Thanks - yellow corn meal it is :) I can't wait to make some goodies for the birds. My store bought suet has been getting eaten in one day - by the black birds! Ugh... I'm hoping they move out as the weather gets warmer.

I love the blue jay pics!

The chipmunk came yesterday. :)

Robin pictures from last week.

Andrea, does the suet in your cups and glass feeders have anything mixed in or is it simply plain suet with BOSS sprinkled on top?

Hello Pat, the suet I have in the cups and glass feeders now has birdseed mixed in. Sometimes I sprinkle sunflower seed on top.

Here is the recipe:

1 cup lard

1 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup flour

3 cups cornmeal

4 cups bird seed

Melt lard and peanut butter in microwave, then stir in remaining
ingredients. Pour into muffin tins or other containers. Store in
freezer.

Thank you, Andrea.

You are very welcome, Pat. :)

Do you feed the birds the whole year? I usually feed them from November to April. In May I put my Hummingbird feeder out.

I love the chickadee pics!! I've been trying to get a good pic of these cute little birds but they rarely come to my deck rail. They do hang out at my feeders though.

I want to take that little sweetheart Chickadee in my cupped hands and just kiss him. Or her.

Andrea, not sure if I'm going to feed year 'round. I have a major Cooper's Hawk problem and any feeders that I have had out most of the winter just don't get frequented much and then the food goes bad. I may just keep one suet feeder in front and one in back and pack up the bird food into the freezer until next October or November. Bummer.

Keep those pictures coming, everybody.

Oh, I will keep putting safflower on a special, low and hidden, table for the Cardinal Couple that come every early morning and evening. And I've given in to the squirrels and will put out the mix I got for them, the little devils.

First day of spring and I woke up to huge snow flakes! Crazy weather here in St. Louis, MO.

I took these pics this morning. I wanted to show some views from my kitchen table. I couldn't believe how many birds visited already today.

Cardinals and finches everywhere!!! I'm so excited to see the goldfinches back :)

I shot a quick video this morning. A northern flicker visited!!! I wish I could have gotten a got pic but he flew away too soon.

See link below, the video quality isn't the greatest and commercials/tv is playing in the background...

https://youtu.be/K43AQwNku5Y

mrsshayne, this is amazing - I have never seen so many different birds in one spot. I love the video - funny how the Woodpecker is hammering on the post of your deck. :)

Hehehehe funny you notice the woodpecker hammering into our post. They do this all day long!!!!! Our deck is almost 20 years old so it doesn't bother me. My husband just started replacing some of the wood. The funniest thing is watching one bird place a seed or peanut in the wood and then see a different bird come take it/eat it... It never ends :)

The Chickadee was here today. :)

Lovely pictures, both of you.

Today the male and female Cardinal came to the hanging teacup feeder and to the seed wreath. They also checked out my pot with pansies. :)

Don't you love the look on the male's face when he discovered there is no food in that pot?

I just discovered this forum. What wonderful photos! I've always enjoyed my backyard birds and seeing what kinds others have in their area. My husband is always saying that I feed the birds better than I feed us and he's probably right! I look forward to joining you.

Andrea Ontario, Canada - I love the new pics! I so want to make my own suet soon.

Royals fan-MO6a - welcome to the forums!! Feel free to share pics, ideas, or any questions or comments :)

I'm laughing about your hubby's remarks... Mine teases me that I like the birds more than him and the dogs. hehehehe

Hello Royals fan, if you have pics, please show them here.

Royals fan and mrsshayne, funny, how your husbands feel neglected because of the birds. :)

Here are two of my favorite things - Pansies and Cardinals.

Today the female Cardinal came.

Nice view.. but..

What's behind the jay????

Closer look-

Blue jay flies away...

Ah, the lovely squirrel...

Andrea Ontario, Canada - I finally got a picture of the bird bath lady my hubby brought me home a while back. When it's not raining, I fill it with a premium mix and BOSS. The blue jays love eating off this.

Hope all is well :)

Mrsshayne, thank you for the pic of the bird bath lady. She is more beautiful than I imagined. :)

Photos from this week.

I took these pics today.

Andrea - lovely pics, as always :)

Chickadees and goldfinches are my favorite smaller birds. I rarely see chickadees at my deck rail feeder so I have yet to get any decent pics :(

Here are a couple new ones. Not the greatest but you can see the bluejays enjoying the birdbath/feeder along with a Carolina wren on the deck.

Blurry pic below but one has a peanut

wren below

In my wildest dreams, I cannot imagine anyone throwing out that birdbath/feeder. mrsshayne, you should kiss your husband every day for bringing that beautiful, beautiful statue home to you and your birds. You are very lucky.

Pat, I love mrsshayne's bird bath lady. She is more beautiful than I imagined.

mrsshayne, you are lucky to get so many Blue Jays. I only had a Blue Jay coming twice. The Wren is cute.

The Cardinals - male and female - come four or five times a day and the Black-capped Chickadees come very often too. The Chickadees even come when I'm outside - they are not shy at all.

Male and female Cardinal

Andrea Ontario, Canada - great photos! Gosh, you really get some nice close ups. I just love how the bright red cardinal stands out in your pretty surroundings.

This morning I saw a northern flicker!!! Not the greatest pic but I was excited to see it :)

mrsshayne, I never saw a Northern Flicker here. I, too, would be very excited to see one. :) Two weeks ago a Woodpecker came, but I was too slow to get the camera.

