something finchey

[Ky Kim]

These little Gold Finches eat me out of house and home.  I fill up 3 of these tubes, about every 3 to 4 days.  I kept trying to get a better pic yesterday, but my kids wouldn't let me.  At one time there were 8 of them on it.  Everytime alot of them would land, one of the kids would come out the back door. 

So I went and got my camera and tripod out.  I waited and waited but never had the 8 of them on it at the same time again.  But here's what I got.

[miguynmkoi]

Great shot!!  They're beautiful birds for sure.  Lucky you!

BTW What's under the feeders and do things grow from dropped seeds?  Asking because I can't handle more work than there is when it comes to weeds.

Thanks.

[Kat]

They are such pretty birds!!!

[Ky Kim]

There's really not much planted directly under them.  There are two huge Rebekka Daisies planted on one side.  The leaves normally get covered in seed shells.  On the other side there those tiny little preinals plants.  But right under it, nothing except what's reached over to it.

I haven't had anything grow from the thistle seeds that have fallen on the ground.  Alot of Doves hang out on the ground under it too, guess getting the left overs.  I know when I have sunflower seed out for the Cardinals, I have had sunflowers come up.  Once when I had wild bird seed out, I actually had a couple stalks of corn come up..

I love listening to there little sounds, so distinctive.

Kim

[Kittyzee]

I think I read somewhere that the seeds that are not native, now have to be treated (not harmful to birds) so that they will not sprout.  I've never had thistle seed sprout, ever. 

And your pics are great!  I love the sounds they make, the sweetest little twee-twee you've ever heard! 

[miguynmkoi]

wonderful  I didn't even think of the sweet sounds finches make.  Pet stores here charge an arm and a leg for one 

[SheilaJ]

We have a finch feeder too, and they do eat a lot! We have big trees nearby, and they wait their turn in the tree and then fly over. We also have doves that hang out when the feeder has been filled. I used to do sunflower seeds too, but the squirrels and larger birds got to be too much of a nuisance and mess.

Not only does the thistle seed not sprout, it tends to kill the grass on the ground underneath. Not sure if it's from the thickness of the pile of hulls, or from something the seeds might be treated with, or if the birds poop there (can't see any) or what. But we planted some bushes under the feeder later and they seem to be fine.

[Ky Kim]

Yeah, I gave up filling my other feeders because of the squirells, and blackbirds.  I filled my big gazebo feeder up the other day just because I had some seed.  This thing holds alot of seed, by the next night it was empty.  Never saw a Cardinal back there.  So, I'm just going to fill it for the Cardinals during the winter.

I saw an Oriole fly across my yard Sunday.  So I filled up my Oriole feeder, and hung up a bowl of grape jelly.  They're suppose to love that.  I'm trying my best to get it to hang around.  But, haven't seen it since Sunday.........but, yesterday my daughter and I watched a squirell lick the bowl clean, the bowl wasn't even sticky when he got done...


Kim

[miguynmkoi]

  squirrels 

[thepitclub]

Ohh, how pretty! I love goldfinches. Watching the birds is almost as much fun as watching the fish.

I have several birdfeeders that I used to fill, but then the two barn kitties that adopted us started treating the feeders as bird buffets.   

No matter how much I fed the cats they wouldn't stay away from the feeders, so I quit filling them. 

[Timgod]

They are so pretty. They almost look like something someone would sell to you for an arm and a leg. LOL

I find squirrels fascinating. If they come close enough I always try and get a picture which is not very often.
It's funny, if they are not doing something you dislike they are the cutest things but as soon as they cross a personal boundary of yours they become "rats that live in trees".

Tim