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Hey all I was wondering how you prepare for fall feeding?
I did not feed this summmer so my birds are just now coming around.
I put out suet cakes now that is nice and cool out, and my woodpeckers are here! They love my homemade cakes!
I also have a niger tube feeder and a regular bird feeder I only put sunflower seeds in.
When we get snow I also have a tray feeder and feed on the ground too.
I also try to make a few brush piles for my birds not far from the feeders.
The first real sign of late fall is juncos and I can't wait for their arrival, the tree sparrows will follow, and if I am really lucky I will get a flock of pine siskins some years!
I can't wait! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If you dont mind getting a bit messy try hanging some pine cones covered in peanut butter then rolled in your seed of choice. We also hang oranges or some other kind of citrus fruit.

Although I'm not exactly sure why, I didn't do as much bird feeding during this summer as I usually do. Now that fall is here I'm getting back into my routines. I put out the suet feeder a few weeks ago and I'm happy that at least two downy woodpeckers have been coming to it regularly. There was actually a little tussle between the two of them the other day, apparently for first dibs at the suet. The kind of feeder I have suspends the suet inside a cage so it's pretty much off-limits to many of the bigger piggy birds who can down a suet block in five minutes if they try real hard. The downy woodpeckers climb inside the cage to dine, while I've watched flickers and red-bellied woodpeckers hang onto the outside and insert their beaks through the cage.

I am once again putting safflower seed in two open hanging trays. During most times of the year the squirrels ignore this type of seed so I'm more likely to have seed left over for the birds. I did keep my finch sack filled with nyger seed for most of the summer and just refilled it yesterday after watching some poor goldfinches having to eat coneflower seeds from the garden until I got my act together.

I have a metal squirrel-proof feeder with the spring-action hopper and I have never seen a squirrel do anything but slide off its roof or close the trap-door. Some of the squirrels at one of my favorite nature center birdblinds have found a way to get seed from a similar feeder by hanging on and somehow or other getting seed from the side. Right now I have sunflower seed inside this feeder although I often fill it with a good mix.

I start putting out a corn mix on ground trays for the squirrels and blue jays when it gets a little colder and the resident mockingbird starts expecting slices of apple.

Leequi

I have been feeding all summer. I have a little baby squirrel with a broken front leg so I admit I let him drain my feeder...but I only put one scoop of cheap food in there a day...I just bought two new cage feeders so I can put out the good stuff when it gets cold.. Frankly ,I have never met a squirrel that would not eat safflower seeds and I have fed birds in three states... I have a steel finch feeder but one of the baby squirrels managed to unscrew the lid with its back feet and threw it into the lake, climbed in and had a buffet!....so much for a $65 feeder...they eat the net feeders too...maybe let the cats out?

There are certain times in the year when some of the squirrels do venture onto the hanging platforms to eat safflower seeds. I guess I can consider myself lucky that there are times during the year that they don't seem to have an appetite for it. I have had squirrels bite through the drawstrings of the cloth feeders with nyjer seed, but usually once the sack is down on the ground they don't show a lot of interest in it. I'm glad it's the drawstring and not the bag itself that gets chewed up because I have an easier time repairing it.

A few years back when my sister in a neighboring state was having problems with the squirrels eating everything and destroying the feeders as well, I suggested that she try safflower. Her squirrels must have found it quite appealing, too, as they seemed as attracted to it as they had been to sunflower seeds. I guess you just never know. I do expect that the safflower will be more appealing to my local squirrels when temperatures dip way down and alternate sources of food dry up.

I think that's nice that you're providing for your injured squirrel.

Leequi

I fed all summer, too, and had a lot of fun with all the birds AND squirrels. The squirrels are so silly when they climb up the bird feeder/plant pole on the deck, go out on one of the hangers and hang upside down on the suet feeder and try to take off the roof off! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> (I had to take the potted plants down because he used them to rest in while he helped himself to the seed and suet.) When I open the back door, he stops and looks at me to see if I am going to come out. If I touch the storm door, he jumps to the railing and runs down the steps.

I started giving him nuts on the railing every morning and he started to leave the suet alone (why would want THAT when he can have 6 almonds or cashews, but not walnuts). He is SO spoiled...but so cute! He actually lays flat on his stomach, stretched out with his feet hanging down on either side of the rail, like he's sun bathing or something. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

2 weeks ago I noticed 2 babies playing and one had a flat tail, halfway to the tip. A few days ago, my husband pointed him out and half his tail was gone (the flat part). Anyway, I had corn on the front steps for the birds and saw him eating it. So I decided to put some apple slices and nuts out for him. I love watching them hold a slice and nibbling on it. I wonder what could have happened to his tail?

Trish