Last month after the second big snow of the season, we started tossing out birdseed figuring the poor starving little things would literally flock to our yard. After all, their normal foodstuffs were buried under a foot of snow. I flung a few handfuls of seed off the front porch and waited to see the show. After a couple of days with little or no action, Anne carefully placed some seed in other areas and we waited…….and waited…….and waited. The next storm came along and covered up all the seed (a whole 5lb bag’s worth) and we still hadn’t seen very many birds. I don’t know whether the two free-roaming cats that hung around for a week or so had anything to do with it or not.
Finally, a few days after the last storm when things had really crusted over, Anne put out more seed by the bamboo grove and the show began:
Of course there are always one or two bandits who show up:
Click on this to view a two minute video I posted on youtube.com of the “action”.
Cardinals in the snow. Not many things prettier than that. Might try putting the seed in a flat open container. We have the bird feeders with springs that close when the squirrels try to get to them, but they’re smart and have figured out the trick to getting in, though it’s still not too easy.
Thanks for the tip! We’re still fledgling birders
Looks like you have some new friends! Cardinals, towhees, sparrows, and chickadees– not to mention the squirrels! I’m sure they appreciate the extra boost during this crazy winter. If you want to keep feeding, the birds will keep eating all through nesting season. And you might want to put out a birdhouse too!