Wednesday 20 February 2013

Bird Feeding

Backyard bird feeding can be a great way to attract a variety of birds that you can photograph with a few tricks. The best thing to do first is to establish your bird feeder to the birds, basically let the birds get comfortable in your yard. Its always good to provide shrubs or trees in your yard so the birds can hide in them if a hawk comes..and believe me they will !
Over the last 3 years i have seen 12 species of birds and have been able to get some nice views from my window !
Below i am going to explain how i have attracted these birds to my yard and how you can too !

1. Trees and Shrubs I have only one tree in my yard and i get such a large amount of snow in my yard in winter that most trees don't make it even when i cover them up. So i did the next best thing and that was to bring trees i cut down from behind my house in the woods. The trees i have in my yard have been there for 4 months and are still green and look natural.

2. Multiple Feeding Stations I know many people that have had great success from placing only one feeder out and get lots of birds. But i am going to exlpain what works for me. I have 6 feeding stations so that when bigger birds like Starlings or Northern Flickers come to feed they wont scare away the smaller birds like juncos or goldfinches. The idea basically is so that they can go to other feeders and keep their distances from the bigger birds

3. Providing a Range of Bird Food I offer the most common and most effective bird seed Black Oil Sunflower Seeds which are the norm for almost anyone who feeds birds. If you want to get real into it and are planing on feeding the birds for while then you can offer Suet for Woodpeckers, Peanuts for jays and chick-a-dees also nuthatch come for them too.Nijger seed is a little pricey but is a very small seed that pine siskins,goldfinch and purple finch love!

4. Have Patients !!!It might take sometime before the birds become frequent at your feeders but they always remember where they have fed in the past and are sure to return.


Both Brad and I have had sucess at bird feeders and capturing amazing images !









The most hated bird at my feeders....Starlings, AKA black birds. They destroy the suet blocks i put out for the woodpeckers.

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