Anyone else saving a lot of money on bird food this year?

[hockeybc69]

It dawned on me recently how little bird activity I have seen.

Guessing lack of snow cover is allowing birds to scavenge more freely.

Normally my deck is a flurry of activity in mid winter. I put out new suet cakes about a week ago, and they hardly have a corner nibbled off them. The main feeder sure doesnt have much activity nor a need to refill like normal.

[Dbl]

I would say it is a bit less than normal but I still have a lot of activity at my feeders. Cardinals, Black Cap's, etc. all have been daily feeders.

[reinhard1]

i've noticed a decrease myself. i get a lot of woodpecker activity though on my suet, including a pair of peliated woodpeckers daily. for some reason i have less squirels as well [a good thing]. last year i had up to 8 at a time under my feeders and so far not more than 3 daily. i have my feeder hanging from a branch with 20 pound test mono, far enough off the ground and from the other trees so it's squirell proof. good luck.

[Dotch]

No doubt about it. I invested in a 40 lb. bag of black oil sunflower over a month ago and there's still about 3/4's of it left. It was early last fall sometime when I bought my last large bag of thistle seed and the wind has probably blown more out of some of the feeders than the goldfinches have consumed. We've been running on some suet I bought last winter and put in the freezer. Even the starlings aren't as obnxious as they usually are when putting that out. As a result I have lots of .22 shells left. I had gobs of ear corn stashed away from all the basal stalk nitrate tests and hand yield checks I pulled as well as a bunch I gleaned when out soil sampling. The blue jays pick at it but the squirrels haven't even made a dent in it. Have a feeling that may be about to change however. When we have had some snow or a storm that passed nearby, there has been an uptick in the activity level at the feeders. With -9 this a.m. and accumulating snow in the forecast, it could mean more activity soon. They know the feeders are there, it's just a matter of them needing to use them.

[eyeguy 54]

way down here. I used to fill 4 about twice a week. now it's 2 every other week. havn't seen a cardinal for ages. rare on house finches. Woodpeckers and nuthatches and chickadees are still around and a few gold finches and juncos. I miss my birdies. lol

[eyeguy 54]

a couple rescent pics.

[reinhard1]

NICE!!!!!. good luck.

[Dotch]

Boy those are sharp, crisp images. Nice job!

[eyeguy 54]

Thanks, Mr Cardinal just stopped by! Been a long time. We usually have 5 or 6 around. Getting busy out there. :>)

[hockeybc69]

I havent seen a cardinal in a LONGG TIME. All I see is nuthatches, chickadees and woodpeckers. Absolutely nothing else.

Squirrels. I have seen 2 TOTAL in the last few weeks.

I work from home, so its something I watch consistently. I miss my birdies!

[finnbay]

It has been spotty in our neck of the woods. I've had a lot of grosbeaks (mostly pine but some evening)lots of redpols and the usual chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, etc. Haven't seen any pine siskins this winter, however.

[Jim Almquist]

That is kinda funny Ken . We got Siskins before we got Redpolls

The feeding has been a little slow but with this cold snap they have picked up the activity. We have Cardinals, Blue Jays, Redpolls, Pine Siskins, Red & White Breasted Nuthatch's and a ton of Black-Capped Chickadee's along with a few Junco's but my guess is this cold snap will push them south.

[traveler]

Our first year feeding here after years of having stinking cats, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm pleased with the turnout to date; a few woodpeckers, plenty of nuthatches and chickadees, lots of redpolls and about 20-30 pine grossbeaks that stick pretty close...we're going through lots of seed.

[DARK30]

I just paid almost $30 for a #50 bag of sunflower seeds! SHEESH!

[eyeguy 54]

it was 33 last fall. couple more pics to keep Mark happy :>)

[KrabbyPatties]

Jim Almquist described the activity at my feeders almost perfectly, though I'm sometimes getting 40-50 redpolls and have only a few siskins. I haven't seen much for woodpeckers other than the occasional Downy or Pileated visiting. I also get some pigeons and a sporadic goldfinch here and there.

