Thank you! I'm saving this info so I can do this sometime in the Spring, whenever the weather decides to warm up :) !! pkponder ...do you have a picture? Would love to see it. I want to include a Birdhouse and a Birdfeeder. My Birdfeeder is very large and I hung it last summer and was still out till recently when it needed seed and found out the thing broke at the top where you take it off to add seed ... so I'm mounting it on a pole and it will be just fine that way. It is VERY heavy so I can't have a tall pole for it. I included a picture of my bird feeder. It is 13 x 13 and has 9 feeding stations, 11lb capacity. I want to have a birdhouse separate but not too far away. Have an idea to put these alongside our ramp ... will look nice with some vines I think. :) Also, I know this bird feeder can be pole mounted because a couple people told me about how to do it. I saved that info and it says The pipe needs to be no wider than 7/8 of an inch. Anyway, looking forward to mounting that and I have to find a nice bird house to also mount on a pole. We have lots of cats around here (including ours that goes outside) and squirrels, so I might have to figure a way to keep them out.

You can always try hanging the feeders independent of the trees. A post set into the ground with hooks for the feeders or the shepherd's crooks they sell specifically for this purpose would prevent any damage hanging feeding appliances directly to a tree might incur. As to the pros and cons of feeding birds.......I agree with Dan on this one. Expanding development has restricted/removed many of the natural habitats and food sources and encouraging birds to the garden is overall a very good thing - they are the best natural insect control available! Plus, they are infinitely entertaining. Planting to encourage habitat and to supplement food sources is desirable, but nothing wrong with feeders either. They can bring the birds up close and personal :-)) If you want songbirds, try a "no-waste" mix. Even if it gets scattered on the ground, it gets eaten too fast to hang around to attract rodents. And sapsucker damage to trees is generally more cosmetic than particularly harmful. Since they have a 'preferred' tree menu, you can always avoid attracting them by not planting the trees they like. And as they tend to limit their diet to insects and tree sap, with supplementation from fruits and berries - the seed feeders are unlikely to create additional problems.

I am having the same problem with the seed not dropping down. As I live in the NW I asssumed that the seed was becoming wet. i have a dome over the feeder and it still gets stuck. i become frustrated as well at continually having to move the seed down manually. I have noticed that is the seed that is next to the wall of the feeder is what becomes stuck. It is suggested that the plastic wall has becomes rough and is not allowing passage of the seed to move. I have tried scrubbing the feeder and the equipment with soapy water and bleach with a thourough washing afterward to no avIl! Mary Keith

For the time being, I have not refilled the feeder. I am waiting for the concrete to dry. My contractor found a partially dug out burrow along the back of the house. We have paved over the whole back of the house to 3 feet out. It will be useful to put the composter on, plus any stray garden items which will not provide any habitat for rodents. And I'd like to see any vermin dig a burrow under the concrete out that far. If this is not sufficient. I can put some left over pavers under the bird feeder or something.