Please remember the birds

[Deleted]

Birds in the Northeast are going to die in large numbers in the next few days. Snow covered ground prevents them from feeding, water sources are frozen and high winds make flying difficult. Please put out food (seed, fruit etc) and water in a sheltered spot.

Thank you. 

[val2525]

Wow. I would never have thought about that! Thanks!

[Deleted]

On one of our decks we have a vine covered pergola.  My DH turns it into a bird and squirrel habitat in the fall.  He has tons of feeders, suet containers, nut wreaths, bell holders and we have a pond so they always have fresh water.  I love sitting with a cup of coffee looking out at them feeding.  I so wish others would realize how much they need us!

[Deleted]

I have 3 feeders and a birdbath with a de-icer in the front yard. I get lots of birds throughout the day (and it's great entertainment for the cats!)

A lot of people don't know that birds need water for bathing in winter as well as drinking. If they can't keep their feathers clean, they can't insulate themselves as well.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 15:20:50 GMT @crnroylman said:

On one of our decks we have a vine covered pergola.  My DH turns it into a bird and squirrel habitat in the fall.  He has tons of feeders, suet containers, nut wreaths, bell holders and we have a pond so they always have fresh water.

That sounds wonderful!

[Deleted]

Alli it is gorgeous out there.  But we have been plagued this year with raccoons.  We live by the river and there is a huge home development.  They have cleared acres of wooded area so we've been getting socked since summer.  Just the last six weeks Mike has rehomed 3 raccoons.  They walk along pergola at night knocking down feeders and have broken some of his favorites.  We trap them with marshmallows which they LOVE.

[Deleted]

Marshmallows, lol.

[Deleted]

Your pergola sounds fantastic! You should post some pictures.

[kritter]

LOL Love your avatar, ahrn.

[mupcycledcouture]

Great reminder! I put out the bird feeders during our last storm and no one touched it. I hope they have found somewhere to eat.

We used to get a nest on our porch every spring but last year was nothing.

[Deleted]

Thank you for the reminder. You may have saved some little lives.
 


I miss our birds!



I usually feed through the winter mourning doves, a group of finches that live in the honeysuckle, a mockingbird pair, and the occasional cardinal special event. I stocked up on seed when I could get a sale, but then a big cat that was under the temporary care of someone a street over killed one of the birds. Everyone evacuated. I think the cat is now gone, but the birds are still staying away.

[Deleted]

Arhn, you are brilliant! 

[Deleted]

Good reminder. I have seed and corn in my trunk from last year when I was feeding a silly goose who didn't/couldn't fly south.

[Deleted]

We have the prettiest little birds coming and they are so so grateful when you feed them.  My dh is a nut about it. 

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2015 15:58:32 GMT @crnroylman said:

We have the prettiest little birds coming and they are so so grateful when you feed them.  My dh is a nut about it. 

Mine is, too. He buys about 70 lbs a month...and even puts bread out. I try to get him to lighten up when the weather is nice and they can fend for themselves, but he won't hear of it! 

[Deleted]

Yay for all the bird-loving-hubbies! They might enjoy the book "Feed the Birds" by Helen Witty. It shows how you can feed all them sorts of kitchen scraps and make your own recipes. Lots of advice for anyone who wants to feed birds a little more economically. It also talks about different types of feeders and which foods attract certain species.

www.amazon.com/Feed-Birds-Helen-Witty/dp/1563050854

Bread isn't very nutritious for birds. They'll eat it but they really need protein and fat more than carbs.

[Shirley U Geste]

Thanks for the book recommend Ahrn.

I'm always looking for ways to feed and attract the birds. 

I love to watch them and for the cats sitting at the windows and looking at the feeders is Kitty TV.  

[Deleted]

My husband is doing his part.

[Deleted]

Wow Ahrn, thanks so much.  I will definitely check that out for Mike.  He'll be in the kitchen whipping up bird food!.  I just picked up nuts for the squirrels at the farm mart.  Funny thing though the blue jays get to the nuts faster than the squirrels.

[RetroMonde]

Jan 26, 2015 17:16:33 GMT @crnroylman said:

Alli it is gorgeous out there.  But we have been plagued this year with raccoons.  We live by the river and there is a huge home development.  They have cleared acres of wooded area so we've been getting socked since summer.  Just the last six weeks Mike has rehomed 3 raccoons.  They walk along pergola at night knocking down feeders and have broken some of his favorites.  We trap them with marshmallows which they LOVE.

Re-homing raccoons sounds easier than the skunk family that was messing with our chickens. DH had to re-home 6 (one at a time) last summer/fall. We're not supposed to move the wildlife so it's a no-no. The county wants us to professionals but that's too expensive. Besides, what are they gonna do with a bunch of skunks? We've got a humane wire trap & a pickup truck and took 'em to a new home by the river... sounds like a country song!

We feed the birds here all year, and always have a hummingbird feeder full of nectar on our back porch. They do get dependent on us; the birds at my house come look in the window if their feeders are empty. 

