<p>Safflower is a nice seed and many grackles and starlings don’t like it, but cardinals do. I also have put up a sock feeder full of niger seed and the goldfinch love that.</p>
<p>We got a “Liberty Squirrel Blocker” pole from which to hang our feeders several months ago. It really works. We hung finch type feeders (small holes in a tube, for use with thistle seed), feeders for sunflower seeds and several suet feeders.</p>
<p>We live in the woods in Minnesota and the feeder is covered with birds every day. We’ve seen gold finches, red poles, pine siskins, juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers–hairy, downy, red bellied, and piliated, plus cardinals and blue jays.</p>
<p>No bears in our neck of the woods. Just a lot of very frustrated squirrels.</p>
<p>Several years ago I put out cheap bird seed. Loved the birds, later realized I had created a “killing zone” and attracted a hawk couple. I stopped after a year because H got tired of the mess. The cooper hawks have stayed and we love watching them raise their kids each season. Reminds me of us sending the kid off to college. I now grow basil and other herbs that attract birds, less messy for us.</p>
<p>DH rehung our suet feeders this afternoon using long lengths of fishing line in his personal battle to keep the squirrels out of our feeders. (His issue, not mine.) It’s been kind of fun watching the birds cling to the suet cage as they twirl in the wind this afternoon but I am wondering if they will want to repeat the experience. Imagine a suet feeder at the end of a 4 or 5 foot piece of fishing line hanging from a tree branch. Just landing on the feeder sets it twirling.</p>
<p>Squirrels… These tree rats can outsmart quite a few ingenious anti-squirrel designs, like, for example, this one:</p>
<p>[Squirrels</a> A Mission Impossible ! - YouTube](<a href=“Squirrels A Mission Impossible ! - YouTube”>Squirrels A Mission Impossible ! - YouTube)</p>
<p>We usually do not feed birdies all winter long, but we did put some seed mix into the feeders today because the temperature plummeted.</p>
<p>We have experimented with different kind of seed and found black oil sunflower is the best with the least amount of mess.</p>
<p>Funny story, H has fought with keeping the squirrels away and thought he won that battle but this summer we had a raccoon who could get past his squirrel barrier. So he greased our pole and that seemed to worked. One night we saw a stinking squirrel on the bird feeder! Oh he was mad! Went out there with a pole and tried to scare it away. It flew! Yes a rare flying squirrel! H felt bad when he found out how rare it is to even see a flying squirrel.</p>
<p>We had another visit from a bear last night. He tore down the big Brome feeder including the mounting hardware that was screwed into the eaves but left the smaller caged feeders. That is the end of our feeding for awhile. </p>
<p>Our dog alerted us to the bear’s presence and just about dislocated my husband’s shoulder when DH took the pup out (on-lead) to have a look around. They were too late to see the bear but the dog had a good time tracking him. We still have enough snow that there were some impressive footprints to see in the morning.</p>
<p>I use an old jungle gym for hanging several bird and suet feeders. I’ve been slowly growing various vines over the years to make it more welcoming. We don’t have too many squirrels due to a vigilant squirrel hunting dog. (Not that he’s ever gotten close, but he’s ready!) I go to this place for my bird seed. [Wild</a> Birds Unlimited | Bird Food, Bird Seed, Bird Feeder, Birdhouse, Bird Bath, hummingbirds](<a href=“http://www.wbu.com/]Wild”>http://www.wbu.com/) They have a great FB page too. I love their new tube feeders with the easy clean bottom. </p>
<p>I have found that quality of seed matters, perhaps because I have to work harder to get birds because we don’t have a lot of trees and I have a barky dog, I don’t go through seed so fast. My goldfinches leave about now (yes, I realize their colors change, but mine actually leave) so I take down all but one of the niger seed feeders.</p>
<p>On the plus side, your pup is keeping away the outdoor cats, which have been decimating the songbird population. (I know people who have outdoor cats and feeders and I just want to slap them.)</p>
<p>Another way to attract birds is with water, especially with the drought conditions in many areas. In cold areas a heated birdbath will be a real draw. During warmer months running water really helps. My mother once told me that birds are attracted to the sound. I have a pond with a circulating pump and have seen as many as eight goldfinch bathing in shallow part. (And then the hawk comes and splashes half the water onto the patio.)</p>
<p>Anyone else still awaiting arrival of hummers this year?</p>
<p>no…in So Cal we have them year round. They love to wash in my fountain.</p>
<p>We had hummingbirds last year, so fun. Unfortunately we have a bear in the neighborhood, it bent the pole at a 90 degree angle and mangled the feeder. We’ve been advised to bring in our feeders for 2 weeks and they think the bear will move on. It’s been the talk of the neighborhood lol!</p>