Feeder activity

I'm only putting out the feeder on weekends.  Once I reminded myself the birds will survive during the week, I decided no use having them drain the feeder when I can't watch them.  And they come back pretty quickly.  Took a few shots yesterday in the snow and a few today.  Had a Cardinal on the ground today.  From what I've read, they don't like my style feeder but will take them on the ground.  Here's what I've seen consistently:  Juncos, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Goldfinches (in winter colors), Chickadees, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers (pretty sure I saw a female), Downy (or Hairy) Woodpeckers.  Thankfully no Crows and no more Wild Turkey sightings...

Red-Bellied Woodpecker seems to like the mix

Cardinal and Junco on the ground

 

Chickadee and Red-Bellied Woodpecker share

Young buck

One of two young bucks we've seen lately.

 

This week on Wild Kingdom...

Tuesday brought two Wild Turkeys to the feeding area!  Cindy e-mailed me at work wondering what to do and telling me how huge they were.  And she had to deal with Russ going bonkers.  My first thought...grab the camera and zoom in!  Cindy got some great shots.  Look close and you'll see a squirrel in the background.  She said the turkeys were trying to chase the squirrel away.  You can see how big they are.

I read that the way you get rid of the turkeys is to remove the food so I took the feeder down on Tuesday.  Wednesday no turkeys that we saw.  Thursday they were back for a bit.  I put the feeder back out today.

Note the squirrel at the base of the tree on the right.

Squirrel running off on the left.

Almost our national bird.  

Yet another new bird feeder out on January 5

My $5 feeder was short-lived.  Had good activity but was in a bad spot.  Here is a White-Breasted Nuthatch hanging on the bottom.

The squirrels had it too easy as you can see in this picture...They also chewed it up.

Dean got me a book on feeding birds and I was reading about squirrels.  I grew up watching them dive off our garage onto feeders.  I remembered that my mom bought a squirrel-proof feeder.  After doing my research, I have invested in a Squirrel Buster Classic.  If they jump on, their weight will close off access to the food.  I also tried to hang high enough to keep the deer from having it too easy.  So the birds have come back.  This type of feeder isn't favored by Cardinals, but all the usual players are back including my new favorite Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  The squirrels have been eyeing thing and testing distances, but I don't think they will be a worry anymore.  Now I just need to figure out how much the feed is costing me :)

Back in business with the Red-Bellied Woodpecker

The Buck Stops Here

We certainly get our fair share of deer with the woods behind our house but we rarely get a buck this close to our house.  I first saw him in the woods and had to be patient as he came toward our house.  He got within about 10 feet from our fence and then moved on.  It was hard to see his antlers against the branches but here are two of the better shots I got.  (This sighting was December 27)