Today the Chickadees and the male and female Cardinal came. I was outside, and the male Cardinal was only 5 feet away. I could take photos of him being this close.

The other pics I took through my kitchen window.

I hope these are not too many pics - I can never decide which ones to show. :)

racetowin, thank you for starting this thread.

You can never share too many pics Andrea ... well, unless Gardenweb stops you hahaha

I love seeing your pics so keep them coming.

I broke down and bought another caged feeder. These keep the blackbirds out. I'm hoping the small birds will appreciate it. When I buy sunflower hearts and peanuts - I buy the full sizes, so this morning I put a mix in a ziploc bag and took a hammer to it LOL.. My thought was, the little birds need smaller pieces so again, hopefully they appreciate my efforts. Below are some pics. I thought I would share some other aspects of "backyard birding" lol

After breaking down the bigger pieces then I added some millet and BOSS.

I forgot to share these other pics!! I went to Seattle a couple weeks ago and I stressed about who'd feed the birds, so I did what any normal "birder" would do - I "bird prepped" lol... I made my mixes in advance, had bird feeders prefilled (ready to be swapped out when the others went empty) and then I made small daily mixes for my deck rail feeder. It all worked out great :)

mrsshayne, what a great idea and also lots of work to prepare the bird food in advance. :)

The chipmunk discovered the plate and the jar with the sunflower seed.

The Robin came today.

I didn't think my Robins would be so plentiful with the Cooper's Hawks overhead, but they are all over the neighborhood. thank goodness. Life is good again.

Love the pictures Andrea and mrsshayne.

Our orioles and hummingbirds showed up this week. I don't have a hummingbird picture yet.

Royals fan, I love the Oriole photo. He is the same orange color than the oranges. :)

The Hummingbirds will be here soon. I put my Hummingbird feeder out today.

The male and female Goldfinches came today.

More Goldfinch photos. I have a nijer feeder, but the Goldfinches prefer to come to the teacup feeder with the sunflower seed.

The female jumped into the teacup. :)

Same here with the goldfinches, Andrea. They seem to prefer my sunflower hearts and chips over the niger. We've had them here for about a week now. Such sweethearts.

Today a Song Sparrow came.

The male and female Cardinals came too.

Fabulous pics everyone! Where would we be without our little feathered (and furry) friends?

Mrsshayne........you gave me the idea from looking at your "prep" stuff........how about a quart jar of your kind of seed mix for christmas presents? That would be healthier than a chocolate chip cookie mix! :) Oh, and I LOVE your birdbath with the little girl!!

catherinet, great idea, to give seed mix in a jar like mrsshayne makes for Christmas presents.

I make seed wreaths in December and give them to my friends for Christmas. They love them. Here is one I made last Christmas for a friend.

The Goldfinch jumped into the teacup feeder. :)

Andrea......the wreath is a great idea! Did you form it in something like a bundt pan? Do the seeds stay put enough? What's the "glue" in it? Yeah.....I like that idea even better than the jar one for christmas presents. :)

catherinet, yes, I used a bundt pan to form the wreath. The glue is flour, corn syrup and gelatine.

Here is the recipe.

http://www.fleamarketgardening.org/2014/01/04/make-a-molded-bird-seed-wreath/

catherinet, I also made mini seed wreaths for Christmas presents and for me. :)

Those are really neat, Andrea! Thanks for the recipe.

Man, I have been MIA for a while. You guys posted some great pics!!

Andrea, I love seeing the chipmunk and bright yellow finches. I finally saw some yellow finches the other day, but they haven't been staying around for long. My thistle feeder barely gets touched and I bought fresh seed too.

Ok, it's time for me to make some wreaths or suet - Yours have inspired me!!!! Hopefully soon! The birds are eating like crazy right now so I know they would be a huge hit!

Andrea, I almost bought that same looking hummingbird feeder the other day. I just wasn't sure if I was ready for "hummingbirds" though lol - I feel like I have so much going on feeding the other birds.. I just don't know if I should take on more...

PLUS>>>> yesterday was my birthday and my dad surprised me with a HUGE bird house that is anchored to a tree!!! Now, I love feeding the birds, but I don't know if I want to house them too!!! LOL.. But I have to put this bird house in the backyard.. This will be a new journey. I'll try to post pics. My hubby has to dig a hole and pour concrete because the birdhouse is so big!!! YIKES!! My dad was driving one day and saw this thing on the side of the road - some guy makes them locally.

Royals fan-MO6a - I love the Oriole pics!! Thanks for sharing!

catherinet - hahaha yes I like the idea of giving out bird seed mixes around Christmas.. it's cold out and the birds will certainly enjoy it!! Oh, and we'll save some calories ourselves hahaha

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okay here's a sneak peak of the bird house.. I'm telling you this sucker is huge.

Hubby carrying it in-

Below is a different bird house that the same guy made. This isn't the one I have. It's just an example of his work. My bird house has a lot brighter colors.. I may tweak that some day hahahaha...

mrsshayne, Happy Birthday!

Wow, the bird house is huge! It's a bird castle. :)

You had the Goldfinches all winter. In the second picture you posted on February 17, there are five Goldfinches with the Cardinal by your tray on the deck rail. The yellow males are only yellow in the spring, summer and fall. In the winter they are nearly the same beige color than the females.

Chipmunk at teacup feeder. :)

Robin having a bath. :)

Andrea, your pictures are always so great. Here are my hummers...a very blurry male and a clearer female. Meg