BIRD FOOD

With the recent very cold weather we have had, I am having a LOT of birds visiting the feeders in the back yard. Even as the weather hit a bit of a warm spell, the birds have continued to flock (pun intended) to the 10 bird feeders I have.

I get feeder visits from all the usual birds common to this area. The Cardinals are very pretty & the House Finches can be a noisy bunch. The Chickadees are the most demanding. They will sit on a near by tree branch & "fuss" if I take too long while I have a feeder on the ground refilling it.

I use black oil sunflower seeds & thistle mostly. I sometimes buy the "mixed" seed, but with that, I mainly toss it on the ground for the birds which like to scratch around there, which will include Doves & Sparrows.

I have a large group of Fox Squirrels which live in my trees. They have to search on the ground for their meals, as my bird feeders have "cages" on them; they allow the birds to access the seed, but not the squirrels.

I get my birdseed mainly from the Tractor Supply store. I like the quality of the brand of seeds they sell. It's "clean" ... meaning there is not a lot of dust, sticks or seeds of another variety mixed in the bag. It's just that -- clean seed. Pay for what you get.

The other reason I like to go to Tractor Supply: It's just down the road from Sam's Club. It makes it a "two-fer" when running off to do some shopping.


I hit both locations this past week. I was running low on seeds & the weather was warming up. In fact, it was making it necessary to turn on the air conditioning in the truck. Typical of Arkansas -- one week ice & freezing temperatures. The next week, almost time to start getting a tan base.

I loaded up on seeds. Two 50 pound bags of black oil sunflower & a 25 pound bag of thistle seed. That should last a week or two, depending on when the weather "turns" & gets cold again. The colder it is, the more bird food gets consumed.

I try to keep the bird feeders full & clean. Every few times I am refilling the feeders, I shake out the loose pieces of seed & debris which will accumulate in the cylinders. The flat feeder tray I do the same, getting out the old seed -- which the birds will not eat -- & making sure the seed is "fresh".

One of the draw backs of having so many bird feeders in one location, is the spent seed shells which will build up on the ground under the feeders. Every so often I have to rake up the shells & clean up the ground area.

One other draw back -- a major one -- is that sometimes with so many birds in the yard ...


The "BIRD FOOD" ... is the bird. With three cats, a few birds get to become snacks for one of "The Girls." A favorite dinning area -- as Wobs is showing -- is the front porch. When the meal is over, only a few feathers remain.

Guess who gets to clean up the mess ??