Trying my hand at a bird feeder

[North Country Gal]

Correct. You're not likely to get that same kind of winter feeding activity with your type of winter, compared to, say, our kind of winter way up here in the north woods. Our kind of cold puts a much greater demand on birds that winter, here. We also get some northern bird species that travel widely, one winter to the next, in search of food. One of these is the Common Redpoll. Some winters we see a lot of them and some winters, none or almost none.

[clovishound]

Well, having said what I did, I noticed a flurry of activity a few minutes ago. I looked out the back door and saw a new bird. Ran and grabbed my camera and tried to sneak up on the feeder. I've learned to take a few less than ideal pictures while I still can. Got a few and while trying to ease up on the feeder, the doves feeding on the ground spooked and everyone took off.

Anyway, not a good picture, but this is the brightly colored oriole.

Hope he comes back, and I can get some good shots of this beautiful bird.

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[cooperhawk]

Put out some Orange slices. They love them.

[North Country Gal]

Yes, Orioles love fresh fruit or jelly. Grape jelly is cheap and they love it.

[cooperhawk]

I'm really breaking my rules now. I see the turkeys scrounging for feed under the bird feeders. The snow is deep and has
an ice layer under it. I know they're starving so I put out two pails of bird seed on the ground. I have currently fed about
a dozen turkeys. The birds are also flocking to the feeders.

They all know a blizzard is coming.

[North Country Gal]

We feed turkeys when they hang around our yard, too. Yeah, this could be a bad storm coming. The snow we have is already pretty icy.

[cooperhawk]

I just came in f rom p lowing and there are probably forty or more turkeys hanging around.
I scattered some seed front and back before I came in.
I t's 10 below with a strong wind now so they're in trouble.

[Redthies]

My birds are not liking the mix I have for them, but it may be because it’s from this spring. It’s not looking or smelling like it’s off, but they won’t eat it. So now the whitetail are happy;) Had a 5x5 buck and a 4x4 buck enjoying some of the seed tonight, along with their usual apples.

[markiver54]

My birds are not liking the mix I have for them, but it may be because it’s from this spring. It’s not looking or smelling like it’s off, but they won’t eat it. So now the whitetail are happy;) Had a 5x5 buck and a 4x4 buck enjoying some of the seed tonight, along with their usual apples.

We buy cracked sunflower seed out of the hull. The birds of all species love it. Unfortunately, so do the squirrels. Because of that, we mix cayenne pepper in with it. The birds are not affected by it but squirrels hate it. Try it. I'm sure you will see birds.

[clovishound]

I fill one feeder with black oil sunflower seeds (in the hull) and the other with a mix. I also have a suet block nearby.

The feeder with the mix seems to be the most popular, although I find that when putting a mix out in a tray, the sunflower seeds are the first to go.

I wonder if the difference between the two feeders is because of the feed in them, or because the one that I put the straight sunflower seeds in has a different design for the openings. It is supposed to be squirrel resistant and has a flexible split covering that the birds can get seeds from with their beaks, but the squirrels can't get their greedy little mouths into. It is likely that baffle may make it more difficult for some birds to get to the large sunflower seeds, although most are quite successful at it.

The woodpeckers are visiting the suet block a lot more this week. Of course, temperatures have dropped. We are forecast for 16 degrees tonight, which is about the lowest temp I have seen here in the last 4 decades.

[markiver54]

We recently added another feeder that I bought at Wally World. It is a clear plastic half circle tray with a clear roof, (all one piece) that attaches to our picture window with three suction cups. It took about three days, but the birds, (mostly bluebirds, finches, wrens and titmice) have now discovered it and visit continuously.
I am not a photographer, however, if I was, this would be perfect! Talk about closeup shots.

[clovishound]

Outside, I have to use a long lens to get closeups. And usually those have to be cropped down to get the bird to properly fill the frame. It's even worse with the small birds like titmice and chickadees.

This was as close as I could get without spooking the little kingslet. I used a 500mm lens. It's a long, heavy beast.
This is the full, unedited image:

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This is the cropped, edited version:

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[markiver54]

Duh..I forgot about the fact that you have those types of lenses which bring the birds in as close as you need to. We don't have the equipment to do that, so the feeder is great for the naked eye. Our cat loves it too!

[cooperhawk]

It's the Cardinals type birds that go for the sunflower seeds. What I buy is a mix that all the
birdies seem to like, even the turkeys.

[clovishound]

Duh..I forgot about the fact that you have those types of lenses which bring the birds in as close as you need to. We don't have the equipment to do that, so the feeder is great for the naked eye. Our cat loves it too!

Well, even with a long lens, I can't always get as tight a composition as I would like.

[clovishound]

The oriole was back this morning. Temps in the teens last night and earlier this AM. It didn't stick around long enough to get a closer picture with a decent background. Once again a long shot that had to be severely cropped. At least this shows up the beautiful orange color and the contrast with the soft black feathers on the head. He didn't seem to mind the downy woodpecker as his table mate. Wasn't interested in the apple I fastened just above the suet block.

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[cooperhawk]

So my turkey fan club was waiting out front and back this AM. They have learned to walk up to our front door
and set the alarm off. Damn beggars. Well, they're starving so I put out some more bird see for them.

[cooperhawk]

When I go out they all panic and scramble in all directions. Some even fly to the tree tops, but I notice they always
find a place to settle where they can see what I'm doing, and in a few minutes they're all back.

[cooperhawk]

What I can't figure out is where are all the squirrels? I know it was a good fall with lots of nuts, but
I haven't seen a single squirrel in weeks. Usually we're over run out at the feeders.
I wonder if Chronic Wasting Disease can spread to them as well as the deer.

[markiver54]

What I can't figure out is where are all the squirrels? I know it was a good fall with lots of nuts, but
I haven't seen a single squirrel in weeks. Usually we're over run out at the feeders.
I wonder if Chronic Wasting Disease can spread to them as well as the deer.

They all came to my yard! We have a squirrel invasion down here.