Nre Member Transplant

Hello;
I am a tranplant member from The OTHER forum!~
I found this website very informative for a newbie to gardening and birding like myself..I am looking for new friends that would be informative to me in my need of garden knowledge.I tend to have a brown/black thumb hoping to turn it to a green along the way ...As for birding I am a intense yard birder and would like to futher my birding outlook!
Anyone here in Northern IL?
G4B

Hi G4B. Always glad to have new members who are so excited about being here. Hope to catch you on the forums soon. I love my birds and as for my thumb....well, lets just say it has taken many years to get to the pea green color. I'm not quite green yet.

welome to the best place to feel welcome .nice people and loving and caring folks
tazzy =patty

Well hello and welcome to you! I'm from your neck of the woods! I'm not exactly a bird gardener but more of a wildlife gardener. My husband is the birdman around here and he gets really into what comes and visits. I think we must have at least 10 bird identification books now strewn all over the house yet we still struggle with IDs. As far as gardening, you don't qualify as a gardener unless you have killed a plant at least 3x. Hang in there, if you are new... you've got a long way to go to catch up with the number of poor plants that have ceased to exist because of my mistakes! So glad you are here!

Welcome, Garden4Birds, so glad to have you with us, especially since you know lots about such a popular topic (birds gardening, of course!).

I just went to HD today and purchased a new tubular feeder and some thistle seed, hoping to get into this a little more....

By the way, have you figured out a way to keep squirrels away from the feeders?

Have you checked out the nature/bird/butterfly forums on DG's?

Well, have fun...I will watch for your postings! t.

hello from new york

Hello from Maryland. I'm a new member too. I'll watch for your post about birding, I have a lot to learn.
Chesaeake

Hi there from Ohio! Welcome to DG :) Hope you will find your way around quickly and really get to know your new garden neighborhood. Everyone is wonderfully helpful with questions and the "garden talk" is a great fix for these cold weather months in the Midwest! :) Look forward to seeing you around! -- Hugs :)

Welcome from Iowa G4B! I'm also a bird lover and probably spend more money on bird feed in the winter than human feed. LOL Not only do I feed the birds but every animal that can get to the feeders.....When the garden goes to bed and the snow is flying it's fun to watch the birds from inside a nice warm and cozy home. Just make sure to have your computer near the window so you can share your friendship with us here at Daves. : ) Bev

Welcome G4B, I too love birdwatching and feeding. And Anahi, I'm pretty sure I am giving you a run for your money on spending the most on feeding birds. Do either of you put out the birdseed blocks. They are large like salt blocks for cattle. I don't know what the holding material is to keep the bird feed together, but the birds do like it. Kind of expensive, I bought my first one for this winter yesterday, cost just over $10.00 including tax. Last year i think I put out 2 of them. Actually my dog likes to eat it when gets smaller after birds have been feeding on it.

Again Welcome G4B from WA. Donna

I looked at those birdseed blocks at Kmart rutholive--wonder if I could make them myself with some birdseed and eggwhite mix? Do the squirrels love them as much as I think they might?

Hello again G4B--any thoughts? t.

Hello All:

We love birds here too. We used to live on a very busy street in the city, but now we enjoy the birds on 2 1/2 acres. It has been great learning about birds and I would be happy to learn more from all of you. One of the best experiences was to see bluebirds in our field. So far we have had 3 clutches mature.

The only way I found to beat the critters from raiding the feeder is to put the feeder up high enough (10 feet), put on a slinky and a baffle around the pole. On the lower feeders we bring in the bags of thistle seed and fat each night, otherwise the racoons will demolish them. The remaining squirrels that we have(about 6 now), I just shoo away if I am home. We originally had around 50, but we trapped and relocated to public land 41 of them.

Mary

We have one feeder that we tied rose branches to the pole. The thorns keep the midnight raiders out of the feeder and the birds use the branches as perches while they wait their turn. The rest of the feeders are the "all you can eat" feeders....The squirrels are fun to watch but boy they can empty a feeder in no time! Rutholive let us know how the block feeder works out for you...if it keeps the squirrels from overeating I'd give it a try.