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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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MY BIRD-FEEDING ADVENTURES…..

Living in Tennessee, I simply put up a bird-feeder and flocks of birds appeared, regardless of the season. Here in Oregon, it hasn’t been so easy.
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In fairness, my backyard is “sterile”.....it’s got grass, and that’s it. There’s no place for a bird to feel secure, and safety trumps bird-seed unless the bird is quite literally starving to death.
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So…...I hung my bird-feeders from the eaves, and then raided a humongous brush-pile on the way to Fred Meyer, and attached the branches to the rain-gutters in order to provide perching places right near the feeders. Nothing…....
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The branches were just bare ones, and I could see a Juniper tree in the yard across the alley - with birdies in it!! So, I pruned Laura’s Juniper tree and attached the resulting branches to the rain-gutters on the garage, about five feet from the feeders. Nothing….....
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I was now feeling distinctly inept….and Sophia was asking me why the birds weren’t coming to eat! That did it. I had to solve this problem or lose all credibility in the eyes of my granddaughter. What to do…......?
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First thing was to go back to the brush pile and collect more branches…..which I attached to the back fence surrounding the pole I also attached to hold the bird feeders. I figured that with both food and protection right across the alley from a bare tree in which I’d seen plenty of birds, I’d be able to attract some to my side. From the alley, it looks very much as if I’d planted a tree in the back corner of the yard - an illusion that will be revealed as such when spring comes and everyone else’s bare branches begin to sprout leaves.
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Sure enough, within a few hours from the time that Sophia and I got the feeders up, a House Finch appeared, along with others of its flock.
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Since then, I’ve also seen a Junco or two. They were intimidated by the finches and couldn’t approach the feeder, so they hopped around the ground picking up the little round seeds that the finches scattered as the tried to get to the sunflower seeds in the mixture I was using. So, today I went and got 50# of black oil sunflower seeds and hung another feeder filled with these seeds. I’m hoping that the finches will concentrate on these, and let the Juncos eat the seed they like directly from the feeder that has the mixture. We’ll see.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/17 at 11:33 PM

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