Consider this Page 2 in what may become a long series of information about my bird feeders.
February 16, 2020:
There seems to be a growing demand for suet so I added a second suet feeder to the tree feeding station. Also, the raccoons seemed to enjoy the challenge of demolishing the milk jug cap peanut butter feeder so I decided to reinforce it with a larger and longer screw with a large washer. So far they still finish off the goodies every evening but the feeder remains attached.
February 12, 2020:
They haven’t come to the feeder yet but a pair of mourning doves have been sitting on a branch about 30′ away preening themselves and each other. They’re gone now but hopefully, they will soon return and come in for something to munch on.
February 8, 2020:
For no apparent reason, the goldfinches just disappeared about two weeks ago. This morning, with three inches of fresh snow, they suddenly reappeared.
January 31, 2020: I dug out an old wildlife camera and set it on the picnic table last night. Ignore the time/date stamp since I didn’t take the time to reset it. Anyway, the midnight raiders are caught and they were all wearing masks. NOTE: I am adjusting the amount of food I put out. Instead of filling everything up I’m just putting out what I think a day’s worth would be for the feathered population. The raccoons can eat cat food as they have for years.
January 29, 2020: The new feeding station seems to be attracting some nocturnal creatures. I fill it with corn and sunflower seed, restock the peanut butter cups, and what use to last several days is now gone overnight. I have to refill every morning.
The first hint of trouble was finding one of the cups missing and the suet feeder knocked off the tree and lying on the lower deck. After repairing that I noticed this morning that the main feeder was askew, most of the seeds gone, and the cups empty.
So, I took some before photos and, leveled the feeder, and drove some stronger and longer screws to secure it to the tree.
I dug out an old field camera with the intent to set it up and capture some photos of the nocturnal visitors. However, all my “C” batteries are either dead or the camera is no longer working. Giving it some thought, however, I’ve concluded that the culprits may well be flying squirrels. They are nocturnal, small, agile, and capable of getting through the feeder hold into the seed chamber. Also, from past experiences I know we have colonies of them living in our woods.
May 26, 2020
For several days now we’ve had a red house finch handing around the suet feeders.
