Josh's Project Bird Feeder Watch

Rhianna78 wrote:I guess I'm a bad bird feeder then. I enjoy watching all of them so I feed them all. I also feed the squirrels which seems to tick off some bird purists.

I've got stuff out for thistle eaters, ground feeders, woodpeckers - like the suet I make & the occasional orange nailed to the tree, and hummingbirds come spring.

Nice!!

Be careful out there Josh.....be very careful

Rhianna78 wrote:I guess I'm a bad bird feeder then. I enjoy watching all of them so I feed them all. I also feed the squirrels which seems to tick off some bird purists.

I've got stuff out for thistle eaters, ground feeders, woodpeckers - like the suet I make & the occasional orange nailed to the tree, and hummingbirds come spring.

I do the same thing. However, I stop feeding when the Starlings and Grackles start taking everything under the sun.

I feed my squirrels to the side of everything. I have a bungee cord with two corn cobs on it. The squirrels jump up there and just bounce and eat. It keeps them occupied enough they stay away from my feeders for the most part.

I'm far from a bird "purist."

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:I feed my squirrels to the side of everything. I have a bungee cord with two corn cobs on it. The squirrels jump up there and just bounce and eat. It keeps them occupied enough they stay away from my feeders for the most part.

I'm far from a bird "purist."

Ha! I LOVE the bungee cord idea...I may have to try that.

NorthWoodsFever wrote:Would these birds count??\

I don't have them on my list to report, but I think they would fit under unusual sightings..

staf74 wrote:Be careful out there Josh.....be very careful\

I know staf74...it's scary out there! I turned in 500 of crackles and it sent up a red flag on my entry and they said ..are you sure...

We had a bald headed cardinal last year, and no one knew what it was, everyone thought it was some kind of rare bird or something cause they really look weird! bald birds

I did have a visit at the feeders that I wasn't sure what it was, it's on the list of birds to report but not on my photo Id chart, BBG ID it for me, a mocking bird. BBG said they don't usually go to feeders, they like berries and things like that, but I had added a berry mix and that may be why it came to the feeder.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:
You will notice that when the weather
turns bad/cold, your feeders heat up with activity. Just yesterday,
among the flurries of snow,\

Since it snowed, the feeders have been very busy! The cardinals look nice in the snow.

I have been battling the exploding squirrel population at my bird feeder this winter. However I do have the usual juncos, black capped chickadees, cardinals, the obnoxious blue jay, tufted titmouse, mourning doves, white breasted nuthatch, and last week a few finches, but today when I was driving I saw a beautiful rough legged hawk sitting on a highway sign overlooking the frozen marsh; it looked very similar to this one. In this article, see how large these raptors are, fabulous creatures. http://wildtowild.blogspot.com/2011/02/rough-legged-hawk-is-released.html

We had a small hawk of some sort on our back patio under the bird feeder a couple weeks ago...it had taken off when the DH walked over by the back door. Thankfully it was smaller than our chickens! lol They were in their coop at the time. We've had the usual sparrows - not sure which kind, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Chickadees, Wood Peckers, Titmice...I love watching them.

Camp, I bet you see some Pine Siskins, Redpolls, and Grosbeaks from time to time....not every year. I would practically kill to see them at my feeders. They just don't get this far south....or maybe even west....with any regularity.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:I feed my squirrels to the side of everything. I have a bungee cord with two corn cobs on it. The squirrels jump up there and just bounce and eat. It keeps them occupied enough they stay away from my feeders for the most part.

Please describe the bungee cord setup. Run between trees or just tied up around one tree? Never heard of that kind of feeding station, sounds like it would be fun to watch them.

I have a standard "L" feeder which they generally behave & leave the birds be, but they'll eat the suet as well (I put some in the feeder, some on the ground). No worries as I make my own so it isn't too pricey. The only time we have problems is we have a mating pair of Blue Jay and a mating pair of Cardinals so I have to set up more feed stations come spring just to keep everyone happy.

