The Birds and The Bees

Have you put your bird feeders up yet?  It is a yearly event at our house, I love to watch all our feathered friends during the winter.

We always put out suet for our woodpeckers.  We have a pair of Hairy's and a pair of Downy's.  They love the suet, I either make it or buy it at Shoprite.  We put it in a net bag and hang it for them.  BUT, this year the Jays and Magpies have found it.  It takes them about an hour to completely eat it, destroying the net in the process.  So we got inventive and took a birch log about 6-8 inches around and about 15 inches long and drilled 1/2 inch holes 2 inches deep, (straight in), all around the log, then packed suet into the holes.  You can put peanut butter, oatmeal, or anything you want into the suet.

We hung it with a short piece of wire so that it wouldn't swing around in the wind.  Then what a show....The Jays went ballistic over it and tried their darndest to get on it.  But they couldn't cling to the log very well and they fell off, but....they didn't give up, they found they could put a toe in a hole and manage to grab a bit before they fell off.  The Magpies couldn't get a grip on it at all, they were too big and their tails too long.  We had tried a cottonwood log first, but they figured the rough bark out real quick.

In case you feel sorry for the Jays and Magpies, don't; we built them a covered feeder all of their own, but they would finish theirs and want more.  Hopefully, everyone will get fed this winter.  Now if we could just figure out how to make the moose take only their fair share.....I'm wrapping the tips of our fruit trees with aluminum foil, hoping that will slow them down.

So, make a hot cup of cocoa, throw another log on the fire and enjoy.....