The Zen Birdfeeder

Great Backyard Bird Count 2008 - Day 4

Today is the last day of the 2008 Great Backyard Bird Count.

HIGHLIGHTS:
My GBBC days were bookended by the appearance of accipiters - a Northern Goshawk on Day 1 and a Sharp-shinned Hawk on Day 4.

I had just finished preparing lunch, walked to the table, and saw this sharpie perched on my Advanced Pole System (APS).

I grabbed the camera and got a few shots in before he took off into the foggy day.  I'm ashamed to admit that I was in such a hurry to take the pictures and zoomed in on the hawk, I didn't see a Downy Woodpecker frozen still on the suet feeder right underneath the sharpie! What a sight (and photo op) I missed because I wasn't taking in the big picture! :(

Woodpeckers continue to be busy not only at my feeders, but at lots of feeders across the country. The Downy is the #4 reported bird so far in this year's count.  I'm reporting three from today's count - were any of the 18,419 downys reported so far from YOUR count?

In recent mornings, I'd wake to redpolls on the feeders outside my window.  Seems the mid-40s temperatures have given them other options.  I didn't see my first redpoll flock until 2pm, and they didn't stay long.  The redpoll count in Middle Grove NY (my reporting zip) ranks us #22 in the Top 100 Common Redpoll Reporting Localities COUNTRYWIDE!!!!  Woo hoo!!!

MY COUNT:
Common Redpoll  80
Black capped Chickadee  20
Tufted Titmouse  3
Downy Woodpecker  3
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
Hairy Woodpecker  2
American Crow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  2
Blue Jay  1
Mourning Dove  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1

Species 11 - Individuals 117

March 1 is the deadline to submit counts.  If you participated, make sure you take a couple minutes to take the GBBC survey to help Cornell better understand the birding community, including how to improve the Great Backyard Bird Count. Take the survey and you'll receive a special offer from Cornell.

Within the week, I'll explore the results more and recap my counts and counts around the Saratoga area.  I hope you had as much fun counting the birds as I did.  Plan to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count next year, presumably over President's Day Weekend.

Feeders in a Woodland Setting

Many folks in upstate New York and other areas are blessed with an abundance of trees on their property.  Having trees near the house can provide shade to help keep our homes cooler during the summer.  Trees add value to the home and they provide shelter and a place to raise young for various wildlife.  But trees can also present a challenge when feeding the birds.  While our favorite birds benefit from the trees, so do squirrels, who nest in them, feed from them, play on them, and jump from them.  Jump, as in, jump onto our feeders.

Grey squirrels can jump 8-10 feet horizontally from trees (or wires, deck rails, rooftops, etc.) onto our feeders.  And they can jump 4-5 feet straight up.  One solution is to baffle your feeder pole and place the whole setup 8-10 feet from trees and other jumping-off points. 

But this is not always possible if the yard or area where you want to place the feeder is small.  That's the case on the west side of my house.  Large pine trees grow within 8 feet of the house, with tree limbs spanning right up to the house and roof.  It is a great setting in which to feed the birds, but any setup would need to be squirrel resistent.

When you can't deter squirrels by placing feeders out of their reach, you have two other solutions: (1) offer food squirrels don't care for, and/or (2) put the food in squirrel proof feeders.  My "Woodland Setup" combines those two approaches.

First, I offer food they don't care for: Safflower. Safflower is what we consider a problem-solving seed.  While many birds enjoy it (at my woodland setup, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, purple finches, and grosbeaks), squirrels (grey and red) don't care for it.  This doesn't mean squirrels NEVER eat safflower.  They will try it (especially young ones who are trying out everything new in their world) but they will not eat mass quantities of it and dominate your feeders.  Unfortunately, Eastern Chipmunks will eat safflower (I haven't found much that chipmunks don't eat).

My woodland setup has safflower in a WBU Quick Clean Tube Feeder with Weather Guard.  The safflower is not appealing to the red and grey squirrels, while the weather guard - while NOT a squirrel baffle - IS large enough to keep the chipmunks off the feeder during the summer (it's nice to get a chipmunk reprieve during the winter when they hibernate!)

Second, I offer a high quality seed blend in a squirrel-proof feeder.  Specifically, I use WBU Choice Blend in an Eliminator feeder.  WBU Choice Blend is full of high energy seed - black oil sunflower, sunflower chips, safflower, striped sunflower, and peanuts.  The peanuts especially appeal to the chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice.

The Squirrel-Proof Eliminator birdfeeder is a weight activated feeder that closes under the weight of a squirrel or chipmunk.  It is adjustable even to the point that you could close access to larger birds such as pigeons or grackles.  I leave the perching ring off so only the smaller birds can feed from it.
 

Trying...trying...

 

...but he just couldn't hold on.

It doesn't hurt to dream!

My setup is topped off with a squirrel-proof Absolute feeder filled with safflower.  The larger perch makes the feeder more attractive to medium-sized birds like grosbeaks.  The feeder is adjustable so I put it on the most sensitive setting to keep chipmunks from eating from it.

This setup with a combination of squirrel-proof feeders and food squirrels don't crave has worked extremely well for me.  I successfully feed a wide variety of birds with the squirrels enjoying what's under the feeders, all offered up amongst the trees around my house.  Choose the right feeders and the right food and you CAN have it all!

Common Redpolls Arrive with a Vengeance!

The winter finch irruption of 2007-2008 has already blessed us with a new yard bird (Pine Grosbeak) and new high counts of a returning visitors (29 Evening Grosbeaks on Dec 24th).  Common Redpolls had visited as well, with counts up to 30.  That all changed with the overnight snowfall of 9" in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.

