Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Update on the Feeders

Yesterday we added the aluminum foil pie plates.
The feeders that are supported by the limbs of the bushes seem stable...
notice the junco sitting in the tray below.


I've been watching this feeder... so far, no tray-sitters.
This leads me to believe I should purchase a terracotta plant tray today.

Back to the festive bird feeders that we received for Christmas
from our kind neighbor/friends.

This is all that was left of the tree when we returned home Monday.

There was no sign of the stocking either... nor of the wire that should
have been inside. Hmmmm. Marauding squirrels??

However, the little snowman has been nibbled upon.

I really do have some cranberries and I could pop some corn.

Wouldn't that be a nice afternoon project for this, yet another, very cold day???

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Shady, after thinking about this some more, aren't tin pie plates used to scare the birds in veggie gardens? Maybe the reflecting qualities are offputting to the birds?

Frances

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

So that's where all the goldfinches are :) I've never had more than 3 in my yard at once. It looks like the junco likes the tray.
Squirrels took down one of my suet feeders yesterday. I'm glad they at least left one of your treats for the birds.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

I hoped to get some birdfeeders for Christmas, but no luck. I think I need to give more hints to people. I love the snowman, I've never seen it before!

Kathleen said...

I bet it was a squirrel who took your missing cute feeder. They do that here but often I find pieces scattered about on the ground below where it originally was hanging. You are having lots of success attracting the birds. My feeders are down because of the hawks but I hope to put them back up soon.
About the pie plates ~ maybe it just takes a little time for the birds to adjust to something new?? They may be unsure of what it is?? or maybe Frances is right? Sounds reasonable too.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Catching up on your blog, today. Hmmm... I will wait to hear if pie plates are best before we tackle this project. I know nothing about birds, though I'm learning a good bit from visiting yours and a few other blogs!

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Frances, Thanks for thinking this over and returning! So far, however, the pie tins don't seem to be bothering anyone. :-)

Catherine, Squirrels... crazy fellows!

Tatyana, I think that I know where these bird treats were purchased. I could do a little "research" for you. :-)

Hi Kathleen, I'm sure the squirrels took the "sock" feeder, but I also know the birds ate the tree and have nibbled on the snowman. They were each created with different seeds. I wonder what it was that attracted the squirrels? ha.

Hi Kate. Visiting blogs gives not only inspiration but information! :-) I love it, too.

Anonymous said...

Once the backyard critters find those seed treats, they will disappear quickly. I still need to hang ours out.

Shady Gardener said...

Chad and Brandy, I wish I'd waited to hang ours out... we left the next day (for the weekend, plus a day) and this is what I found. What are you putting out?