Holy birdness!
I've not had my feeders up in a good long while. I have a hundred excuses. But Wednesday, I finally put them up. No small task. I had to scour the feeders, saw (with a my humble slow-going Dremel) the rebar to pitch in the ground to steady one of the feeder posts, listen to Mr. Neighbor bitch 'n' moan about how the feeder posts were seriously constricting his ability to get himself and his dogs to my window (which is how he visits every time he visits), sledgehammer the posts into the ground, grease the posts with Vaseline (to keep the squirrels off (it works ... I've read pros and cons to doing this, but I choose to go with the pros, because it's the only thing I've found that works)), listen to Mr. Neighbor bitch 'n' moan even louder about how he and his dogs might now get Vaseline slimed when they visit my window, and, ... oh, I dunno, it was just a big task for me. (I seem to be taking on unusually big tasks these days. Small tasks to most, yes, but big to me.)
Anyway, I got the feeders up and my, oh my, I have swarms of birds at them already. I'd read that it takes two weeks or more for birds to locate your feeders. Not so here.
And the squirrels are going berzerk trying to figure out how to get at them. If they try to simply climb the pole, they, of course, slide off, thanks to Vaseline. So now I've got them climbing up the branches I've leaned against the building, and I know they are just trying to get brave enough to make the jump from the branch to the feeders. But it's a bit of a jump, so they're sort of just thinking about it and doing mini practice launches right now. They've also scurried up the branches to get to my window screening. This is rather amusing. They look like they're holding on for dear life to the screen. But I'm sure they're thinking the screen might be a better launch point to reach the feeders. If only they could figure out how to perform such acrobatics. I have little doubt that they'll eventually figure out a way to get to them. They are the most persistent little things. It's comical to watch them try to get to a feeder but maddening when they figure it out.
One year I set up a cam pointed at the feeders. I might have to try to do it again, mostly to catch the hilarity of the squirrels' attempts to get to them, but also to show you just how many birds are at the feeders! (Oh, and you could witness Mr. Neighbor cursing about over having to walk himself and his dogs by my slimed bird feeder posts. Hah!)
Anyway, I got the feeders up and my, oh my, I have swarms of birds at them already. I'd read that it takes two weeks or more for birds to locate your feeders. Not so here.
And the squirrels are going berzerk trying to figure out how to get at them. If they try to simply climb the pole, they, of course, slide off, thanks to Vaseline. So now I've got them climbing up the branches I've leaned against the building, and I know they are just trying to get brave enough to make the jump from the branch to the feeders. But it's a bit of a jump, so they're sort of just thinking about it and doing mini practice launches right now. They've also scurried up the branches to get to my window screening. This is rather amusing. They look like they're holding on for dear life to the screen. But I'm sure they're thinking the screen might be a better launch point to reach the feeders. If only they could figure out how to perform such acrobatics. I have little doubt that they'll eventually figure out a way to get to them. They are the most persistent little things. It's comical to watch them try to get to a feeder but maddening when they figure it out.
One year I set up a cam pointed at the feeders. I might have to try to do it again, mostly to catch the hilarity of the squirrels' attempts to get to them, but also to show you just how many birds are at the feeders! (Oh, and you could witness Mr. Neighbor cursing about over having to walk himself and his dogs by my slimed bird feeder posts. Hah!)