Did 'Sandy' Blow these Beauties to My Backyard?

Iris, you have captured beautiful pictures of the birds and your narration is so nice as if the bird feeder is in front of me. At what height is your bird feeder from the ground and what do you keep in the feeders for the birds. I want to try keeping a bird feeder on my terrace hence the questions.

Sharad

-- Bagwan-- “If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life”.-Albert Einstein

well isn’t that fascinating!

I guess I should fill up my feeder and see what happens.

Beautiful birds … and beautiful photos!
I’m glad you noticed and took photos.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Isn’t it fun to discover a “new” visitor in your garden? Great detective work and thank you for taking those photos! I don’t think I have ever noticed an Evening Grosbeak in our gardens although we are lucky to get the little yellow goldfinches.

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

Sharad, thank you for your kind remarks. I get so excited when I ‘discover’ a new bird (or butterfly, or flower) in my yard that sometimes my pictures suffer from not being able to hold the camera still. LOL I take dozens of pictures and then I usually am able to find a few worthy of showing.

My feeders are all between 4-6 feet off the ground and near or under trees. Birds seem to prefer that height and I am able to easily reach the feeders to keep them clean and filled. They also like the nearby trees and bushes for hiding quickly if danger appears.

I had white safflower seed in the the feeders in the pictures which brings the cardinals to the feeders. My bird book stated that evening grosbeaks come to safflower seed and sunflower seed. When I refilled the feeders I included sunflower seed which might explain why the blue jays showed up the second day….and the red-bellied woodpecker.

I have several different types of feeders and seed, each to target a certain kind of bird. i.e. The silo feeders hold niger seed which brings flocks for goldfinches to my backyard.

MsDeb, I sent pics of the grosbeaks to my DD to alert her to watch for them at her feeders. She immediately let me know they had already been at her feeders the day bf Sandy blew through SW Ontario. So if your feeders are filled, it is all together possible they’ll visit you.

RFG, my birdbook shows Massachuetts well within the grosbeaks winter area, too. With your ‘wild’ area and pond nearby I think, you could entice all manner of wild birds to visit your feeders. A supply of water and the sound of running water will also encourage birds to spend time where you can observe them.

-- 'To plant a Garden is to believe in Tomorrow'

Thank you Iris for answering my questions to my satisfaction. I will think now how to keep bird feeders on my terrace. Bigger birds like pigeons and crows may pose some problems.

Sharad

-- Bagwan-- “If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life”.-Albert Einstein

We might have had grosbeaks and I just thought they were finches from a distance. I often notice birds after I learn about them from a photo or an article. Knowing about them helps me recognize them. That is one of the reasons why I enjoy your posts so much!

The birds do appreciate the water and I think that is a main reason why we get so many beautiful birds. This autumn we had large flocks (several hundreds) of the red wing blackbirds pass overhead and the cedar waxwings are happily devouring our tiny crab apples and hawthorn berries on their trip south. We do have a barn cat that likes to catch songbirds when he is not catching rodents, so I try not to entice the birds too close to the house with a feeder. I just plant lots of berry-producing shrubs and trees to feed them and hope that they are clever and fast enough to escape our cat.

-- "To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." M. Gandhi

WOw what wonderful photos you took. Pam will be so jealous. She tries like crazy to get birds in the yard and you simple have them “blown in!”

-- Pam grows 'em - I cook 'em...... Melbourne, Fl

All I can say is beautiful:)

-- I love hostas:)