Trying my hand at a bird feeder

[Ernie]

Have fox squirrels that come from a couple houses away for black oil sunflower seeds. Red squirrels I won't tolerate as they are soooo destructive. Had raccoon bend and break a cheaper pole 2 nights ago so I welded up a sturdy one and placed it tonight. Will rig up a ring to keep out the chipmunks and squirrels this weekend.

[clovishound]

Fox squirrels are rather rare around here. The grays are everywhere.

Saw today the local gray squirrel at the pan I put out to try and attract the birds with. So far, it looks like nothing has touched the feeder itself. If I don't get some activity in a week or two, I may move it to the front yard near the large azaleas. I see a lot more bird activity there, even without a feeder, just not as convenient to keep an eye on, or as good a background for shooting pictures.

[markiver54]

Birds...especially Blubirds like to have the cover of bushes to perch in while going back and forth to feed. You might do better moving it as you suggested. Also, it can also take two to three days for the birds to locate and start using a new feeder.
This is based only on our own experience and observation.

[fortyshooter]

Well sometimes the little birds get some seed but mostly those big black squirrels get it! https://youtu.be/L-E2ZDs_IGk
I follow this guy's channel and this is just another day's visit....they are like family!

[clovishound]

I don't think I have too much to worry about from one of those guys. I haven't even seen tracks from them when hunting. I have seen the big cat tracks on occasion, and they are supposed to be more scarce than bears in our area.

[markiver54]

Our experience with bears has been sporadic hits; not consecutive.

[cooperhawk]

We're not supposed to have bears this far south in Minnesooota, but I've had two visit and tear down my
feeders and rip them open. The first one got so friendly that the DNR killed it, the last one...........

[clovishound]

Well, I'm finally starting to get some traffic. So far it seems to be in the morning and late afternoon. They haven't seemed to discover the actual feeder, only hitting the feed on the ground. They are still rather skittish. I tried taking a few pictures through the back door. Too many panes of glass, and the morning sun shining directly on the glass didn't help. Got one that wasn't terrible, but I'm hoping they will eventually get used to people so that I can shoot them either through an open back door, or sneak around the side of the house and take some pictures from the back yard itself. I will try some this evening through the back door glass and see if the lack of direct sun helps. I probably need to clean the glass again as well.

Not very good, but in the spirit of forum tradition: No pictures, didn't happen.

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[Sir Henry]

The previous owner of my place planted flowers and shrubs to feed the birds, bees and butterflies. One bush in particular flowers and the seeds fed a lot of birds all winter. The bush is right outside a window so I get to see them up close feeding.

I have several bird houses also and they all get used. This winter I want to study the native birds and build more habitats for them.

The only birds that I don’t like are the crows. They like to poop on my tractor and aim for the seat. I’m not sure if they are protected here. If they aren’t I’m going to introduce them to a Henry.

[Hatchdog]

When we were camped up at Kettle Falls a couple of weeks ago we had crows and man are they annoying. Here at home we have ravens and they are wonderful. They have such a varied vocabulary and are a pleasure to listen to. Our dog enjoys them too, listening and watching they fly about.