Subject: Feeding the birds
Date: Jun 24 17:21:38 1997
From: Susan Peterson - susidale at olywa.net


Just thought I would share some of the merry mix-ups of my attempts to feed the birds. I put my first ever bird feeder on my deck a few months ago. After a week or two I was getting regular visits from a gang of House Sparrows and some Chickadees. Thia was all fine until that darn squirrel found it. He would eat or take all of the seeds within a few hours. Well, I liked the little fellow, but I didn't like the feeder being empty all of the time. This is when I came up with what seemed to be a swell idea. I bought a big bag of unsalted peanuts from Costco and put a handful of them on the deck, thinking that the squirrel would prefer them to the sunflower seeds. Oh, he did alright. Then the Stellar's Jays and Scrub Jays found them. Now I put a handful of peanuts out and within half an hour they are gone, and the aquirrel is right back to the sunflower seeds. I swear I could put seeds out there a dozen times a day, and they would all get eaten. Oh well, such is life. It has been fun to watch. I notice that the Scrub Jays, will pick up a peanut, then see a better one, and put the first one down and go for it. They normally go through about 4 or 5 before finding just the right nut. The Stellar's Jay will grab one, then put it way back in his mouth and grab a second one before taking off. The squirrel will just grab the first one he sees and run with it, then come back in a few minutes and grab another.

OK that;s enough rambling for now.

Dale Christensen
Olympia, Wa.