[va-richmond-general] Re: Backyard feeding in general

Here is my plan for a complete squirrel-proof setup:
Get a 1" galvanized steel conduit pole, about 8-10 ft, and attach a 6-8 in. 
flat piece of 1X4 (or decking works better) wood at the top with metal clamps. 
Drill some 5/8" in holes in the piece of wood at an angle in several different 
directions, and glue in some 5/8" dowels cut to 8-10" or so. Drill small holes 
at the other ends and install screw-eyes. Either attach the pole to a deck rail 
or into a hole in the ground (pour in dry concrete mix to stabilize; no need to 
add water). (you may want to add a coupler to the pole so you can remove it.) 
Install a cylindrical squirrel baffle about 4-5 ft off the ground and hang your 
feeders from the screw eyes. 
To make it really complete get a large tray feeder that you can attach between 
the top of the baffle and the bottom of the  tube feeders. You can hang suet 
cakes or logs as well as feeders on the dowels. The seeds and pieces of suet 
that fall from the feeders will keep the tray filled. You will need a step 
ladder to fill or clean feeders, but you won't have squirrel problems. The 
setup should be near trees but not too close; 10-15 feet is good.
Try sunflower seeds in one feeder, thistle in another, and suet in the other 
and you will get woodpeckers, goldfinches, house finches, kinglets, nuthatches, 
sparrows, juncos, etc. Don't use millet - you will attract House Sparrows.
This setup really works! For suet, try cutting a piece of a tree branch (use 
one already cut)about 3" in diameter, drilling some holes about 3/4 in to 1" 
wide by 1 1/2" deep, and hanging it from one screw eye. Fill with suet, peanut 
butter, or John Coe's no-melt suet mix(see the RAS website). This feeder is 
also available from seed stores, or at the RAS auction.
Come to the RAS meeting in March and learn backyard birdfeeding from experts. 
Email me (directly, not on listserve) and I'll send details and pictures of the 
above setup and more. You can get most of the materials inexpensively from HD 
or Lowes except for some of the the tray feeder and maybe the baffles, either 
or both of which you may need to get from one of the birdseed stores in the 
area. If you don't want to do all this, the bird stores can probably set you up 
with a much more elegant version.

Al Warfield

----- Original Message ----- 
From: katya 
To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: [va-richmond-general] Backyard feeding in general


I can't get Woodpeckers or don't know how.  I put out a suet feeder for about 
two days.  The squirrels went nuts and wouldn't let any other animals near it.  
They were hopping through pots of pansies breaking their stems.  When I took 
the suet feeder down, Hell really broke lose.  Windchimes were flung around.  
It was getting pretty savage.  I had done them wrong and now, I am afraid of 
further damage.  I have no hanging feeders.  The metal one I used last year, I 
padlocked to a metal plant post.  The squirrels got to it just fine (by 
trampling pansies to death), but at least they didn't knock it down and fling 
it in the alley.  I'd love sugestions.  Please, don't recommend anything 
expensive.  I had heard of hanging a suet-feeder horizontally.  Has anyone 
tried that?

In order to learn birdsongs, I have been using "Songs of some New York State 
birds" on-line.  Could anyone recommend another website?  I have the cd 
"birding by Ear." 

Thanks for any suggestions,

Katie Holzback
South of the James 

 
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