Do it yourself

I'm going full out on the bird feeders this year. I'm mixing regular bird seed with black sunflower seeds and I just ordered a 40 lb bag of cracked corn that I will be mixing in there as well. This should make just about every bird happy. Plus I've always got suet cakes out there also.

Quote: Evenbob

I'm going full out on the bird feeders this year. I'm mixing regular bird seed with black sunflower seeds and I just ordered a 40 lb bag of cracked corn that I will be mixing in there as well. This should make just about every bird happy. Plus I've always got suet cakes out there also.

I've always loved having bird feeders, so many variety's bringing joy and antics to the yard. But when I put up feeders here, the only ones I can keep are the hummingbird feeders. Anything that has seeds just draws rats and pigeons. The pigeons take over and crap all over everything during the day and will never leave.

Quote: petroglyph

I've always loved having bird feeders, so many variety's bringing joy and antics to the yard. But when I put up feeders here, the only ones I can keep are the hummingbird feeders. Anything that has seeds just draws rats and pigeons. The pigeons take over and crap all over everything during the day and will never leave.

In the summer I only have suet feeders because they'll empty the bird food feeders everyday. In the fall a lot of birds go south and I can put the seed feeders back up again. They will empty them every 2 days. I put some new seeds out today and they were flapping around it all day long. We get lots of Starlings and woodpeckers and doves and Cardinals. There are tons of birds in Michigan. I'll bet six out of ten people where I live have bird feeders. Dang Blue Jays are the worst. They are beautiful to look at but they're big and they're bullies and they will take over a feeder cuz they always travel in pairs and no other birds will come around while they're there. I bet I saw most of the birds below just today.

Quote: Evenbob

In the summer I only have suet feeders because they'll empty the bird food feeders everyday. In the fall a lot of birds go south and I can put the seed feeders back up again. They will empty them every 2 days. I put some new seeds out today and they were flapping around it all day long. We get lots of Starlings and woodpeckers and doves and Cardinals. There are tons of birds in Michigan. I'll bet six out of ten people where I live have bird feeders. Dang Blue Jays are the worst. They are beautiful to look at but they're big and they're bullies and they will take over a feeder cuz they always travel in pairs and no other birds will come around while they're there. I bet I saw most of the birds below just today.

What a joy, seeing them all flitting about. Worth every penny spent in seed.

Quote: petroglyph

What a joy, seeing them all flitting about. Worth every penny spent in seed.

There is a dove out there right now patiently waiting for a Blue Jay to get done. Blue Jays will not let any other birds feed while they are there.

We have a smallish two-tier waterfall and collecting pond in the back yard that the birds often frequent, both to drink and bathe.

Lots of different species; saw a blue heron in the pond looking for fish (none) and eagles sometimes soar overhead checking it out.

Viewing the actions of birds can be uplifting to the spirit.

Quote: missedhervee

Lots of different species; saw a blue heron in the pond.

There is a creek that runs around two sides of my property and a couple years ago a blue heron came in for a landing on the creek and scared the living crap out of me. The thing was huge at first I thought it was a pterodactyl. There are blue herons in Michigan in every County and the bird is in most States east of the Mississippi.

Quote: missedhervee

We have a smallish two-tier waterfall and collecting pond in the back yard that the birds often frequent, both to drink and bathe.

Lots of different species; saw a blue heron in the pond looking for fish (none) and eagles sometimes soar overhead checking it out.

Viewing the actions of birds can be uplifting to the spirit.

I had a good laugh one day when I walked around the corner of a supermarket here and saw a egret in this tiny landscaped patch looking for food. It’s like 4 feet high. It might have been lucky if there was one small lizard in there.

Quote: Evenbob

In the summer I only have suet feeders because they'll empty the bird food feeders everyday. In the fall a lot of birds go south and I can put the seed feeders back up again. They will empty them every 2 days. I put some new seeds out today and they were flapping around it all day long. We get lots of Starlings and woodpeckers and doves and Cardinals. There are tons of birds in Michigan. I'll bet six out of ten people where I live have bird feeders. Dang Blue Jays are the worst. They are beautiful to look at but they're big and they're bullies and they will take over a feeder cuz they always travel in pairs and no other birds will come around while they're there. I bet I saw most of the birds below just today.

We get most of these year round in Austin, but for some reason they all abandon my feeders for a couple of months in the fall. I suspect something in the wild goes to seed and they prefer it over my feeders.

My tips.
- If you have trouble with rats, squirrels, raccoons etc. attacking suit, use the hot pepper suit. Mammals won't touch it but it doesn't bother birds at all.
- I have found that the birds around here prefer black oil sunflower seeds to any of the seed mixes. I buy it by the 40 lb bag.

Quote: JimRockford

Quote: Evenbob

In the summer I only have suet feeders because they'll empty the bird food feeders everyday. In the fall a lot of birds go south and I can put the seed feeders back up again. They will empty them every 2 days. I put some new seeds out today and they were flapping around it all day long. We get lots of Starlings and woodpeckers and doves and Cardinals. There are tons of birds in Michigan. I'll bet six out of ten people where I live have bird feeders. Dang Blue Jays are the worst. They are beautiful to look at but they're big and they're bullies and they will take over a feeder cuz they always travel in pairs and no other birds will come around while they're there. I bet I saw most of the birds below just today.

We get most of these year round in Austin, but for some reason they all abandon my feeders for a couple of months in the fall. I suspect something in the wild goes to seed and they prefer it over my feeders.

My tips.
- If you have trouble with rats, squirrels, raccoons etc. attacking suit, use the hot pepper suit. Mammals won't touch it but it doesn't bother birds at all.
- I have found that the birds around here prefer black oil sunflower seeds to any of the seed mixes. I buy it by the 40 lb bag.

I have a bunch of feeders a buddy gave me that were going to be thrown out. Peanut butter feed. I will just keep putting them out for now. Brought a bunch to niece's B-day party gave each kid one. They went nuts over them.