I have been feeding the birds for only 1 year. I have a small tube feeder with BOSS and a Suet Log. I also throw some peanuts and seed on the ground under large evergreens. I noticed that there were fewer birds on the feeders when the weather turned mild and all the snow melted last week. Now that we have 8 inches of compressed frozen snow on the ground, the birds are flocking around the feeders again. I assume this is because 1) they cannot forage for food on the ground with the snowcover and 2) there is no insect activity when the temperature is this cold. Here are photos of the Suet Log with some of the birds that visited on Friday (the day of the storm). The first two pics show a Fox Sparrow with Junco(s). The second two pics each show five different species of birds on the Suet Log at the same time. In general, the birds really love to perch on the branches I glued into the top of the log. It was a very busy day for birds that day! :)

Morning count at feeder with wild bird seed mixed with Black Oil Sunflower seeds: Red-bellied woodpecker. Bluejays, Carolina Chicadees, Tufted Titmouse, Hairy Woodpecker, Cardinals and of course, house sparrows. On tree Nuthatch and on the ground a pair of Mourning Doves.

I have found 9-pound bags of a mix of mostly millet with some sunflower seed and, I think, safflower seed, at a dollar-type store here called Big Lots. $7 per bag. Birds gobble it up in winter, but in the winter they'll eat anything; in the spring they are picky, kicking out the milo for the pigeons and doves, so I stop feeding them and concentrate on hummingbirds and, this year, suet for Ladderback and Downy woodpeckers. Also I have nyger thistle feeders (both metal mesh feeder and sock feeder) out for our sweet, tiny lesser goldfinches. To complete my first post in this forum, I spotted and got pictures of a male Northern Cardinal this morning, a rare sighting for our area (Albuquerque). A similar male bird (the same one??) was reported a few miles further north back in February. I also photographed a rare Vermillion Flycatcher in April. Maybe more birds are moving into my state -- and I'll have figure out how to feed them if they visit my apartment complex :)

I have had the same issue here with the black colored birds! First, I had a very large group of Starlings. Then, a sizable band of Red-winged Blackbirds showed up. After that,the Cowbirds joined in. Suddenly, from out of the blue, came a ba-zillion Grackles. With their arrival, the other guys sort of moved on! Now, things seemed to have settled down a bit. I still see small numbers of each species, but I am no longer swamped with them!