds year around. It's cool to see the parents bring the young to the feeders.
No bears here but deer can be troublesome. I have figured out how to keep squirrels off the feeders. They are welcome to the spillage on the ground.
Feeding birds is addictive!

" Tweeters" ...I like that, squacks

Thank you for your kindness, Scott, but I think one young bear wouldn't agree ...on one of several bear hunts , I was headed out on walkabout ,after a remarkable deep red auburn toned 350-400 lb boar . Halting out my back door, I stopped to see a small black bear laddie on his hind legs , maybe close to one hundred lbs, looking up the tree trunk . He faced me and took a small jump toward me , stiff legged and huffing . I stood there smiling , had to laugh out loud , he was so amusing.

So tough acting for such a small gnat

He just had no clue...I could have cut him in half with my 300 mag. Weatherby , which I held in ready to warn him off at his feet if needed. Just felt in my instinct that he was posturing , and he was . Faced me wide legged , huffed again, turned and ran , as I laughed.. I think bruised his ego .

I told him to come back and we will ride this train in four or five years

I was within leaping distance to my back door if any adult showed up, but nothing ever did.

It has been over five years now, he hasn't taken me up on the invited visit so far ...

It's fun to imagine what Michael will tell one if he experiences the same !

Sharon if that happens I'll probably end up with another pet, given our record so far
Tell ya what though, my morning coffee seems to take a little longer these days and the last couple of sips seem to be colder than they used to be. I could just sit there for hours watching those little feather balls. I strung up a bunch of peanuts in their shell on a length of wire and hung them on a twig. The tufted titmouse population is having a ball hacking away at them. Saw a squirrel this morning making its way to the feeder zone, pick up an acorn and made off with it. With so many oaks around here and hickory, they don't have to raid bird feeders to get their meals together I think. They rather pick up a fat acorn that a skinny sunflower seed I guess.

I have Oak, Hickory, Black walnut and hazlenut here and black oil sunflower seed will still bring them.

This one broke INTO JAIL to get at them. I can keep them out now. I

I took care of my Squirrel problem last year. Now only have 2 that come to visit.

A picture taken though the kitchen window from the breakfast bar looking at part of the bird feeding spot.

Beautiful Scene Scuba!!!

I have to look at that every day ...... I know, but someone has to I guess lol