Bird feeders

I just love having a bird feeder! We set one up on our patio and within a few days we have had the cutest birds come by and eat. It is so fun to just watch and listen to them.

I wanted a pet bird, but we already have too many pets and can't afford to have anymore (plus we don't have the room), so we got a bird feeder and I am just thrilled. The first bird that came by often comes the most and I named him Philip. I think bird feeders are the best because it is like you have a pet bird, but they still have the freedom to fly in the open skies instead of being in a cage all day. ;)

Anyone else love bird feeders?

Yes we love bird feeders too. We have hummingbird feeders and regular feeders all over our property. My grandparents used to love to watch the birds and I learned a ton from them. I still love watching them today. I'm trying to teach my kids to love them too.

I have very fond memories of being at my grandparents as a child and watching the birds with their birdfeeders and bird houses. They always had at least one, if not two in their yard.

We have several bird houses that we tied to trees. (A nail driven into a tree can kill it.) Each year about mid-March we have swallows that return and nest. It's always quite exciting to see the young leaving the boxes and learning to fly!

I saw a cardinal today and some doves. Man the doves are HUGE and they chase away some of the smaller birds. I was impressed with the birds that I saw seeing that we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground. I am waiting to see my first robin.

(A nail driven into a tree can kill it.) Say What? What kind of tree and what kind of nail? In the pacific northwest "green" activists "spike" trees, i.e. drive in a big nail that gets covered over by new growth so that later loggers trying to harvest trees will hit the nail with disastrous results thus "in theory" protecting the trees from logging. Nailing trees is done to "protect" trees.

A copper spike is a different story of course and can severely damage a tree.

I log nuisance trees and take them to a band mill to be cut. Trees that were near old home sites are dangerous as they may contain lots of nails, staples, and the like from having been used as fence posts and the like. The tree's growth covers over the debris and may not be noticeable. I have counted the annual rings and found that the healthy appearing tree had wire and other metal debris in it from over 50 years ago.

I'm not recommending driving nails into trees but don't think it is so much a danger to the tree as it is to anyone in the future who has to prune, trim, or remove a tree.

Patrick

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Originally Posted by Colbe

I saw a cardinal today and some doves. Man the doves are HUGE and they chase away some of the smaller birds. I was impressed with the birds that I saw seeing that we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground. I am waiting to see my first robin.

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Doves don't hold a candle to our redwing blackbirds when it comes to intimidating other birds. Our cardinals feed right beside American goldfinches in harmony with no squabbles. Likewise several other species of finch and other small birds BUT... the blackbirds descend on our feeders like a motorcycle gang and run all the others away. One year I saw a redwing blackbird astride a goldfinch pecking it to death. The blackbird held the finch in its claws and flew off with the carcass. I got pix, not the best pix, but you can see what is happening.

Pat