For The Birds

Over the Christmas holidays, Mr. Forest Manor and I put out some new bird feeders.  (I published an updated post) on these feeders in February, with some good candid photos that Mr. Forest Manor took of the various birds visiting our feeders.  We haven't put any out in several years because it was hard to find a good place for them where we could watch the birds and the squirrels wouldn't bother them.  The squirrels pretty much ruined our last bird feeder.  Our solution (and it seems to be working well at the moment) was to hang the feeders from a long chain under the eaves of our screened porch.  We can watch them from our kitchen window and from the door in our den.  The chain is too long for the squirrels to hang over the roof and eat from the feeders, and so far, they haven't tried to climb down the chain...yet.  I'm just waiting for them to climb the screen on the porch to get to the feeders.  I sure hope they don't.

This is the feeder we bought several months ago, and just recently got around to hanging.

These are some of the different varieties of birds we've seen at the feeder so far.  NOTE* These pictures were all downloaded from the Internet because we keep scaring the birds away when we try to snap a picture.

The beloved Black Capped Chickadee...

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Carolina Wren...

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The feisty little Tufted Titmouse...

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Purple Finch...

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White Breasted Nuthatch...

Male Northern Cardinal...

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and female Northern Cardinal...

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and the Song Sparrow.

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How many times have you innocently Googled a particular subject with a picture in your mind of one thing, and then something completely different comes up?  This is a "Sparrow", too -- "Cap'n Jack" 

 ;-)

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Anyhoo ... back to the subject at hand. :)  Each level has its own separate feed container.  Of course, it took the birds a few days to discover the feeder, and then it took them awhile longer to feel comfortable and safe using it.  Now, it's really fun to watch, because more than one bird gets on there at a time.  The other day, there were three -- a male cardinal and a purple finch on the lower level and a chickadee on the upper level.

When we were shopping for a Christmas gift at our local Wild Birds Unlimited store, we discovered these...

This section of a tree limb (cedar), which is about three inches in diameter, has a metal eye hook screwed into the top so that you can hang it from a chain.  The limb has three holes; two holes on one side and one hole on the other.  My husband said it looks like they used a one-inch drill bit and drilled these three holes.  Then you fill the holes with a product called "Birdacious Bark Butter" :-), which they carry at the Wild Birds Unlimited stores.  The Bark Butter contains rendered beef, suet, roasted peanuts, peanut oil, corn and calcium carbonate.  You can find out more about the Birdacious Bark Butter HERE.  This fellow really likes the bark butter...

the Downy Woodpecker

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But we've also seen the Chickadees, the Wren, and the Tufted Titmouse feeding on the Bark Butter, as well.

I find feeding the birds to be a little addictive.  They have a really neat add-on feeder at the Wild Birds Unlimited called The Pole System.  The central pole has two curved arms that you can hang feeders on, and it has an auger at the base which allows you to screw the pole into the ground.  You then attach a stabilizer to hold the pole in place, and after that, there are all kinds of features you can add to the basic system, allowing you to feed lots and lots of birds.  I'd really like to put one of those in our back yard.  Maybe in the summer -- we'll just have to see.

Do you like to feed the birds?  What kind of wild birds do you get in your area?  Which ones are your favorites?

Our Nandina bush, loaded with bright, red berries.  The Cardinals like these.

Thanks for stopping by the House at Forest Manor.  As always, I welcome your visits and your comments.

Denise