The birds must eat

When my granddaughter comes to visit, we invariably spend some time watching the backyard birds.

I've been accused of living too far beneath my means, so this year I splurged a bit on the bird feeding setup. Well, my SO splurged on this new platform feeder...

... then I later bought this baffle to keep the squirrels out.

And then I added the picket fence to keep the dog from eating the spilled seed. Don't worry, the squirrels can still get inside the barricade to help with the clean up.

Then I had to protect the peanut feeder and the area beneath the peanut feeder in a similar manner. The fences are temporary solutions - hopefully I will come up with a better idea next summer - but the baffles are well worth the money as they save in seed costs.

Another splurge was a wire wreath for unshelled peanuts. This feeder is reachable by the squirrels, but just barely. It requires acrobatics on their part, and yet they still can't empty it.

Not pictured is the finch feeder, and I have not hung out suet yet, as the daytime temperatures are just too warm. No sense torturing the dog by dripping fat under the feeders.

Pole dancing

Busy Birds

When I learned that birds cache seeds in the fall, I had assumed they deposited the seeds in bark crevices and such. Consequently, it took me a while to realize that this nuthatch was caching its seeds under the bark mulch.

Besides this nuthatch, I spotted a couple of juncos yesterday. I don't even notice the "snow birds" have been absent until they reappear.

I learned a new word the other day (but of course cannot remember it now, even after seeing it in two places) that is a term for an unusual shift of a bird population. For example, you might not see pine siskins at your feeders ordinarily, but a whole flock may appear one winter day because their home turf has become inhospitable.

I'm almost ready for whatever birds come my way.