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There's a Wild Birds Unlimited in Fairfield (30 minutes from me). Never heard of them, now I'm pumped. And yeah, East Rock in New Haven is considered an important birding site nationally.
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Apr 23, 2021 01:53
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BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:We use hot pepper suet - the birds can't taste the pepper and the squirrels don't like it. Might be more expensive over the long run, though. We have a movable cage feeder for the seed which works very well. Our loving squirrels loved the hot pepper suet.
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Apr 23, 2021 22:53
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devicenull posted:Our loving squirrels loved the hot pepper suet. This is hilarious.
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Apr 24, 2021 15:46
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I'm not sure exactly what food I have in my feeder that the local cowbirds like, but they've been constant visitors all day. They're not "new" really. I've had them for years. But I refilled the feeder yesterday and it's been Cowbird Central ever since.
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Apr 27, 2021 21:46
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I've temporarily convinced the squirrels that the contents of my birdfeeder are spicy death grains, which means the good stuff now gets eaten mostly by birds... but I'm not spending $8.50/kg to feed friggin grackles so in the weeks when they're thick, they get the corn poo poo.
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Apr 27, 2021 21:57
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I've moved into a rented home in Cheshire with my partner and it's so awesome being surrounded by woods and wildlife. I have a bird feeder pole - there aren't too many good locations for it where the ground is even, so the pole is on a slight lean, but it's been sturdy enough. I'm going to go to Fat Robin, a birding store in Hamden 20 minutes away, so I can get myself a proper squirrel baffle, because these guys are killing me. However, I'm excited because there is so much activity. Right away, I'm seeing goldfinches, house finches, titmice, cardinals, juncos, catbirds, not too many sparrows luckily, and I want to attract different kinds of birds. I have a cheap standard bird bath (basically a circular plastic container with water in it) but I have not seen a single bird go to the water and use it, so any advice for that would be great. I am going to skewer an apple (for now, I know oranges are better and will get some) on the top of the pole. I also have freeze-dried but rinsed mealworms, and I have not seen any birds really use those either, but maybe it will take time. CT/Northeast people, what is a good way to attract unusual birds to feeders? I'd love to see some bluebirds, which is why I have the worms out, but I know bluebirds like big open private areas and might not come up to a busy feeder. PS. If you all must know, we put some food on our living room ledge every day for our regular chipmunk, whom we have named Norman. fawning deference fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Jun 15, 2021 |
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Jun 15, 2021 14:30
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I'm now spending some time on the terrace and was thinking of attracting some birds for entertainment. I've seen some crows, magpies and sparrows at least though there are probably others too. I tried putting just some random seeds on a plate but exactly no birds came to feed on them.
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Jun 25, 2021 17:07
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Our cherry tree is normally a cherry tree in name only, because there isn't one close enough to pollinate her. Either someone planted a male recently or the bees figured out a new route that connects them because it exploded in fruit this year and we're awash in birds and their poo poo. Robins pick the unripe fruit and fling it to the ground, sparrows chew the sides off and leave the pit connected to the stem, and the mourning doves just take off with pairs of berries and leave the seeds all over the deck. On the upside, the competition's turned our nearby fruit planter into a waiting area, and the sparrows who can't reach our berries there happily gorge themselves on the ants who can. Win-win.
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Jun 25, 2021 17:17
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mobby_6kl posted:I'm now spending some time on the terrace and was thinking of attracting some birds for entertainment. I've seen some crows, magpies and sparrows at least though there are probably others too. I tried putting just some random seeds on a plate but exactly no birds came to feed on them. You're going to have to leave the food out there for at least a few days before they notice. If you're frequently nearby, that's going to scare them away as well (at least at first, now the woodpeckers and nuthatches give no fucks about me being around, and the cardinals will wait in the tree ~3ft away while I fill up the bird feeder)
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Jun 25, 2021 23:36
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Yeah, you should not be expecting birds to immediately come and eat. They have to find it first, then they have to feel safe enough to linger and eat. It takes birds time. Sometimes a week, sometimes a month, depending on where you have your food. Can you post a picture of where you have it out?
