On Jan.3 Paul Talbert wrote in part:

"In October my wife had bought me a
hanging suet feeder, which, for lack of anyplace else to easily hang it, I
hung outside the side door over the deck. Until the snow, I had never seen
a bird touch it, which I supposed was due to some combination of being too
close to the house and the fact that we have four cats (none of whom has
caught a bird in at least several years). While the snow was here,
though, the suet feeder was visited a few times by a flock of bushtits,
making them my last birds of '96 and first of '97.

Will they come back to the feeder now that the snow has melted, or was it
an act of snowbound desperation? I haven't seen them so far, but I'm
still hopeful. Do other people have suet feeders that are ignored? Is it
the cats? The proximity to the house? The lack of nearby cover? Any
suggestions?"

Here in exurban Joyce we have an active and diverse group of feeder
birds. But we had no luck with suet for the longest time and almost gave up.
Gradually after several years we have had more interest in it. The juncos
will occasionally use it and we have now seen Song Sparrows, crowned
sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Varied Thrushs, and towhees on it. Most importantly
we had no luck getting woodpeckers, chickadees, or nuthatchs in to the feeder
at all until several months ago when we had a few passes by Chestnut-backed
and Black-capped Chickadees. The Chestnut-backs are now regular and for the
past month we have had one or two Red-breasted Nuthatchs regularly.
Unfortunately a Starling has also taken to coming just for the suet.
The other factor is that we have a peanut butter log close to the suet
feeder and I think that is a better draw and probably was what brought the
birds in the first place. Oh yes, that reminds me, the Steller's Jays like
the suet but go wild about the peanut butter and eat it off the pine cones we
also have filled with peanut butter and when that is gone they have various
strategies to get it off the log that they cannot perch on. One hovers (but
not for long), one jumps from the ground and grabs a bite at the apex of the
jump. I always feel better after I see their antics.
If other people have successful suet feeders in your neighborhood, I
think you have instant success. If there are no other suet feeders, I think
you may wait a long time. Birds learn fast when they see others feeding but
without a role model or previous experience they seem to exhibit 'bird
brains'.
Bob Norton, Joyce, WA (near Port Angeles)
norton360 at aol.com