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

[eyeguy 54]

still have a buncha squirrels here. See a lone Cardinal once in a while. Lots of house finches yesturday. The seeds are still lasting a long time.

[MN Shutterbug]

One squirrel and rarely a bird. I've pretty much given up for the winter.

[Dotch]

We've had a sharp-shinned hawk camping here the last few days so the brisk activity from earlier in the week has slowed dramatically.

[delcecchi]

We have mourning doves, Cardinals, finches, chickadees, and 5 deer at the feeder. The buck has grown since last year. I'll have to look for the sheds later this year.

[Jim Almquist]

I was looking out the window at the birds that were feeding and a female Pine grosbeak landed in the apple tree. Sadly she went into the pine and was never seen again.

[KrabbyPatties]

Wow....I'm going through more seed than I ever have all of a sudden. I had over 50 redpolls (1 hoary) here today along with constant chickadees, red and white breasted nuthatches, 7 juncos, 2 cardinals, 1 pine siskin, 3 goldfinches, and a few blue jays. I'll admit that my bird feeder spread is borderline obsessive at this point, so I'd be kind of ticked off if it were slow.

[traveler]

Still have a pretty nice bunch of these guys daily...

[Jim Almquist]

Oh sure rub it in

I think that our yard is a little too open to keep them around for any length of time. They are one of my favorite birds!

[KrabbyPatties]

Here's the hoary that was at my feeders with a common nearby for comparison:

It was just out there about 15 minutes ago.

[Jim Almquist]

Two years ago when the Redpolls were thick I did have 3 coming around. Very nice to have such a rare bird hanging around.

[traveler]

Oh sure rub it in

I think that our yard is a little too open to keep them around for any length of time. They are one of my favorite birds!

Actually, I'm surprised to see the Pines too, and to see them sticking around daily. I thought our yard might be too open as well, but we do have a couple nice pine trees near the deck and I think that helps them feel better about it. That, and a ton of seed!

[traveler]

couple more for ya:)

[WDH]

We've had a sharp-shinned hawk camping here the last few days so the brisk activity from earlier in the week has slowed dramatically.

Get youself a Purple martin or a Dove decoy ( I have two martins and one dove ) and put them out by your feeders. The hawks will always go for the slowest bird and there is nouthing slower than a decoy. You can tell when a decoy has been hit, it will be hanging upside down. Once the decoy has been hit move it to a new spot. This will give your song birds a chance to get away.

I know hawks need to eat, but not in my yard.

[Dotch]

I may try that and just see if this causes them to focus their attention on the house sparrows around the barn. Sparrows are relatively slow and dumb although I haven't been able to totally eradicate them. I'm never averse to getting some help from the occasional small raptor in that department. They've done just that in years past. Fascinating to watch and gratifyng to see the remains of their handiwork on top of the bales, telling me that even when I don't see 'em, they've helped themselves and me too.