How to NOT get anything done!

[csziggy]

We have not been feeding our birds for a couple of years because the deer were eating all the bird seed. It got so the deer were scarfing up as much as 40 pounds in one night and I just cannot afford that!

Last weekend we moved the stands for the bird feeders closer to the house and I hung out hummingbird feeders - the hummers have been spending a lot of winters at some places around the county, including some Western hummers that came east instead of going south. No hummers so far.

Hubby had moved the old bird feeders with the stands and this morning when I brought my coffee in, the perches on both feeders outside the windows were full with chipping sparrows. I bought some bird seed yesterday, so I went out and filled the feeders.

Within twenty minutes, the word was out - the feeders were FULL! I logged 12 chipping sparrows, 4 chickadees, 4 titmice, 1 white breasted nuthatch, 6 goldfinch, 1 female cardinal, 2 blue jays (who did not come to the feeders, but yelled at the other birds from the tree), 2 pine warblers, and another warbler I never did identify - it was very plain and could be an immature of any number of warbler. The normal murder of crows cruised by and a few turkeys vultures floated over while catching a thermal off the open field.

It was so much fun watching the little birds come and go, I got pretty much nothing done today. Well, I did feed the birds.

Tonight when I let the cat in, there were three deer up near the house. I hassled them until they left, but they may get bold enough to get close enough to eat out of the feeders again even though they are only four feet from the windows. Maybe I need a motion activated light or alarm?

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Spending much of a day watching birds on feeders is a day very well spent, in my view!

I've had a few of those myself!

We need a bit of snow/really bad weather to liven things up at our feeders. Nothing unusual spotted - best has been a Fox sparrow and hermit thrush. other than that, the usual suspects.

Then there was the mass grackle invasion we had yesterday - but my male chocolate lab put an end to that!

[csziggy]

2. Watching birds is good for my blood pressure!

So it is not time wasted.

Today the birds are bringing buddies - seed in the feeders is visibly dropping! The birds are literally shoving each other off the perches. The Chipping sparrows love to hunker down in the tray of the biggest tube feeder and defy the efforts of the chickadees to shove them off.

Same birds so far today, with a male cardinal added and no white breasted nuthatch so far, though I could have missed him.

I think I'm going to have to punch some larger hole in the mesh of the thistle feeder - the goldfinch hang on but don't seem to be getting much seed out of it. If I use a small screwdriver and punch some spots to be slightly large holes, I think it will work better.

[stevedeshazer]

3. Cool!

I have a group of black-capped chickadees hanging around my feeders along with some Oregon juncos.

And the occasional murder of crows. And western gray squirrels.

[csziggy]

4. The chickadees are tiny bullies

With the feeders so close to the house, so far the squirrels and the deer are not visiting them. Even the larger birds are staying away. The largest so far are the cardinals. The blue jays hang out in the trees, yell at the smaller birds, but don't fly this close. On the other hand after the chickadees have pushed them off the feeders some of the chipping sparrows literally hang on the window screens.

I'm hoping to put out some suet feeders tomorrow, but will put them further away so the woodpeckers can better hand off them.