Ahrncitygal- thanks for the mention of that book- I'll have to find it. I have another of her books called "Fancy Pantry", full of canning/preserving recipes. She has a great writing style: I look forward to reading thru another!

Sandra

[sunsetpainter]

I feed the birds year round.  I quit using the "birdseed mix" and bread, though, because it was attracting too many starlings.  I only use BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds), cracked corn (for the doves and ground feeders), and suet for the woodpeckers.  I have a birdbath heater as well, but sometimes it's hard to clean in the winter when it gets frozen to the ground or buried in a ton of snow.

DD and DH used to call me 'birdbrain' because when I'd see a new bird, I'd run through the house yelling, "Get the book!  Get the book!" (Audubon bird ID book).  They'd laugh their butts off at me but knew to get out of my way!  

[sunsetpainter]

Oh, and if you ever need to trap opossums, we've found out that hard salami or canned cat food works really well!

[RetroMonde]

Cat food works well for the skunks too. But the trap doesn't discriminate about who trips the door. We trapped Winston a couple of times before we learned to keep him in overnight when the trap was set.

[kritter]

Thankfully I it looks like I have relocated all the possums and coons around my house and haven't needed to trap this year because my outside cats don't hesitate to go into the trap after the canned food. They have realized that I will always come and let them out so they just eat, lay down, and wait.

I have even fed the idiots canned food on the back porch and set the trap in the front yard. Doesn't make any difference; one of them will fleet feet around to the front and go in the trap.

Sardines will work too. I always use sardines to trap ferals because the smell is too intoxicating to resist.

[Deleted]

Since summer we have trapped around 17 animals.  Possums eat anything!  Mike laughs because we had some babies and they are cute.  But he says they're all nasty and they hiss at him and stink up his car.

We had a ton of groundhogs this summer including three babies.  When we get a skunk Mike calls the exterminator to take them.  It costs fifty but like Mike said, it's worth it.  What if they sprayed in his trunk.  We put out sardines for them.  Once we caughter a mother and baby at one time and the jerk charged us double!

Mike says the neighbors should be chipping in as we're the only people trapping them.

Pennsylvania won't let you relocate skunks, racoons or groundhogs as they carry rabies.  Of course we do anyway.  When you catch them you are supposed to be prepared to kill them.  We live right by the Delaware river but Mike would never have the heart to do that.

Exterminator told us that you must take a skunk 14 miles away or "like a cat" they find their way right back.  Best to take them over a bridge because they hate water.

[kritter]

A couple of years ago I trapped a possum and took him down to a park that is a couple of miles away.

I swear the critter beat me back home.

after that I took them to a wooded area that is about 5 miles away.

[RetroMonde]

We've had critters in the yard forever (rats, raccoons, possums, skunks, and a nutria once). And we're less than a mile away from the river as the crow flies, so there's always osprey, hawks and sometimes bald eagles circling around. But since we have chickens, the predators are more than a novelty; they're a threat. A raccoon can wipe out our free-range flock in a heartbeat. But we live in a neighborhood so whipping out a gun isn't a safe or probably legal option. And we don't wanna kill them; they just need to live somewhere else. We've relocated them about 10 miles from here, in the country by a river. It's not a perfect solution but we can't afford to call an exterminator every time another critter is craving eggs or chicken.

Interesting about they finding their way back "home." I will tell DH that tidbit.

[Deleted]

We only call exterminator for skunks.  We re home everyone else.

We also have a problem with Heron in the summer.  So Mike dug our pond deep because they need to stand and eat.  They look so big when I chase them.  It's amazing how wide their wingspan is.

[sunsetpainter]

Jan 30, 2015 18:29:28 GMT @crnroylman said:

We also have a problem with Heron in the summer.  So Mike dug our pond deep because they need to stand and eat.  They look so big when I chase them.  It's amazing how wide their wingspan is.

We've been lucky (knock on wood).  I've only had to chase 1 blue heron away from my koi pond. 

[val2525]

Jan 29, 2015 21:27:56 GMT sunsetpainter said:

I feed the birds year round.  I quit using the "birdseed mix" and bread, though, because it was attracting too many starlings.  I only use BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds), cracked corn (for the doves and ground feeders), and suet for the woodpeckers.  I have a birdbath heater as well, but sometimes it's hard to clean in the winter when it gets frozen to the ground or buried in a ton of snow.

DD and DH used to call me 'birdbrain' because when I'd see a new bird, I'd run through the house yelling, "Get the book!  Get the book!" (Audubon bird ID book).  They'd laugh their butts off at me but knew to get out of my way!  

LOL at the visual! One year I bought a 'Backyard Birds" calendar and flipped thru it when I hung it, looking at all the pictures. Fast forward about 3 months, I was in the backyard and saw this cool bird I'd never noticed before and thought, "hey, I think I saw this one on my calendar!". Ran inside, checked it out, sure enough - same bird. Painted bunting. I've been hooked on bird calendars ever since. I'm thinking of putting up a bird feeder outside one of the bedroom windows. I've noticed more birds the past year, so maybe the cat can get some entertainment out of it.