I haven't noticed a lot of starlings. I get a lot of crows at times but the dog seems to keep them in check. I know I have a family of squirrels, I actually put a house up for them. Part of our property is behind the fence so its got lots of trees, underbrush, and dead fall so I get a fairly decent assortment of birds. Come spring we'll hopefully get our crane back, he likes to take his breakfast in the drainage ditch where the frogs hang out. We've got racoons as well, but I don't know if they live out back or in one of the wooded neighbors' yards. Seen a couple deer back there as well but only as ones, never with young and never a mature buck. Like I said, a good assortment of creatures.

I'm thinking of registering the yard as a "Backyard Habitat" with the National Wildlife Federation. We have everything covered to include the bird water stations and a small fish pond, with gold fish. The husband has yet to agree to that one though.

Chopper wrote:Maybe he was a rebel without a clue. Or the bird version of goth.

Btw, I am itching to drive cross country and if I do I will be going through Illinois. I have GOT to see that garden if I get close.

Chopper, I missed this, if you come to Illinois, you have got to come and visit me!! You can help me pick cotton! I might send you home with a giant tomato

Josh wrote:

Chopper wrote:Maybe he was a rebel without a clue. Or the bird version of goth.

Btw, I am itching to drive cross country and if I do I will be going through Illinois. I have GOT to see that garden if I get close.

Chopper, I missed this, if you come to Illinois, you have got to come and visit me!! You can help me pick cotton! I might send you home with a giant tomato

Now, Josh, let's not go recruiting what can be misinterpreted as "slaves."

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately....kind of burned out. However, I have meant to get out an document the bungee set up a bit.

My feeding stations revolve around one thing.....baffles. If you place your feeders on poles, and away from trees (like 10 feet minimum), all you need is a baffle on the pole about 4 feet high and under the feeders. Squirrel proof to 99%. Done.

If you are near trees, you need crazy contraptions. Baffles above. Baffles below. Whatever you do it will be like a war. Everything you do the squirrels will thwart. You will never be 100% free of them eating your seeds. They are just too agile and attack from above, below, and even sideways. I've seen them use their weight on the right branches to sling themselves into range and jump from there. They are amazingly smart critters.

I have to use the trees for my setups because I need to bring the birds in super close to my windows to photograph them. I'm just too lazy to go outside and sit for half an hour in a chair waiting for a single opportunity. I like it better when I have the camera by the window and can pop off a few pics when I see activity outside. So, I have a squirrel issue a lot.

One way to reduce them getting the feeders, and the "good seed" is to throw trash seed on the ground beneath the feeders. The cheap store mixes are perfect for this. However, I went even cheaper. I bought a bunch of cracked corn from a feed store for about $.60/lb. I mix it in with the cheap seed mix and toss about two cups on the ground every morning. The squirrels take the easy route and stay off my feeders.....until the ground is picked over and they get hungry.

The bungee is for entertainment. It's store bought....called the Squngee. You could probably google it. I found it in a bird store for about $16. When you open the package, it has a chain, a bell, a tethered bungee section, two "eye" screws, and some ties to tie to a hook in the tree. It's completely ready to go.....my kind of contraption.

It takes about 5 minutes to hang it and another 5 to get the corn cobs screwed in. You go back inside and just like fishing, the bell rings when you got one! Go to the window and watch them bounce.

At first, I put it about a foot or two off the ground. Now, its up a ways....several feet. The squirrels don't care in the least. They want the corn.

Hey...if you and chopper both come over...we can have a cotton picken party!

Patti and I are also doing the Birdwatch this winter. It was cold this weekend, and we saw _lots_ of birds. I think the most cardinals we saw at one time was 18.

Last weekend I was down at the garden, and saw a Bald Eagle. This is the first I have seen one at my place in KY.

I was mesmerized by the graceful bird... First I saw it just over the treetops, and I was surprised by how large it was, it seemed to be 7 ft. wide. It kept riding the thermals, and in a minute it was a mile up, and appeared to be just a pinpoint.

Josh how is this project coming along?
Here are some amazing birds to watch!


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The Eagle and the hawk are pretty awesome! We have some hawks that fly around, but they don't look as pretty as that one!
I've not seen anything new, but there has been an increase in the amount that is coming to the feeders now.