I think the lack of snow cover has kept birds from having to concentrate at feeders. I'm still going through a fair amount of feed considering I'm not in a very 'birdy' location but that's because I'm trying sunflower and safflower out of the shell this winter. They seem to eat this regardless of the availability of natural foods when regular black oil might be ignored. Since the sunflower without hulls is a little more expensive, I've had to step up my squirrel prevention efforts--baffles and squirrel-"proof" feeders. I also toss a scoop of nice and cheap cracked corn on the ground a little ways away each morning and let the squirrels, jays, rabbits, and pigeons duke it out, which seems to distract the squirrels from the other feeders to some extent.

[DARK30]

Don't forget the suet...and they don't give that away anymore either. I wanna try making my own suet cakes.

I see this silly bird every day....

[KrabbyPatties]

If you have any luck making suet cakes, post it. I tried a few years ago but it was a pain. I melted a bunch of beef fat on the stove (burnt some and some wouldn't melt) and mixed in a little cornmeal to bind, chopped peanuts, and sunflower chips. (If I did it again now, I'd probably add mealworms.) I cooled it in a 9x13 pan and attempted to cut it into squares, but it kind of fell apart when I tried to cut it.

[DARK30]

I've never tried it before but (I think) using gramma's old meat grinder would work better than heating anything up. A chunk of suet and whatever else ya wanna mix in....like bird sausage

[Dotch]

Not sure which Mark you were trying to keep happy but your pics sure made this one's day, especially the 'dee. And what's not to like about a happy junco?

[eyeguy 54]

hockeybc69, but glad you are happy too. :>) pretty cool how birds can make us smile.

[WDH]

40 oz crunchy peanut butter

10 cups quick oats

10 cups yellow cornmeal

... 4.5 cups lard (no substitutes)

5 cups white/wheat flour

5 1/3 cups sugar

Melt lard and peanut butter. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into plastic freezer containers or forms (use previously purchased plastic suet containers). Freeze or refrigerate until use (if use is intended within a week - otherwise freeze). You can also add 4 cups per batch various dried fruit and sunflower "meats", mix nuts, meal worms or crickits to this basic recipe during winter months for woodpeckers, finches, and other grosbeaks of all varieties. Expect squirrel problems with this nutty, intoxicating stuff...hang the pudding in an "upside down" feeder, or location you can provide some squirrel patrol. Double or triple the receipt, but don't forget to use heavy duty utensils, this stuff is thick and heavy. This mix will make 14-16 cakes per batch.

[MN Shutterbug]

Don't forget the suet...and they don't give that away anymore either. I wanna try making my own suet cakes.

I see this silly bird every day....

Will that cockatiel eat sunflower seeds?

[MN Shutterbug]

40 oz crunchy peanut butter

10 cups quick oats

10 cups yellow cornmeal

... 4.5 cups lard (no substitutes)

5 cups white/wheat flour

5 1/3 cups sugar

Melt lard and peanut butter. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into plastic freezer containers or forms (use previously purchased plastic suet containers). Freeze or refrigerate until use (if use is intended within a week - otherwise freeze). You can also add 4 cups per batch various dried fruit and sunflower "meats", mix nuts, meal worms or crickits to this basic recipe during winter months for woodpeckers, finches, and other grosbeaks of all varieties. Expect squirrel problems with this nutty, intoxicating stuff...hang the pudding in an "upside down" feeder, or location you can provide some squirrel patrol. Double or triple the receipt, but don't forget to use heavy duty utensils, this stuff is thick and heavy. This mix will make 14-16 cakes per batch.

I've used that recipe and they really love it - the birds and squirrels.

[hockeybc69]

Well, its been a week since I posted this.

My suet cakes are about 1/4 gone and my main feeder has hardly dropped at all.

The good thing I am seeing(or not seeing) is squirrels this year. even with some snow cover now, and squirrels are almost non existent.