Got anymore bird seed in there?

We have only two bird feeders. One is a thistle feeder and the other is a “squirrel-proof” feeder which we put black oil sunflower seeds in it. So far it has worked, but lately it seems the red squirrels have joined together to produce a plan to out-smart me.

We have a squirrel buster mini, which has opening is the bottom of the metal mesh allowing birds acess to the seed. When a squirrel climbs onto the feeder, its weight automatically forces teh shroud down, closing access to the seed tray.

These sneaky little red squirrels, however,  have managed to round up the tiniest red squirrel to go on the feeder so that its weight is not enough to push the outside ring down. We’re still not sure if this little red squirrel has managed to shove his face full of seeds, but he’s getting very close!

Our squirrel-proof feeder

We have a very curious red squirrel that has been peeking in our front windows, begging us to put out more bird seed.

And the answer is…

There were eight birds in this picture. Congratulations to "Old Folks" for picking the winning number!

Guessing Game: How many birds do you see?

WOW! Look at all those birds at the feeders! I just had to take a picture for my feeder findings page. I found my camera, but the batter was dead. Frustrated, I had to use my husband’s pocket camera, which isn’t the best for capturing motion. I noticed an unusually high number of siskins and redpolls at one feeder so I tried my best to get as close as I could without causing them to fly away. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get too close  zoom wasn’t enough. ”Oh well,” I thought. ”Maybe I got a few birds on film.”

I went back to the house and looked at the photos. I was a little disappointed I didn’t capture as birds on the feeder as I wanted, but I also realized there were more birds hiding in the trees waiting for the feeder. In fact, it was kind of a fun challange to see how many birds I could find in the picture. Why not make it into a guessing game for fun!

HOW MANY BIRDS CAN YOU FIND IN THIS PICTURE?

When I receive at least five answers, I will reveal the answer. Good luck!

How many birds do you see in this picture? Write your answer as a comment and see if you're right!

Look Who’s Back

It’s been an almost-daily occurance. I sit at my desk to write. I glance out my window and it appears, eating the leftover seeds beneath the bird feeders. I don’t know how long its been there, but it always startles me. One minute I look out the window there’s nothing, the next minute the deer appears. I can see its tracks around our earth home – they mark a well-worn trail. It makes its way along Spearhead Lake, walks up the hill to the bird feeders, crosses our front yard and makes it way back down to the lake.

I wonder if this is the fawn our neighbor called about two weeks ago. Two weekends ago we received a voice message from a neighbor who had been snowshoeing the trails around our home. He said he saw an injured fawn near our earth home so he called a local conservation officer. I looked around for signs of an injured deer – blood, fur, tracks, anything, but found nothing. Judging by the among of deer tracks near our place, we knew there had been deer in the area, but it’s hard to tell the tracks of an injured deer among hundreds of other deer tracks.

This young deer visits the earth home almost on a daily basis. I'm curious to know its story.

The more I watch this young deer visit my feeders, the more I wonder if this is the deer our neighbor spoke of. It walks at a very slow pace and it’s always alone. The more I watch it, the more I convince myself it has a slight limp to its step. Could it be my mind is playing tricks on me? My guess is it is the deer my neighbor saw. Maybe it was inujred and now it’s healing. Who knows. Whatever it may be, I know it’s hungry. It was -2 degrees this morning and snowing – winter continues to exist.

A new visitor

Sitting at my desk in our guest bedroom, I saw this young deer look for food by the feeders. I've seen this deer three times now in the past two weeks and it never seems bothered by my presence glued to the window. I noticed it has really thick fur and is more "scruffy" than any deer I've ever seen. Then again, I've never been able to see a wild deer so frequently and close up!