How do you stop crows from arriving at your feeders and basically emptying them out in a couple of hours? That is the problem I have. Soon as the feeder go out the crows arrive, hang off of it (tipping it) and basically watch it drain .........
I have wire around the feeding table and for the hangers, I made an over-sized chicken wire "globe" that I placed around the silo. The result is that when the larger birds come onto the globe it can swing, but the silo inside the globe stays still. The smaller birds can get through the mesh easily. See this foto: Our corbids also display ingenuity in getting at food. One must always try and stay a step ahead of these bad-boys. The globe is suspended and secured onto the lid so that it is not stationary.
Our count starts in Dec. We put out this link in our monthly newsletter. We try to put them out every month, Ocean Day, Wildlife refuge etc.This one is in Dec. http://www.dereilanatureinn.ca/nook/celebrations/christmas.htm
WOW! That is some list Licenter. As Sjoerd has said, we get a totally different list of species to you and I believe yours are probably more colourful. A GS member friend lives in Canada BC and she often tells about her 'hummers'. Do you get humming birds further south in the States? I back onto a very wooded area with a lot of low bushes, blackberries, privet etc. We DO get a lot of birds in summer but for the last few months we see very few. Our usual list includes: Bluetits, Great tits, Coal tits, Robins, Chaffinch, Wren, Long tailed tit, Great spotted woodpecker, Collared dove, Wood pigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Mistle and Song thrush, Jackdaws, Siskin and all Sparrow types. Very occasional hunting Sparrow hawk and pesky Gulls taking the foxes snack. ;-) See what I mean..... My feeding is 1) A simple mixed wildbird seed with added fat and little or no wheat. 2) A fatball feeder 3) A peanut feeder 4) An open tray that I fill with seed and chopped apple for larger birds (and thieving squirrels ;-) ) I have 3 nestboxes for the tits and a robin nest box.
Wow! Your seagulls definitely made short order of that fox food. Talk about just GULPING something down with your mouth already FULL!