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Jun 26, 2021 02:06
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This was a while ago, I left a plate of seeds on a table by the railing where the laptop is here. It's probably not the most visible location, but I've seen birds regularly hopping there from inside the room, just like this one did today while I was sitting right there It had to be there for at least a week, though maybe they just didn't like whatever I had
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Jun 28, 2021 22:39
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It just takes birds time to find spots and get comfortable. It's also wide open without any trees or shrubs around, so smaller birds will probably be very shy to put themselves in a vulnerable position without anywhere close to hide from predators. But birds will come.
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Jun 28, 2021 23:58
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Just letting you all know that the activity at my feeder is bonkersville this past week as the weather has warmed up. It looks like I have a nest of bluebirds because there were probably 6 out there today, two juvenile. Cardinals, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, northern flickers, tufted titmice, yellow-crowned and house sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, mourning doves, house finches, etc. Plus robins all around my lawn out front and I got a bunch of European starlings the other day. It sounds like a jungle.
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Feb 24, 2022 20:47
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1. get a cardboard box 2. put bird seed in it 3. put it on the ground after it's done snowing 4. the back yard bursts into birds follow me for more hot tips  It's still a winter wasteland here, so cardinals, house finches, juncos and the odd blue jay and pileated woodpecker are all we have so far. I hear the chickadees, but don't see them. Can't wait for the starlings to come back so I can sprinkle some cracked corn on the lawn of someone i don't like flakeloaf fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Feb 24, 2022 |
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Feb 24, 2022 21:50
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 I also got a look at this unusual bird hogging the feeder. It's a blurry night shot though so I can't really make it out...
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Feb 24, 2022 22:01
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Robins are usually ground feeders, but there was one today that was just pecking away at the seed like the rest of them. I wonder what that was about.Herstory Begins Now posted:Peanuts are MVP if you want corvids. You can make friends with all the crows in your area if you put a handful of in the shell peanuts out in a bowl at the same time each day. From 2 years ago, but my blue jays go nuts for in-shell peanuts. There's four of them that will visit my feeder and completely clean me out of the in-shell peanuts within 12 hours of me refilling my tray feeder. I only know there's four because I've seen all four at the feeder together for just a few seconds. Blue jays are all business, too. They don't hang around and socialize. They fly in, grab a peanut, fly away, and repeat as many times as necessary. I wish i could tell them apart so I knew if it was all four of them coming equally, or if its just one regular who brought some friends over for dinner that time. BigBallChunkyTime fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Mar 29, 2022 |
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Mar 29, 2022 04:14
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Everyone's back yard is different, but you should know about migration in your area. What birds to expect and when. I've found that looking at lists on eBird is helpful. My home office overlooks a big honeylocust tree and there was about a week in spring when I had all sorts of warblers and migrants in the tree and yard. You may find bird watching is more enjoyable than bird feeding.
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Apr 3, 2022 05:27
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We live in Beijing so we get a million sparrows (LOL, get hosed Mao) as well as collared doves, two kinds of magpie and the occasional Hoopoe - a bird which I had only seen once before but which seems to be relatively common in northern china. Only the sparrows and doves visit our feeder. I have no idea how to attract other birds, the sparrows love millet.
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May 15, 2022 12:15
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yaffle posted:We live in Beijing so we get a million sparrows (LOL, get hosed Mao) as well as collared doves, two kinds of magpie and the occasional Hoopoe - a bird which I had only seen once before but which seems to be relatively common in northern china. Only the sparrows and doves visit our feeder. I have no idea how to attract other birds, the sparrows love millet. What is your feeder setup with which kinds of seed? Anything like millet will probably be devoured by sparrows.
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May 15, 2022 13:00
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fawning deference posted:What is your feeder setup with which kinds of seed? Anything like millet will probably be devoured by sparrows. I have a hanging table with a roof and a tray suction cupped to a nearby window. I also put some food on the ground for the doves. I forgot to mention that we have Bulbuls locally as well, they show no interest in millet.
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May 16, 2022 05:30
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if anyone is still looking for a squirrel proof feeder, this has worked great for us. Uses the squirrel's weight to close off the seeds. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ABGSX4S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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May 26, 2022 20:49
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 18:48 |
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I got this type of bird feed from Lidl and attached it to an umbrella pole that isn't being used now. _800_500_191021091832.jpg) It does attract birds, but seemingly mostly stupid pidgeons that eat bits that fall to the ground.
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May 26, 2022 21:02
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