Wednesday, July 31, 2013
If You fill It Will They Come?
A year ago I got a nice metal mesh finch feeder, filled it with food, and hung it from my deck rail next to a redbud tree. The birds never came.
A friend told me the tiny nyjer seeds I was using would get stale quickly and the birds would then snub them, so I dumped the old stuff out. The second time I only put in an inch of seed, then waited for the birds to discover the new batch. Nothing. I tried it several more times with the same results. The seasons changed, but the feeder continued to be unused. I got tired of emptying out the uneaten seed about the time cold weather came, and left it hanging all winter with its layer of bird seed.
When the weather warmed up I dumped out the old seed, thoroughly cleaned the feeder, refilled it, and crossed my fingers that the new year would bring the flocks of birds I hoped for. Nothing. A couple of months ago I wondered if I should take the feeder down; that week a few chickadees came by, and one or two sparrows. I got excited but after the initial spurt things went back to normal.
Last weekend I heard a rustling of tree leaves on the deck. I looked out the kitchen window and was ecstatic to see a large bird hanging on to the feeder's wire mesh. (At first I thought it was a woodpecker but after research I decided it might have been a nuthatch.) The bird moved around the feeder scaring off the other birds that were trying to take a turn. Yes, I had a bird feeder queue!
The next day I was THRILLED to see a goldfinch grabbing a quick seed meal.
After that spurt, though, it's gone back to normal. I don't know what I did (or didn't do) right, so I'm having trouble doing (or not doing) the same thing again.
Five years ago today: New Thing #202--Can You Read This?
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I'm sure they'll be back again soon, Kathy. I've had that experience too, but once it's established they'll come all the time.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right!
DeleteI hope Kay is right!
ReplyDeleteThat makes two of us :-)
DeleteKeep us posted! We had bird houses that sat empty apparently until they "weathered" a couple of years. Now occupancy is disputed every spring.
ReplyDeleteI hope they'll come back. As Kay said, the birds just need to know that it's established. My mom has a bird feeder. The birds just flock to it, but I don't think she fills it very often.
ReplyDeleteMy birds eat the same the stuff the squirrels eat. Back in the spring, when I as inundated with birds (they would come up on the patio and eat the cat food), I got a list of things birds like to eat. I posted it on my blog. Maybe I can repost the list. Anyway, I fed them from the list and was swarmed with birds and squirrels. It's pretty quiet now. A few squirrels, a few bluejays and mockingbirds.
ReplyDeleteI backed away from "regular" bird food because I had too much sprouting in the rocks below the deck. Nyjer is sterile and doesn't grow.
DeletePlant a fruit tree, they will come and devour the fruit! A mulberry tree is messy, but they absolutely love mulberry. I haven't put anything out except hummingbird food and I have lots of birds. I drilled holes in my gourds for them to nest in, but they prefer to nest atop my rattan shade on the front porch ....
ReplyDeleteYes, birds do like mulberries. Years ago we had a mulberry tree in the back of the house (not the one we're living in now). It was surrounded by the asphalt driveway. The berries would fall to the ground and ferment on the hot black surface; the birds would eat them and get drunk!
DeleteHow funny! At least he admitted it was good. :)
ReplyDeleteHey! Happy Anniversary! Do anything special? :)
Anniversary post coming soon....
Delete