Five (5) warblers on the rose arch today! Flying back and forth and taking turns on the suet. They seem to be used to me now and don't panic if I don't move too fast. This one landed on the wisteria pseudo-standard which is near the arch, and stared in at me. You looking at me?!?! sooey: I'll probably be shunned by the Birdfeeder Corp, but I rarely clean the tube feeder. When I first started using it, I'd top off the tube when the level of seed got below the top portals. But when I did this for a while, I noticed that the bottom layer of seed was getting nasty looking and moldy, particularly if it had rained recently. Naturally, I'd then take it apart and clean it thoroughly. After a while though, I started completely emptying out the tube feeder on the ground when it begins to get a bit low and I make sure the bottom floor of the tube is free of debris. Then I add brand new seed, filling up the tube feeder. This way the bottom layer of seed in the feeder is always fresh. This works very well since I spread seed on the ground anyway and it gets eaten up fast. I've never seen any evidence of disease in the birds, so I'm not worried at this time. I do clean the tube feeder when it begins to look like it needs it. Claire

I live in Northern Illinois. Try as I may, I have never seen a Titmouse in my area, so I am doubtful that it is a chickadee. The bird I am seeing has no crest and the beak is unusually long for a chickadee. The reason I think it is a Nuthatch is because it landed vertically on tube feeder but with its head upside down. Normally Chickadee's land right side up or on the side. The only birds I know that like to walk upside down are Nuthatches. Paul

Hi, sorry, a little late to the party. I just moved to CO and this is my first winter here, used to live in MI. In MI, I rarely saw a finch in the winter. Here is CO, I have a lot of finches (red right now but some were yellow in the fall). I also get titmice (titmouses?), chickadees, downy woodpeckers, and flickers on a daily basis. Anyway, I have both black oilers in a tube and suet basket. The finches, titmice, and chickadees seem to like the suet. They eat both the seed and the suet, but the suet is what attracted them in the first place.

He is a cutie. I had one today that was being chased out of our trees by a mockingbird. The mockingbird was chasing everything -- (cardinals, bluebirds, chickadees, and a blue jay) out of this particular tree. Does anyone know why? A territorial thing?