Click on this picture to enlarge and see around 54 Common Redpolls on our Advanced Pole System deck set-up.  The activity at the niger feeders had been slow over the last few months, so there were only 2 feeders, half filled, out there until this morning's onslaught prompted me to add a third feeder and fill 'em all to the top.  We have over 100 redpolls visiting our feeders today.

Just a quick post to share - more on Common Redpolls later!

Peanuts! Get your Peanuts!

We had a young customer in the store today who purchased a new WBU Peanut Pantry and a bag of peanuts in the shell, hoping to attract Blue Jays.  He was very excited about his new feeder so I decided to do a post just about his new feeder.

The Peanut Pantry is a way to offer peanuts in the shell to your birds.  Jays will be the primary customer, though I've seen a Tufted Titmouse take a peanut and have watched a Downy Woodpecker try to shell a peanut while it was in the feeder.

Peanuts are high in fat and protein, providing a good energy source to the birds especially in the winter.  Never feed birds salted peanuts.

The jays can empty this feeder in no time.  When they're really active, I've seen them empty it in less than 30 minutes!  I use this feeder as a special treat for the jays, putting it out in place of another feeder on my Advanced Pole System for the day.

NOTE: This is a good time to pull a feeder that needs cleaning from your birdfeeding station.  Rotating feeders is an easy way to get in the habit of regularly cleaning your feeders. 

The jays are fun to watch when they use this feeder.  They'll take a whole peanut, kick it back into their crop, and take another nut before flying off.  A benefit of the jay's caching behavior is that you won't find a lot of peanut shells under your feeder.

Wild Birds Unlimited stores also sell a peanut wreath for offering peanuts in the shell to the birds. 

Peanut feeding is a fairly recent trend in the US. If you're looking for something new to feed your birds, you may want to consider peanuts in the shell.  In a future post, I'll share photos and information on feeding shelled peanuts to the birds.

In the meantime, like this little Red-breasted Nuthatch, remember to DREAM BIG!!

Celebrating Around the Tree

Merry Christmas to all!

Evening Grosbeak Report from New Hampshire

The Fishers are our good friends and loyal WBU customers now living in New Hampshire.  They shared these great pix and information on the Evening Grosbeaks that recently visited their yard.

Dear Bird loving friends,

Today, Wednesday the 28th of November, I counted a total of 65 Evening Grosbeaks at our feeders. Here are 3 photos which I thought that you would be interested in. One of 49 grosbeaks in an oak tree near our feeders, one of several at our feeder up close, and one of a couple drinking from our heated bird bath on our deck. I witnessed these birds between 730 and 815 am. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I also took 2 photos of a sharp shinned hawk during the same time period! This bird was on a branch looking down in the tall grass 12 yards to the north of the feeders.

Evening Grosbeaks at WBU Heated Birdbath

Thanks to Gregg, Lori, and Jessica for the pix.  A special hello to Jared!

Wordless Wednesday

2 Red Squirrels in an APS Baffle

Time to Clean the Eliminator Feeder

There comes a time in every feeder's life that it has to be cleaned.  Ideally, that is every few weeks or so.

Why take the time?  Clean feeders are better for the birds. We feed the birds to watch and enjoy them, so it is our responsibility to care for the birds by providing a healthy birdfeeding station with clean feeders.

I don't clean all my feeders at once.  I have more feeders than I have openings; this allows me to clean feeders one at a time and I'll typically have a clean feeder to immediately replace the dirty feeder.

Today's the day to clean the Eliminator feeder. The Eliminator is part of our woodland APS(R) setup, I fill it with WBU Choice Blend (black oil sunflower, striped sunflower, safflower, sunflower chips, and peanuts). Surrounded by so many trees, this squirrel-proof feeder is the way to go.

The Eliminator comes apart fairly easily to access the innards where seed can tend to compact and accumulate.  I take it apart and give it a good hosing off outside to get rid of the larger debris.  BEFORE:

Then it comes inside for a good soaking.  I soak all parts in a weak bleach solution (9 parts water to 1 part bleach) for about 1/2 hour.

Rinse next, scrubbing or wiping to remove any remaining debris or scum.  Today, just the soaking took care of just about everything.  Rinse very thoroughly, rinse again.  Then air dry.  In today's bright sunshine, that should take no time at all.  AFTER:

Reassemble, fill, and hang.

It doesn't take it long for them to use it (less than 1 minute!!)

Cleaning your feeders does not have to be a time-consuming ugly task.  Clean each feeder every few weeks and the feeder will be easier to clean; clean one at a time and the job will be less overwhelming.  Your birds will appreciate it!

Flicker and Finch Fledglings

There are still many young birds in the yard.  A young Northern Flicker has been regular for the last couple weeks.  No sign of the adults; fledgling flickers leave the family group when they become independent.  Until their first molt, fledgling flickers sport the black "mustache" of the adult male so I can't tell if this is a male or female young.  Its a noisy thing, though, announcing its presence with a whiny, drawn out call described as "keeough keeough" (Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior).

A member of the woodpecker family, flickers feed primarily in a different manner: on the ground.  They are foraging for and feasting on their favorite food, ants.

The flicker is a good-sized bird, coming in at 12-13" long (compared to Downy Woodpeckers at 6-7"and Hairy Woodpeckers at 8-9").

This disheveled bird is a young male Purple Finch.  (Like all pictures on the blog, click on the image to enlarge it).  Notice the incomplete cranberry-colored feathers and the bright yellow gape (corners of the mouth).

The Purple Finch population here has been very strong this summer after being down a few years.  I think this youngster is from a second brood.  At my feeders, they eat primarily safflower seed that we have in a window feeder and in a tube feeder and Absolute feeder on our APS® (Advanced Pole System) woodland set-up.  The safflower is not preferred by squirrels so Purple Finches (as well as chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice) can feed without disturbance.