Hello Tweeters:

On 1/12/98 Rob Saecker wrote:

<< Gee, I was going to say how jealous I was of all the birds Ruth gets at
her
feeders. My feeders were busy yesterday and today, too, but just the usual
suspects: chickadee, towhee, sparrow, junco, jay. Today, though, Ruth is
complaining about having to chase off the starlings. Well, no starlings
here, so I guess I'm not so jealous after all. >>

About a month ago I made up a batch of Ruth's good suet recipe and put it out
on my patio. The Juncos, Chickadees and a few House Sparrows began to enjoy
it, and then the Starlings discovered it. I would get 20 or more Starlings at
a time and they finished it off within a few days. So, I quit the suet
feeding for a while, then reverted to the commercial variety. I still get a
Starling now and then, but they aren't voraciously attracted to the commercial
suet, and the Chickadees seem to enjoy it without much interruption. I don't
know of any way to chase off the Starlings without chasing the other birds.

This snow has brought lots of birds to my feeders: Black-capped Chickadees,
Juncos, House Finches, House Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds (they are a
little large for the tube feeders, and they scrunch their heads down to feed),
American Goldfinches (thistle feeder), and yesterday there was a Northern
Flicker.

During the early morning hours today we had some sunshine, and there were very
few birds at the feeders, but as the morning progressed and it started to
cloud up just before the new snow, the birds flocked in again, just like
others are reporting.

Jim Brewster
Kent Washington