The goldfinches are going to eat me out of the house, the home goes to the rest of the birds. My son gave me last year a 3' finchfeeder with a spiral running down intstead of perches and lots of openings. That thing got so popular that I had to refill every two days with thistle feed. I finally switched to mixture of finch food and a couple of cups of thistle seed. Mourning doves and cardinals are usually the first visitors in the morning. Most days there are anywhere between 20 and 30 on the early morning shift, 3 pairs stay mosts of the day. The jays come through a little bit later and after the first feeding there are always a couple around to see if I might throw out a handful of peanunts. They then alert the rest of the bunch. Sparrows of all kinds and juncos, as well as rosy and house finches belong to the making the rounds crew. Less predictable are the visits from the grossbeaks and the buntings. The most sociable visitors, besides the squirrels, are the chickadees, nuthatches, titmice and the finally returned downies. The hairy, redbellied and redheaded woodpeckers are more alert to my movements. If I need entertainment, all I have to do is look or go outside.

Detailed. Probably only of interest to rmemer: I'm in the midst of my own war with squirrels/chipmunks/rabbits or something right now as I'm trying to cover 40 feet of chain-link fencing with Moonflower vines, so I can empathize with you, but I have had a lot of success with keeping them off my birdfeeders. Thought I'd share a couple of ideas with you. First, look for caged feeders. Many songbirds, including birds as large as Northern Cardinals and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers can feed from them, but squirrels can't get in. Look around for them; some are much more economical than others. Secondly, I use very thin but strong wire to hang them. I can't remember the gauge at this point, just know it when I see it, but the next time I'm out, I'll try to remember to check it. If the wire is really skinny, they can't walk or climb it. Find a good branch or location between two trees. You want to hang your feeder so that it is at least 5' feet above the ground, 7' feet away from any side trees/things they can jump from, and 9' from anything overhead. (I found those measurements on some website, but I'd been hanging them for years this way, prior. Just didn't know the specs for how far a squirrel can jump until that site.) Occasionally, since it's a caged feeder, one will fly through the air and grab on, but when they do, they can't get in. I usually tie a gardening tool or something with some weight to a length of nylon cord and toss it over the limb, then tie the wire to the cord and pull it up and over. Before I do this, though, I've already bent the wire in the middle (where it will be against the branch) and fed a drinking straw over it to the bend, to protect the branch. A small piece of tubing would probably be more permanent. The wire is doubled to the feeder, but when it's pretty thin, they still can't hang on to it to come down it. I use a key ring on the ends and a small "s" hook to attach my feeder. If you don't have a good overhead branch, you can set it up between two trees. Screw an eyebolt into each tree, about 6' up and attach the wire. On one tree though, rather than securing the wire, run it through the eyebolt down to another eyebolt, closer to the ground. Secure that end with a large "s" hook. That way, you can release the wire to lower the feeder for filling. (It ended up being easier for me to just use a step stool, but you can do either.) Since I actually like the squirrels, I usually scatter a handful of sunflower seeds around for them, too, when I fill the feeders, but they are currently NOT my best friends. On the other side of the yard, I'm doing everything I can to keep them away from my fence project. If you have any interest in what I'm doing with that, look for my threads in the "From Seed" forum. I've gotten a lot of help there. To answer your question, I've fed birds in my yard for almost 25 years and the squirrel population stays about the same. I usually see about 3 - 5 on the ground under my main feeder, most of the day. Who knows how many there actually are; maybe they eat in shifts. The adults must run the grown kids off if/when it gets too crowded. Also, an animal rehabilitator told me squirrels usually have 3 - 4 nests each.

Dearest Barry, you are free. After 363 days in captivity your interrupted life continues as it should. Wild and free. While here you blessed us with your strength to survive and overcome the many obstacles that were the result of your car accident and a tail loss. You blessed us with your beauty and your beautiful songs. You blessed us with nightcrawlers crawling outside your enclosure too. May God bless you now so you may continue your life healthy and joyous as you find a Mrs. and bless future generations with Barrylettes. Surely when you are asleep you will at times dream of Olive, the parrot. She was quite enchanted with you. And should you ever have a disagreement with your future Mrs., you can close your eyes and smile as you hear the voice of your big green girlfriend telling you: "HiiiiiIIIIIIIiiiiii Sweetheart! OoooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo! Pretty Boy! *kisses*" ... Stay safe Barry. Please look both ways before crossing the street. Watch out for hawks and those who would do you harm. Enjoy the sunshine and your home without boundaries. God speed and thank you Barry. And so the doors to the aviary were opened this day and after several minutes Barry realized he was free to leave. He walked to the open door and looked around. He paced back and forth just inside the doorway. He started the familiar Robin chirping and 8 Robins appeared from no where running across the lawn toward the sound of Barry's voice. Barry ran down the two steps, across the patio and took flight 363 days after the accident into the air and landed in the Russian Olive Tree and began to sing. He then quickly flew back down and 4 Robins ran to greet him and they all began to chatter. Seems like he may already be familiar with them, since he had full view of the front and back garden and they could converse through the windows. Barry ran across the lawn, picking at the ground and no doubt savoring the cold dew on his feet. He may already have a girlfriend because one was following him in the grass! He is not banded or tagged in any way. We will never know which Robin is Barry. That is a secret only known to a wild bird we once met. His name was Barry.

Synchronicity is working. This morning on Face Book Birders someone posted a video of a hummingbird taking a bath and someone else found out where the shallow opening, recirculating resin pot fountain came from; answer is Kmart. If any readers here are interested in providing shallow-depth bathing for the hummers this year, watch the video below. A shallow bowl with a small pump affixed with a fine nozzle floating inside a larger pot to hold the water will do the trick. The fountain in the video would fit into any garden at just 17" high and weighing 7lbs. I have my answer. Jane Here is a link that might be useful: Youtube- Humming bath