Snow day at the feeder

[BrentC]

1.
Snow day at the feeder by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

2.
Snow day at the feeder by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

 

[ZombiesniperJr]

seems you have a house sparrow problem at your place.

 

[BrentC]

seems you have a house sparrow problem at your place.

Yeah we get a lot of them. Early morning and late evening we get tons of Cardinals and during the day it's sparrows, juncos and goldfinch and the odd downy.
Lately I've been filling up my three feeders every 2 days.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I am currently waiting on a squirrel baffle before I refill mine. I have a homemade peanut butter feeder that I believe the little thief has been emptying too. I like the house sparrows. I can always count on them to be around to photograph when nothing else is. Nice photos Brent.

 

[birdbonkers84]

Been at my new place 6 months now, have set up some feeders and a bird bath in the back garden, over the 6 months I've had, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, wrens, blackbirds, about 1000 sparrows, wood pigeons, thrushes, robins and starlings visit the garden.

Really cool watching them bathe or drink from the bird bath when looking out the kitchen window.

 

[BrentC]

Been at my new place 6 months now, have set up some feeders and a bird bath in the back garden, over the 6 months I've had, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, wrens, blackbirds, about 1000 sparrows, wood pigeons, thrushes, robins and starlings visit the garden.

Really cool watching them bathe or drink from the bird bath when looking out the kitchen window.

Blackbirds and starlings were a huge problem for me. They were taking over the feeders and scaring away all the other birds. They could empty my feeders in a day. I ended up getting feeders they couldn't use and also switching some of the feed, in spring and summer, from sunflower seed to nyjer seeds which they don't like.
Now the only ones creating problems is pigeons and hopefully I will get more hawks around this year to take care of that. I forgot to mention I do also get a lot of mourning doves and chicadees which I think are similar to your tits.

Are you still in Stonehaven?

 

[BrentC]

I am currently waiting on a squirrel baffle before I refill mine. I have a homemade peanut butter feeder that I believe the little thief has been emptying too. I like the house sparrows. I can always count on them to be around to photograph when nothing else is. Nice photos Brent.

Squirrel baffles are much needed. Especially if you going to put out peanut butter!

 

[birdbonkers84]

Been at my new place 6 months now, have set up some feeders and a bird bath in the back garden, over the 6 months I've had, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, wrens, blackbirds, about 1000 sparrows, wood pigeons, thrushes, robins and starlings visit the garden.

Really cool watching them bathe or drink from the bird bath when looking out the kitchen window.

Blackbirds and starlings were a huge problem for me. They were taking over the feeders and scaring away all the other birds. They could empty my feeders in a day. I ended up getting feeders they couldn't use and also switching some of the feed, in spring and summer, from sunflower seed to nyjer seeds which they don't like.
Now the only ones creating problems is pigeons and hopefully I will get more hawks around this year to take care of that. I forgot to mention I do also get a lot of mourning doves and chicadees which I think are similar to your tits.

Are you still in Stonehaven?

Yeah I bought a house in Stoney with a decent sized back garden. Has an apple tree and big ass bushes, the sparrows seem to rule the roost in my garden, it is funny watching them all bicker over feeding, I've found the sparrows do most of the donkey work and the robins, dunnocks, wood pigeons, blackbirds, thrushes peck all the scraps off the grass. The blackbirds are quite content sifting through all the leaf litter, while the two robin that visit my garden do battle for it lol.

 

[Charles Meadows]

You can always buy a squirrel proof bird feeder. There are some that actually work, but a baffle can be effective, too. Also, I'm not sure I would hang the feeders that close to the porch. Hanging them in trees sure won't keep the squirrels away, but it will make it a little harder for other predators to get at the birds, and maybe raid the feeders, too. This is also a good idea to prevent birds from accidentally flying into windows.