What's at your feeders?

[Dotch]

With the change in seasons upon us, thought it might be interesting to hear what others are seeing at their feeding stations or around them. Then again, it might not. Recently we have: black capped chickadees, nuthatches (red and white breasted) blue jays, downy woodpeckers, house finches, goldfinches, dark eyed juncos, brown creepers, & mourning doves.

[Grute Man]

Nothing fancy here.  A few cardinals and blue jays.  Maybe it will attract some wood peckers next year.

[Dotch]

Nothing fancy here.  A few cardinals and blue jays.  Maybe it will attract some wood peckers next year.

Ah, but you have cardinals, something I've been working at getting but haven't been successful, yet. Since we've lived here, 22 years, think I've seen 2 and they were both female. No males.  sad3.gif

[Dotch]

I was looking for the birders forum to see where it went and found it under Child Boards. Perfect! My wife thinks I'm awfully immature. Anyway, goldfinches are eating me out of house and home. They've blown through 20 lbs. of thistle seed in less than 3 weeks.

[Lee Borgersen]

One male Cardinal and his mate daily.  They always feed just before dark. Sparrows and Nuthatches. Lots of Doves mostly eating all the falling seed on the ground along with the tree rats and an occasional rabbit and possum at night. The coons usually also come at night but not during the cold weather.

[Grute Man]

Do Cardinals get darker in the winter?  I saw one yesterday that was a darker red that what is usual.

[JackpineRob]

This morning's visitors, while I had my coffee:

2 pairs of cardinals
1 nuthatch
2 woodpeckers
3 blue jays
bunch of juncos
bunch of chickadees
one squirrel (now deceased)

We also have a weasel living in the yard, who is keeping the mouse population in check.  Saw him last week dragging a mouse through the snow from the airconditioning unit back towards the brush pile.  The rabbits have vamoosed or become weasel bait.

The male cardinals are a bit darker this time of year.  The almost flourescent red will return in the spring when they are busy chasing mommy cardinal around the yard.

[Randy Kaar]

we have a few cardinals, blue jays and the sparrows.
the dog keeps the squirrels out of the feeder. cuts way
down on the seed bill!

randy aka bh

[Grute Man]

I've had a ton of squirels lately too.  My wife will say "SQUIR-RELS" in a funny voiice and the dogs go nuts.  Its like a dog circus.  They've even learned how to push the screen door open and they blast out like thouroughbreds -- AND THEY'RE OFF!!

Well Jan 1 we woke up to a bunny who snuck in but didn't sneek back out.  So now I got a bunny sickle bagged up in the garage garbage can and 3 dogs who think they're savage hunting beasts. GRRRRRRRRRRR        

[JoeFisherman]

We've got cardinals, nuthatches, sparrows (of course), downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, and a frequent pileated woodpecker.  My mother found this great idea to take a 5"-6" diameter log (with bark) about 18" long, bore six to eight 1 1/2" diameter holes about an 1 1/2" deep at random in the log, screw a hook into one end for hanging, then fill the holes with home made suet.  The birds love it!! The woodpeckers found it within a couple days.  The suet consists of a mixture of shortening, peanut butter, cornmeal, and your favorite bird seed and/or berries.  I forget the proportions, but I can post them later if anyone's interested. 

[Mayfly]

We've got cardinals, nuthatches, sparrows (of course), downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, and a frequent pileated woodpecker.  My mother found this great idea to take a 5"-6" diameter log (with bark) about 18" long, bore six to eight 1 1/2" diameter holes about an 1 1/2" deep at random in the log, screw a hook into one end for hanging, then fill the holes with home made suet.  The birds love it!! The woodpeckers found it within a couple days.  The suet consists of a mixture of shortening, peanut butter, cornmeal, and your favorite bird seed and/or berries.  I forget the proportions, but I can post them later if anyone's interested. 

And Yes I am interested in the recipe!

Thanks!


That sounds like a very good idea! Especially with the cost of feeders these days!!!!

[JoeFisherman]

Here ya go. 

1 cup shortening (or lard)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
4 cups corn meal

You can mix in some bird seed, cracked corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds, or berries etc. if you like.  You gotta get in there with your hands and kneed this all together.  It should be kind of the consistency of stiff cookie dough so you can press it into the holes of your feeder.  If it's too dry, ad more shortening.  You can also add stuff like bacon grease and the like. 

Sorry about the picture quality, but you get the idea.


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[Randy Kaar]

thanks joe, will try this tomorrow.

randy aka bh

[deadeye]

Blue Jays, Cardinals, Juncos, various sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees, crows, song sparrow (too big for normal sparrows), and yesterday a Blue Bird.  I don't know what else it could have been.  It was only there for a brief time but at 10 feet away I got a good look at it.  What other winter bird would look very much like a blue bird?

[wildlifeminnesota]

It was not a blue bird.Blue bird do not say in minnesota in the winner and there is two blue bird in minnesota one is Indigo Bunting and The Eastern Blue bird.But dose this bird looke like the one. If it is it a Northern Shrike Population trends are difficult to assess because of the Northern Shrike's in Alaska and northern Canada are protected.This bird will vist minnesota in the winner.A predatory songbird, the Northern Shrike breeds in taiga and tundra and winters in southern Canada and the northern United States. It feeds on small birds, mammals, and insects, sometimes impaling them on spines or barbed wire fences.This is one of my photographs I took last week in ottail co/ in minnesota of a Northern Shrike.to see more of this bird and song bird go to Wildlifeminnesota.com and clik on bird & song birds.Please sign in the Guest Book.


