It's been an especialy productive nesting season on my property this year (with my property being but 1/3 an acre). More than anything, developing/planting a native woodland garden has helped immensely. Early spring found 2 robins nests (in a threadleaf cypress and a cedar), 2 separate catbird nests (in yews on either side of the property), my first ever Balt. Oriole in one of the oaks. I found one of the Catbirds carrying food (this weekend) which to me is indicative of a second brood. Also found another robins nest in the crotch of a styrax. Today, I found a cardinal book out of that part of the garden on the north side of my house. Figured it was hunkered down nesting in a huge skimmia (40 yo) patch. Later today found that the nest was in the crotch of a sizable Rh. nova zembla. Carolina & house wren nested nearby (though I cannot say definitively they were on the property proper). The ruby throated hummingbird was also quite clost to the property. Just a terrific year.

my feeder is identical but is from songbird esentials. the orioles and tanagers and grosbeaks still use the lid on a platform first but if it is empty or busy they use the jar feeder. this time of year i have enough birds that they are busy on both feeders. grape is by far the favorite but they do eat apricot or berry or strawberry jams also.

Our catbirds love grape jelly, no doubt about it. They love orange slices too. I had a catbird last summer who would eat the grape jelly and let me walk by quite closely, he became so accustomed to having his meal several times a day whether I was nearby or not. We have a lot more catbirds now than last year, and a couple of them are quite large (one I saw was the size of a robin). I think they have a nest somewhere nearby. I will have to keep the fruit and jelly feeder filled!

i have four nesting pairs of orioles on open woods and old pastures surrounding me. they come off and on all day to my garden area and flowers and necter feeders and fruit tray and jelly dishes and a bowl with dried mealworms soaked till plump. the individual birds each have their own likes and favorites. they all love jelly but some grape and some strawberry and some apricot. some i only see on the necter feeders. i put out watermelon rinds with pulp left on them when we cut a melon and some love to eat the watermelon. they all pick insects off garden plants and there are native shrubs with berrys or fruit on them that some eat on. when the sunflowers plants start to flower on put on heads i see them catching insect.one female eats from a pan on a cooler just outside of the kitchen window and picks out the raisens and fruit bits from the seed mix.