Bird feeder

Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher intimidating the competition

Red Breasted Nuthatch

Not much happening here due to rain. It has been a pretty dull March, lots of overcast weather, a persistent chill, and not much good weather for working in the garden. Mr is working on another project so the most interesting thing I have going on is watching birds at the feeders. Of course I have been doing some other activities such as I finally doing some art work again...that feels good after not doing it for way too many years.  But the birds have been pretty interesting. As mentioned in my last few blog postings I have been luring new varieties of birds to my feeders. It has been a very successful endeavor.
This morning when I came into the kitchen, which is an arms length from where I set up the feeders, there seemed to be some unusual action. In looking out there I found a beautiful and rather large Brown Thrasher on the feeder set up for the very little birds. He was checking it all out because the feeders for the big birds were empty. I have seen this bird come through my garden for the last few years and he was completely disinterested in the feeders. I added daily suet, as opposed to occasional suet, and that was the change that attracted a whole other set of birds...the woodpeckers. Last posting I put up some pictures of them. I hoped to have some others today, but I haven't caught them in the right positions to photograph.

This Brown Thrasher is one of the new comers. The other newcomers, a Red Breasted Nuthatch, a White Breasted Nuthatch, a Downy Woodpecker and the Red Bellied Woodpecker, all are known to love the suet. I also added whole corn this week. That was pretty interesting, the birds I am least interested in seeing the Grackles and the Red Winged Blackbirds, just love it. The Blue Jays, Brown Thrasher, Ground Doves, Cardinals also love the whole corn...as do the squirrels...so you get the good with the no so good.

Cardinal on feeder

Anyway, feeding one type of food in a single feeder, and adding the suet have definitely increased the birds coming, the mess of discarded seeds thrown out of the feeders by the birds has decreased. I must say though, if you want one good solid big attractor of birds to your feeders, the sunflower seed win hands down. Nijer does it best for seeing the delicate little birds like  American Goldfinches, and also attracted the Tufted Titmouse, the Chickadees, and wrens. So in my pleasure of watching these interesting little creatures I have learned that feeding with a single type of seed in each feeder, and matching the type of feeder to the bird you want to see, definitely makes a difference.