Hi, all:

In the large old lilac tree/bush outside my kitchen window I have a
rubberized refrigerator rack wedged in the braches upon which I put suet. I
have two sunflower seed feeders - tube and hopper - and a mesh bag of
thistle hanging in the branches all about 5 feet off the ground (not to
mention a hummingbird feeder right up against the window) and spread out
over a 10' length. These feeders are about eye level when I'm standing at
the sink. It's interesting to note that the goldfinches are all over the
mesh bag of thistle and the tube feeder of sunflower seeds but never go near
the suet block. Since I live waaayyy out in the country with not a house in
sight, how do those guys know this stuff is here? The Cassin's and
housefinches eat the sunflower seeds but nothing else. The red-winged
blackbirds love the suet and hang on the tube for the sunflower seeds but I
also had one hanging precariously from the mesh bag of thistle, munching
away! The neatest thing about the block of suet is that, since it doesn't
hang from a branch but is on a flat surface, I get birds I wouldn't expect.
The song sparrows chase away everybody but the Hairies and Downies, although
they share with the chickadees. The white-crowned sparrows mob it - jostling
each off the rack. A pair of spotted towhees consider it "their" snack
source. In the late summer I've had Mt. bluebirds bring their offspring to
it. In the summer I make a more "cake-like" (never sugar - just
cornmeal-flour-peanutbutter) suet that has a little less lard in it. A
black-headed grosbeak appeared a couple of days ago at the hopper and tube
feeders but that's all he's interested in. I'm hoping he's the same one that
shows up every year. Usually the female shows up later, then by August or so
she starts bringing her one youngster to the feeders but the male is long
gone.

So, some of these birds have been born here so know to come back but others
breed elsewhere yet pop in on their way through during migration. But each
year I put the feeders up early and the goldfinches seem to appear out of
nowhere. The feeders are under the canopy of the tree and can't been seen
from above. There IS a creek about 50' away so perhaps some of the birds
follow the creek when migrating and see the feeders from there. Or, as
someone else suggested, perhaps they just see all the year-rounders and
decide it would be a good place to check out.

Regards, Joanne
Reardan (Spokane) WA
mailto: jhpowell at iea.com