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[wildlifeminnesota]

On the top is the Indigo Bunting and the Eastern Bluebird one is a female with no blue on the head.wildlifeminnesota

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[Dotch]

Blue Jays, Cardinals, Juncos, various sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees, crows, song sparrow (too big for normal sparrows), and yesterday a Blue Bird.  I don't know what else it could have been.  It was only there for a brief time but at 10 feet away I got a good look at it.  What other winter bird would look very much like a blue bird?

Anything's possible deadeye. A male indigo buntting this time of year would likely be mostly brown yet and even more likely, still south of the US border. Some bluebirds on the other hand commonly overwinter as near as central IL. On some other sites, have seen reports from people seeing them occasionally in MN through the winter months, especially if there's good cover. In Outdoor Snooze, there was a little blurb about someone still feeding hummingbirds in MN well into November this year. Heck, up until a couple weeks ago, was seeing a female flicker feeding on the suet cakes here, something I hadn't seen before, winter or not. There have also routinely been a dozen mourning doves under the feeders, something we didn't see out here where the wind howls a decade ago. You're probably not seeing things even though you're a codger like me!

[deadeye]

The bird was definatly blue with rusty red breast.  It only stayed for a few moments and then was gone but it was only 10 feet away so I could see it clearly.   We have blue birds (and the tree swallows that look like blue birds) in the summer and it sure looked like a male blue bird.  I couldn't find anything else like it in my bird book.

[huntr42]

lets see,we have chickadees,goldfinch,red bellied pecker,smaller perckers,nuthatch,a pair of cardinals,no..I repeat no sparrows,pine squirrels,2 fox squirrels(deceased)rabbits under the feeder(soon to be supper)and some I dont know what they are

[Dotch]

  Well, if you feed 'em, you oughta be able to eat 'em. 

[Lee Borgersen]

This guy is the most timid bird that comes to our feeder. He'll sit in the bush and dart over to the feeder for a quick seed or two then back to the bush. Wait another five minutes and dart back for a seed or two more.

Don’t have any fancy lenses and just shot this thru the window while he was sitting on the close line. The Male Cardinals are so bright red against the fresh snow.

Forum maintenance

[Dotch]

Blue Jays, Cardinals, Juncos, various sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees, crows, song sparrow (too big for normal sparrows), and yesterday a Blue Bird.  I don't know what else it could have been.  It was only there for a brief time but at 10 feet away I got a good look at it.  What other winter bird would look very much like a blue bird?

deadeye, I see in the Backyard and Beyond section of Outdoor Snooze there were a couple bluebirds photographed at a feeding station am guessing in the TC area back in mid-December, just a couple weeks before your post. Very nice pic of the cardinal smallmouthguide. Thanks for sharing. No cardinals at my feeders so I am envious.

[Randy Kaar]

i havent had cardinals here for a few weeks.. hmm
how are your friends doing dotch? the people that
had the fire.

randy aka bh

[Dotch]

They're doing well all things considered. They've had their ups and downs, some days pretty good and some not so good. They are slowly coming to grips with the reality that there essentially will be no lambs at least from the flock they lost other than from the 2 ewes they saved. Insurance co. has treated them well and I think they got the remains of the barn and animals all buried.

Richard was joking the other day that he needed to go on a post fire diet because they had so much good food to eat. He also tried to convince me that people had brought over so much hotdish and so many main entrees to eat but were lacking pie for dessert. He knows I like to bake them so he was telling me that I should send him a blueberry and a cherry pie. A little rough for me to send some I made myself but there are outfits that will UPS home baked pies so I sent them a couple that way.  Should've been shipped Tuesday but the snowstorm there likely delayed their delivery. Shipping cost more than the pies; it'll be worth it to hear his reaction though.

Update: They got there yesterday after the snowstorm and were pretty surprised. They're moving forward and now they have pie!

[Dotch]

Moving right along...the ground must be thawed on the south facing slope south of the house as the robins are pulling stuff out of the ground and it ain't spaghetti. Not going to tell the wife just yet as she'll expect me to pick up the crabapple branches with fruit on them I trimmed a month ago. Start doing what you're told and they start to expect it. Besides, hate to rush into things... 

[Randy Kaar]

i saw a robin last week, the male cardinal came back. havent
seen him for a while. the cooper hawk stops by about once a
month to catch a sparrow.

randy aka bh

[dakids]

Last week when it was snowing real hard we counted 10 Pairs of cardnals in the back yard.  When we started feeding the birds 5-6 years ago we had one pair which nested right below the bathroom window. I don't know how long they live but we seem to be getting more every year.

Three years ago the neighbors deck was destroyed by a huge palated woodpecker.  I saw him once last year on the suit feeder. This year I see him about once a week. He is very weery, If I move in the house he is gone for the day. My goal is to get a picture of him.

This year instead of buying suit I used all of the fat that we cleaned off of the deer. Waste not want not, or something like that. Seemed to work.  There are several different types of woodpeckers, and they have eaten over 20 pounds.

I feed almost no cracked corn. I don't like bluejays. They chase the cardnals away.

[Dotch]

Boy the goldfinches are going through the thistle seed. Maybe I should plant thistles this year! Saw a bluebird yesterday in my travels near Cleveland MN and now tonight we had a pair in our pasture checking out the housing market.

[Mayfly]

Saw a bluebird yesterday in my travels near Cleveland MN and now tonight we had a pair in our pasture checking out the housing market.

That reminds me....need to replace screws tomorrow moring in 2 of the 10 houses that I tend to. No nests as of today. Just went out today and checked the houses and made sure that they are ready for nesting. Saw about 10 turkeys.

[Lee Borgersen]

Mr rabbit was here this morning chowin on fallin bird seed.

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