Feeding Finches Revisited

A little over a month ago I retired my big bird feeder and purchased a nyjer sack feeder, which was nothing more than a mesh bag with a drawstring top.  I wanted to get a nicer, more substantial feeder, but didn't see what I was looking for at the first store and wanted to look around.

In the meantime, I was optimistic that the birds would find the new feeder after a couple of days.  It didn't happen.  Day after day the sack hung from the shepherd's hook on the deck. After a couple of weeks I found the sack ripped off the drawstring and lying on the ground. (Squirrels aren't supposed to like nyjer seed, but I wonder...)

Even after the feeder broke it took a while for this project to get to the top of the To Do list again, but last Saturday Hubby Tony and I went to Sappington Garden Shop and purchased a "Mini Magnum Nyjer Screen Feeder".  I liked the fact that it was made out of metal and the oversized top cover would help keep the seed fresh and dry.

The feeder looks big in the picture, but it's only about twelve inches high and five inches in diameter.  I brought it home, filled it halfway with seed, and waited for the birds to come.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Yesterday morning, a week after I'd hung it, I saw something moving by the feeder.  I looked more closely, and there was a small brown bird sitting in the tray, picking seeds out of the mesh cylinder.  I think it was a finch, but it flew away before I could get a good look at it.

Since then I've seen birds at the feeder a couple of times, so I hope the word is getting out that there's a new source of food in the neighborhood!