[Carl in Tampa]

Many months ago when it looked like Tampa might actually take a direct hit of a major hurricane, I had my two backyard bird feeders taken down and stored.

I finally got around to having them put back in place, and already I have been rewarded with sights that I have not seen in my back yard in a long time.

The first visitor was a brightly colored Cardinal, followed the next day by a large Blue Jay. I was next pleasantly surprised to see a Woodpecker on the feeder. In years past we have had many visits from Woodpeckers that were nesting in a nearby tree.

It has been like the return of old friends. I can watch them through my kitchen window with the aid of compact 12 power binoculars.

I also have very effective squirrel countermeasures, so although they may scavenge a few seeds off of the ground, they cannot get onto the feeders.

Bird watching is one of my simple joys.

[DeanFL]

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

Bird watching is one of my simple joys.

Such a BIG DITTO here! Installed a small arbor and a tubular bird feeder in the middle. It's right outside our front window amongst all the plants out front. Been there almost a year. Go thru about 8 cups of seeds per day. Typical visitors, blackbirds, lots of Mourning Doves (so cute...) Cardinals, sparrows, and Jays. So relaxing watching our daily friends. Gotta love all the wildlife and birds in TV!

[Polar Bear]

Love the birds also! I use Squirrel Buster feeders. Great anti squirrel feeders.

[Mrs. Robinson]

I agree with all the above comments.
Watching the birds at my feeders is one of many great pleasures.
I know there will be a number of nay-sayers who denigrate the feeding of birds, but their negativity will never bother me!
They are the losers.

[Topspinmo]

I miss my birds in oklahoma. I had purple Martin colony and several bird feeders on 1 1/2 acres. My colony has over 60 pairs of purple martins and bird feeders attracted over 20 different species of birds and lot more during migration. I also had lots of hummingbirds and blue birds nesting off the back porch. Even had screech owls nesting out back in box I made for them.

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

I miss my birds in oklahoma. I had purple Martin colony and several bird feeders on 1 1/2 acres. My colony has over 60 pairs of purple martins and bird feeders attracted over 20 different species of birds and lot more during migration. I also had lots of hummingbirds and blue birds nesting off the back porch. Even had screech owls nesting out back in box I made for them.

Several Summers ago I heard screech owls in my back yard at night. I built the appropriate sized nesting box for them, but they never took it. Then one Sunday when we came home from church I saw hundreds and hundreds of honey bees swarming around the box. They took it over, and we had bees in our back yard for several years.

I have repeatedly hung hummingbird feeders, but have never been able to attract them.

Our greatest success was attracting butterflies of all kinds. We planted a wide variety of flowers known to attract butterflies and were graced with their beauty for several years. There was a slight inconvenience when a Chrysalis was deposited on the doorknob of our front door and we could not use it until it hatched.

[Madelaine Amee]

We are bird lovers too, and feed them all year. I used to have a feeder close to the house, but a Massey pest man told us to put the feeder at the back of the yard in the open space, because if rats are attracted to the feed they will not run out in the open to the seed, they like to hug walls close to their nests. We live close to a preserve and our night visitors are owls and owls just love vermin for dinner

Last year we had the greatest gift of all, a Painted Bunting, what an incredible looking bird, so small and yet the colors were so vibrant. I called the bird club here and they have never seen one in TV before. He or she, came to eat for two days and then migrated off to other areas. Something I will never forget.

[John_W]

We have 3 bird feeders on the same pole at the back line of our CYV. We use Safflower seeds, it's disliked by black birds and squirrels.

We have one mockingbird that has been with us about a year. He'll sit in the top of our holly tree that is about 20' high and watches over the yard. He'll normally sing while in the tree after eating. He loves grapes, he'll come and sit on our patio table about 6 or 7 times a day so we can see him through the sliders and my wife will take him grapes. Recently he has found a mate, but he gets a grape first and then the mate second. He no longer sings when he's finished eating. He doesn't like the birdseed. He will chase away bluejays and any other mockingbirds. There was a third mockingbird that has attempted to get a grape a few times this week and he'll dive right at them.

We also have a pair of cardinals, a brown and red one. They eat the bird seed and sometimes they eat a grape. The mockingbirds come every morning at 7:30 to the table. The cardinals live in the back hedge and never leave. We also have a squirrel that will show up every morning around that time. We have to hide the grapes from him by putting them on the grill, the mockingbird knows to look there. We have peanuts we throw to the squirrel, he'll get several every morning.

We also have a brown rabbit for about the last 6 months, he also likes grapes and we'll put out small carrots. He usually comes around 6pm, but lately he has shown up early in the morning and even in the afternoon. He also eats the birdseed that is on that ground that falls from the feeders.

Last year about this time we had 2 brown thrashers that lived in the back hedge, but then they disappeared when summer came. They just showed up yesterday and they eat the bird seed as well. We have two small finches, one with a red head. They eat the bird seed and also eat the grapes. They usually eat the grapes scraps left by the mockingbird.

We have lots of doves, at any time of the day I can look out there and see 2 to 5 doves. Late in the evening they congregate, anywhere from 6 to 10 doves. They're the biggest eaters of the bird seed, I go through about a pound a day, mostly because of them. Since we're in a CYV we have a wall at the back behind the hedge. The doves will try and get on the 3 feeders, but they like the one at the very top the best because it doesn't rock since it sits on the top of the pole. Maybe 3 can get on there, and 1 each on the other two, and then with the wall, they'll be lined up on top of the wall waiting for their turn. We also have a bird bath and they'll get around the edge, sometimes 4 or 5 just sitting. We also have a dog bowl with water on the ground so the rabbit and the birds eating off the ground can get a drink.

The safflower seed is available at Wild Bird Center for $35 for a 16 pound bag and $10 for a 6 pound bag at Lowes or $12.98 for a 6 pound bag at Petsmart. If you buy a feeder from Wild Bird Center they'll give you about ten coupons that are $5 off a bag of seed.

I put out a mail box post mounted in a barrel that has 3 birdhouses on top, I got the idea from a photo online and came out looking nice. I put plants in the bottom of the barrel, but so far no birds have used the birdhouses. This is the image I used to model mine after except I spray painted it all brown instead of letting it turn silver. They say birds don't like white, so pick a color that is subdued or leave unpainted.

[Mrs. Robinson]

I love all these stories about everyone's favorite bird pastime.
If any of you bird haters post a comment, watch out . . . you will be bombarded by all of us! . . . {;>)

[JC and John]

I miss feeding and watching the birds back home in VA. I finally lured hummingbirds to my feeders the last year we lived there. What a treat to watch them all!

[Carl in Tampa]

To attract birds, also consider planting a variety of seed-bearing flowers around your house.

A few years ago I planted several tall sunflowers (some varieties are short) near my back fence and as the seeds matured they attracted Cardinals.

Back in those days I perused the Burpee's Seed Catalog for weeks, and ordered a variety of landscape flowers; always including some seed-bearing flowers, and some that attract butterflies.