Nature Notes ~ Regular Guests at the Fruit Bowl Feeder
Last show and tell quite a few of you requested some photos of the birds that have been visiting our fruit bowl feeder so I tried my best to get you some good shots of our little feathered friends :) When I first hung the new feeders out the Steller's Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri) immediately claimed it as their own personal food bowl and guarded it very fiercely which is very much their nature! Those greedy little piggies *grin*
Then the novelty must have worn off a bit and they loosened their grip on total feeder domination letting some of the smaller birds have a taste. The above and below Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is now a regular visitor to the feeder but is much more skittish than the Jays.
You can see just how low the peanut butter suet is by how far he/she has to lean into the bowl :) The fruit bowl has also attracted some sparrows and juncos but every single photo I took ended up being one big blur :( I guess they are camera shy *grin*
It has been hanging outside now for a little over a week and it is standing up to the elements really well. There are no signs of rot and the butcher's twine that we used to hang it has not started to pull through the rind of the pomelo either. There's a little bit of red staining from the cranberry juice that has dripped on it but that just adds to its character :) The best part to having it located next to our regular feeder is that the Steller's Jays are no longer chasing away the smaller birds and trying to squeeze their heads through the wire covering but are now content to eat in peaceful harmony from the fruit bowl while the smaller birds eat in the covered feeder! The only downfall we have found is that after we got our heavy snowfall the other day it completely filled up the bowl plus some so we had to go out and clear it away. If you have made one of the fruit bowl feeders I would love if you could share photos with me of how yours turned out :)
For more show & tells or to join in check out Canadagirl's blog.
Fantastic update. Thank you. I love the Towhee! My bowl is holding up even after a squirrel attack. And I think it distracts them from my other feeder, so I am happy. You have a lot of snow! WOW!
Jenn
the snow is really piling up, isn't it? hard to poke their heads into that feeder now!
Nice shot of the jay. And anyone who knows the scientific names of these birds is a sold-out bird watcher! Nice!
Oh , thank you for updating us on this. I REALLY want to do this now. I wonder if we can find one of those fruits in our small town. We should we have so many intresting things come through here. Now I have to figure out a place to hang it. hmmmm
Sending Blessings and ((hugs)) your way
In Him<><
-Mary
How nice that you've had so many visitors to your feeder!! The pictures are great. I have to admit that I am very partial to jays and love it when they visit our yard - even though I know they are bullies! LOL
I love the bird feeder you made. We are really going to try to make this one. My problem is that I don't have any good windows to watch the birds from. ::pout:: I really want to get a feeter that sits out the window sill.
