Northeast birds

I'd still rather have the cowbirds and sparrows over the damned starlings! I get a few grackles in the spring and don't mind them. They are actually pretty in there fluorescent black feathering.

I like the "Boat tailed Grackle"
Its Starlings I have at the feeder.Not Grackles.

No boat-tailed around here but I've seen them in Jersey....

This was Nov 2008, but didn't have them this winter
Grackles will make an appearance in the spring, sooooo noisy they are!

I'll see large flocks like that in spring, but they don't stick around.....

If anyone is looking for pure suet cakes here is a pretty good deal on them http://www.horseloverz.com/Suet-Cakes/406615-Heath-Natural-Pure-Suet-Cake---115-oz.html I've searched and this place had the best price even with shipping. Fast too, I ordered them on a Friday had them by Wednesday.

Thanks, Ron. Always looking for a good source.

Welcome.

thanks for the link

I pick mine up @ WalMart for .96 cents each, they have several varieties. Berry Seed & Suet, Hot Pepper Delight, Nutty Seed & Suet, and Peanutbutter Delight, http://www.penningtonusa.com/psc-_106-pd-_511

Sadly, I can't feed suet because it attracts the bears.....they are probably hibernating now, but in a few days the temp will be in the 50s & that might draw them out.....

I can see how that would be a problem Marilyn!!

same here marilyn - had bear "attacks" the last four years - will stop filling the feeders in early late Feb or early March

Wow and I complain about the starlings!

Bears need to eat too!

No bears around here, I am glad to say.

I stopped feeding the birds due to the squirrels and field mice. The dog would trample the garden chasing them.

I stop the seed feeding the same time, Bill.....I love our dam, but it has thousands of acres of wilderness & a river......a bear magnet.....My airedale, Skippy, found the foreleg of a bear behind the dam 20 years ago, before bear sightings became common.

Bizarre and beautiful.

http://m.wimp.com/birdsproject/

that's mind blowing stuff.

Ronnie, I got that suet too after you shared the link. I like pure suet, the cakes last much longer and downys and nuthatches come every day.

Wow that video was neat!!

Sally glad you liked it, squirrels haven't touched it but the birds are going crazy for it. I did find it a bit messy putting it out, not dry like some of the other cakes.

had to get more seed today for the birds. they cleaned us out.

The tufted titmice are trying to clear us of birdseed. Cardinals came yesterday even without new snow. The male is so easy to spot.

Have seen the bird of Paradise......awesome.....not much feeding today, a few titmice.....

titmice = Disney birds. That is so true! Their big cute eyes.

Yes, they are, but are pushing chickadees out......

The chickadees grab a seed & fly off to eat it, but the titmice sit on a perch & eat away like the finches do.

BIg eyed cuteness makes up for some bad habits, or does it?
From collider.com; don't want to be accused of stealing

This message was edited Feb 2, 2013 5:04 PM

Cute or not he's not welcome at my feeder! :-)

I wrote earlier that a friend had emailed me a photo of a painted bunting in FL......in today's paper, the nature column said one has been hanging around a feeder in New Haven all winter! Unbelievable....wish I could be that lucky.....

Me too!

cool video, my Einstein son, was naming the birds, sheesh I don't think there is anything that he doesn't know

Showoff!!

We had Sandy damage, but are almost back to normal. Cowbirds, male and female, by the dozen, have been showing up. Squirrels too, and the everlasting House Sparrows (HOSP). Does anyone have strategies to deter, or at least distract, the hungry flocks long enough to make sure the relatively shy White Throated Sparrows (WHSP?) get what they need?

Droll Yankee feeders keep the squirrels in check, and feeding only black oil sunflower and niger seed seems to keep the total number of birds down, though HOSP will eat either one if that's all there is. I wouldn't feed millet at all, if not for the native sparrows. I've seen a Song Sparrow take seed from a feeder, but WHSP want to stay on the ground. I love the way they forage.

I had wrapped my feeders with chicken wire for awhile to keep grackles away, took it down when they finally got the hint they couldn't get to the feeder anymore

I don't think there is much to do to keep the house sparrows away. I don't mind them too much since they keep the beetles in check during the summer.

We have a big free standing feeder I'm thinking about enclosing in chicken wire to keep out the starlings and squirrels.

dawnsharon- thank you for mentioning that WHSP likes to ground feed. I bought millet just for them but have been putting it in a dish on a bench. I agree , it s oddly cute the way they sort of hop/ scratch with their whole bodies, to peck around in the leaves.

Hard to keep the smaller birds out of the feeder.....

So beautiful. Weird music, though.

http://www.petapixel.com/2013/02/05/mesmerizing-footage-of-thousands-upon-thousands-of-birds-dancing-in-the-sky/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PetaPixel+%28PetaPixel%29

Awesome that they can do that......