I finally have some brown/gold finches visiting.

Wow! Josh you have an amazing backyard feeding station, I really envy you! I used to feed all the backyard birds when i lived out in the country. Now I live too close to the city and all i get are the European house sparrow and starlings I am sort of a snob when it comes to bird feeding and I don't want to feed those so I packed in the feeding station and haven't done it for over a year

I have seen a few things that I would like to comment on through the thread:
Cardinals molt their head feathers all at once (basically) and you end up with some very un-pretty birds. Cardinals only molt once a year, generally in the spring, unless they were hatched that year. you can tell the young birds by the dark bill.

In order to limit the amount of "trash" birds that come to your feeder there are a few things you can do:
I had a lot of problems with common grackles and starlings kicking out the feed trying to find what they wanted. I started feeding safflower, think of it as a white version of the black oil sunflower. it virtually eliminated all of those "trash" birds from cleaning me out! the other thing i can suggest is this feeder called the Squirrel Buster or This one called the Eliminator They are both the same product just sold through different vendors. It is an expensive purchase but the nice thing with this type of feeder is you can set the tension of the system to eliminate those "trash" birds as well as squirrels and raccoons I have four of them in my back yard and never worried about what i fed, I had everything from grosbeaks to cardinals titmice to nuthatches....even had a brown creeper come in one time, not sure why I think he was just visiting with friends

Any how didn't mean to hijack, I would love to see what your numbers were for the winter.

Baby Eastern Bluebirds

I noticed the bluebirds going in the bluebird house about a week ago, so I took a look and there were 6 eggs in the nest.




I saw them today waiting for me to move away from the nest box


I looked inside and the eggs had hatched

Great pictures Josh!!

WOW! How exciting! nice photos! Thanks Josh, for sharing.

I started a bluebird trail with 2 nesting boxes so far. Just wish there was a way to keep the tree swallows and sparrows out of the boxes. The bluebirds are so gentle they hang around trying to get a box but are not up to fighting hard for one. They are nesting somewhere else. They spend lots of time on the pasture fences, hawking for bugs on the ground and they do come up to the house for mealworms. It's pretty nice to have them anyway. In the past I've enjoyed watching the babies apparently learning the ropes from dad. Just wish they would use the nice boxes, poles, and baffles I paid for, instead of the other cruddy birds.

My feeders are out in the yard and we have all sorts of birds. My DH put the bluebird houses nailed to the uprights on the porch, under the eves. The bluebirds are the only birds that are tame enough, unafraid of humans, so had no problems from other birds.

Jo

That's interesting, I like that idea. My husband keeps asking me to put a nest box up close. I keep trying to go by the book and put them out in the pasture, 100 feet from tree lines, and nest box spacing of 100 yards apart. Nice little effort of measuring, then the other birds take up residence. I have a third nest box, and doggone it, think I will try your method, bring it up close to the house and see what happens. Thanks!

If you put the sunflower course hearts in a feeder, the bluebirds will come to it to feed in the winter. I have been battling the house sparrows this spring. I am a bird lover, and hope I don't offend anyone. House Sparrows are not a native bird of the US, so it is legal to kill them. I don't have a problem doing it, because I opened my bluebird box a couple of years ago after seeing the sparrows and bluebirds fighting for territory. The male was dead with his eyes poked out and his beak torn up. If we, as bird lovers, don't try to stop them from getting in the boxes, there won't be any bluebirds left. Another mean bird is a house wren, but they are native, so there isn't a lot you can do about them. They poked holes in the bluebird eggs last year.

The next few weeks are exciting times for the bird photographer, because there are a lot of migrants coming through. Josh, you may know this, but if you put grape jelly out, you might get some Baltimore Orioles coming into your feeders...if they come through your neck of the woods. They LOVE it! Happy birding!!!

Lee Anne

I thought I'd give you'all a couple pics. These boxes were put up before we read the book! I don't think they are the suggested size either.







LeeAnn, what do you put the grape jelly in? I've had a couple B Orioles in yrs past.

Jo