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ljpother

Merry Christmas

ljpother
14 years ago

Merry Christmas everyone.

Remember the days are getting longer.

Oh, and just how much snow in the bird feeder will the birds dig through to get seeds? Seriously, do I have to dump the feeder every time it snows?

Comments (6)

  • valleyrimgirl
    14 years ago

    Merry Christmas to you too and to all the Far North members.

    To answer your question about bird feeders....

    I gave up on my bird feeders. They are now strictly for show. Instead, I placed a large 12" shallow 2" high round tray on a ledge here by the house and I only fill as the birds need more. I now have no spillage over the edge as the birds love to do with bird feeders and actually go thru about 1/3 of the sunflowers as I did before. Now, with the snow falling today, I am giving them about 1 cup at a time and refilling as they finish it. They go thru about 2 cups of sunflower seeds a day here in the winter.

    I also now only buy bags of sunflower seeds as I found that the birds dumped out all the other little seeds that are in a mixed bag of bird seed.

    Brenda

  • Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
    14 years ago

    Merry Christmas to all!

    Hey Larry....I have covered cedar feeders hanging under the big spruce tree right outside my computer window. I fill all five with a mixed seed ( my own mix) and black oil sunflower seeds. They don't get as much snow on them as they are quite protected and the birds like the privacy. I have about 6 suet cages and a niger tube. I feed the magpies and jays in a heavy lasagna dish balanced on the fence. They eat it so fast, it doesn't get snow in it. They wait for me every morning to give them their dry dog/cat food, raisins, eggs, canned pet food mixed with soft bread, tuna, peanuts, mixed nuts........they will eat almost anything and then they leave my feeders alone. They are so smart they even feed the dogs from the top of the fence! I swear I can hear them laughing at the funny looking "magpies" on the ground picking up their food! They have even started to come when I call them. Tomorrow they will get turkey scraps. The little birds get peanut butter and oatbran with crushed nuts in it. I mix it up and harden it in the freezer in a styrofoam meat tray and they eat it right out of the tray on the little garden table, also under the tree. Everyone gets fed at my house!

    Definately a white Christmas here. Hope all are enjoying the beautiful snow. God knows we need it.

    May we all find our own Peace in the new year ahead!

    Ginny Garden and the shelties

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    14 years ago

    Merry Christmas to all of you, my Far North gardening friends! Thanks for a great year of gardening info and camaraderie! :)

  • ljpother
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    honalee,

    Beep the birds, I'm coming over for breakfast. :)

  • ontnative
    14 years ago

    ljpother, to answer you original question about snow on your bird feeder, I find that birds will scratch through an inch or so of snow but no more. The birds are all well fed in my neighbourhood, so they may be lazier than some. I use a garden trowel to gently scrape the loose snow off the tray of my columnar bird feeder. It works very well. The small juncos and chickadees will not not go after food that they cannot see. I keep mixed seed (mostly small types) in this feeder. I have another tube feeder with just sunflower seeds. I also sprinkle some seeds on the packed snow for the ground feeders, but this requires frequent replacement, especially in snowy weather.

  • ljpother
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the replies,

    I'm not getting many birds at either of my two feeders. Before it snowed a few birds started to visit. One is a small gravity feeder that I can brush the snow off the seeds. The other is a semi-sheltered platform type and the seeds get buried. I can scrape much of the snow off to reveal seeds; but, maybe they aren't visible in the snow. I do have lots of berries: saskatoon, elderberry, and cherry.

    I'm new to feeding and the feeders haven't been used for a couple of years.

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