We've been here just over a year. In that time we have seen almost 40 different species of birds at our feeder.
And not gotten a good photo of any of them.
I am in awe of anyone who can can catch an image of a bird without sophisticated equipment, or even with. The birds that visit our feeder and stay calm even when the cat is sitting right underneath, fly away if we even point the phone in their direction.
But just watching them is a delight. Bird TV rivals any cable show and is a bargain.
We have four birdfeeders. One is a squirrel-proof job bought at least 8 years ago. A squirrel did manage to knock it off the hanger and the plastic shell broke. The company sent me a new one at no cost!
The second feeder I cobbled together this spring. I have way too many canning jars and am always looking for ways to use them (yes, I can food but still have left over jars). An internet search yielded a feeder made from a jar and a chick feeder. We don't currently have chickens so the chick feeder wasn't in use. I put a dollar store pie tin over it as a cover, it doesn't look fancy but, so far, it works.
The third feeder I quickly put together when our little backyard bird oasis was visited by Baltimore orioles. The males' bright colors were so enticing that I knew I wanted them to be regular visitors. I had a hanging plant holder that was in a box of junk from an auction. I took it apart and made a low holder for orange halves and a small tin for jelly. It's fun to watch male and females eating the jelly, then wiping the stickiness from their beaks on a twig.
Bonus thriftiness: last year I made corn cob jelly--couldn't resist making jelly from something I would normally toss on the compost pile. It's not anything we're crazy about and orioles like jelly, so they are welcome to it.
The fourth feeder is the wire suet feeder. When I ran out of bought suet blocks late this winter, I made some using saved hamburger fat imbedded with seeds. This is for winter only, as I learned when the fat melted and dribbled to the ground in June.
Speaking of which, I have found that the best and cheapest thing to use in the seed feeders is black oil sunflower seeds. Everything that visits our feeder, from goldfinches to grosbeaks, cowbirds to wrens likes these. I buy it on sale in bags too heavy to lift (40 pounds?). An added feature is the dropped seeds that escape being eaten by cardinals and mourning doves and skunks, sometimes germinate for a nice ground cover under the feeders.
Oops, we have 5 feeders. I forgot the hummingbird feeder attached to our kitchen window. I make the food (one part sugar to 3 parts boiling water). Hummingbirds are fierce little things and their territorial and mating displays are a riot to watch.
Don't let finances deprive you of the greatest show outside your window--hang a feeder and enjoy the jewels of nature, our feathered friends.
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