Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Snow Birds, 4 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
My..Oh, MY!
I been wondering why no one is posting anything about birds??
Decided tonight to posy my woes with all the blackbirds--especially Grackles--
and then realized i had not clicked to "watch" this thread.

SO--I enjoyed reading all your posts, and it seems many people have the same
issues with blackbirds--mostly Starlings, which are in the minority here.
I mostly see Grackles in the hoards that flock to my feeders. They seem to be
the "bosses" around here.
I am getting so tired of banging on my windows to chase them away.
One of these days--I will break one...They are so ravenous--
It may be that I buy "cheaper" seed which has cracked corn in it.
I know they like it.

It is neat to see though that as soon as the blackbirds run off, all the small birds come
flocking back to the feeder and seed on the ground.

Yet--I have a smaller feeder with just Safflower seed--and they try to eat that as well.
They crowd around my 3-tube feeder and they devour my suet cakes too...

I just put out the last 3 of my Suet cakes--there was a red bellied WP that was waiting
for it. I saw him hanging around in the tree. I see a lot of Downys as well.
I heard an unusual bird call--sounded like a chicken. Would that be the red-bellied WP?
It was in the tree where I heard it from.

Today, I added to my collection of feeders. I put out my sock feeder with Thistle as well as
a small Finch feeder with it. Besides that--I have had the fancy yellow, metal finch feeder
I got at Big Lots out all winter--filled with small seed mix sold for finches.
No one seems to pay any attention to it...it is full of seed too....What gives?

I took some pictures--all my feeders that hang from the patio roof edge, except the 3-tube one.

1--The little one is now filled with thistle--the yellow one seed mix--that no one touches.
it has the finch mix in it...maybe they cannot get it out of the slits??? Hmmm...may have to
open a couple up as regular feeding stations...

2--This is a neat squirrel-proof feeder. If one lands on it, the spring-loaded top slides down
and closes off all the feeding stations from the weight of the squirrel.

3--The old sock feeder....

4--and, of course, the big 3-tube feeder.

Now I will wait and see if the newer feeders Attrackt someone---
and--must remember to ritate the feeder covers to "open" so the birds
can get the mixed Finch seeds out od there....never thought of it...