I have mentioned that I took down our bird feeders (except for the Hummingbird feeder) because they were attracting so many squirrels to our yard. The squirrels proved to be very costly for us. One time they bore a hole into our attic, which meant I had to have a roofer and a plumber out to fix our house. The second instance of our squirrels’ mischief was when they ate a hole into the base of our chimney. A different roofing company took care of our house that time. (The previous roofer was in jail!)
The third (and hopefully final!) squirrel event was when they bore a hole into the side of our house. Apparently the seeds the birds dropped were only an appetizer for our squirrels. They were more interested in our wood and shingles!
Anyway – to get back to my initial reason for writing this entry:
My husband and I really missed seeing all of the birds (not squirrels!) that used to frequent our back yard. So much so that we finally broke down and got a Goldfinch bird feeder.
Have any of you seen these sweet, little birds? They are tiny! We have one Hummingbird (a real bully!) who is almost as big as our Goldfinches. I’m not sure what the Goldfinches sound like, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard them. They are a very docile type of bird. There isn’t a lot of aggressive chatter that goes on out there.
It has been a slow process for these tiny birds to feel comfortable enough to come to our back yard to feed. Every once in a while the sparrows insist on trying to use the Goldfinch feeder, which in turn scares the little guys away. I feel bad for the sparrows, since I know their beaks are too big to get any seeds from the tiny openings in the Goldfinch feeder, which of course means no seeds below to attract squirrels. However, when I see the sparrows bully the Goldfinches I don’t feel bad enough to put up our old bird feeders again.
Twenty years ago, when our children were both little, I never would have envisioned my husband and I watching the birds in our back yard. Perhaps this is why they call this stage in our lives the Empty Nest syndrome!
Petie O says
Bless your heart – I know whatever little feathered friend is able to eat the seeds, they are truly appreciative!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Petie, I have a very determined sparrow that is insisting (several times a day) that it will be able to peck through the plastic sheath that holds all of the thistle. I do feel sorry for the little fellow, but know if I acquiesce and put out regular seeds I’ll only be inviting the squirrels back.
Joan says
We had to take down our bird feeders this year … not because of the squirrels, but because they attracted a fox. The fox decided our deck was a perfect place to take his afternoon naps, and then there was the buffet lunch awaiting him. The feeders are down, the coyote urine in place. The fox has been gone about a week now. Maybe next year we can go back to the bird feeders.
Yes, the goldfinches are absolutely beautiful. We miss them.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Joan, your fox must miss his brunches! It’s such a shame when we set out to attract one sort of wild life, and in the process we get a pesk.
At 4:30 this morning, I was awakened by the smell of skunk. (I’ll try to remember about the coyote urine if that happens on a regular basis.)
Laurel says
I love feeing the birds! My husband questioned whether we really need nine feeders. 🙂 I told him if there were nine, then yes we do! I consider myself a Bird Nerd. The goldfinches are very pretty. My personal favorites are the brown-headed nuthatch, the white breasted nuthatch and the towhees. Really, I love them all.
We also feed the squirrels and a cute little chipmunk. Thankfully our squirrels aren’t destructive like yours. My friend next door did see one of them trying to drag her son’s plastic sword up a tree one time, though. We find them entertaining. I’m coming close to being able to handfeed them. As long as something’s at my feeders, I’m pretty happy. 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Laurel, even at my height of bird feeders, I never had nine! You must get a whole lot of birds in your yard. Unfortunately, when we had the regular feeders out we seemed to attract huge amounts of sparrows and doves. We had a few Cardinals who would come at the end of the day, but since they were outnumbered by the sparrows, they didn’t even try to feed during the day.
A few years ago we had a problem with the Grackles. Lucky for us, they seem to have found an area with water where they are currently nesting. The only birds that would stand up to them were the few Blue Jays that came around.
(P.S. I love your response to your husband about the nine feeders!)
Nancy says
Hi,
We had to take our feeders down as well. We attracted a Cooper’s Hawk who regularly selected lunch from the buffet our feeders offered. We felt like we were luring the little birds to their doom. We miss the constant activity, but maybe not the mess.
Nancy
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Nancy, we have had two Cooper’s Hawks visit our back yard. Thank goodness their visits were not regular ones, or we would have had to take down the feeders, also. We have a few cats that people let out who make it to our yard every once in a while. I have never seen them do anything more than drink water out of the bird bath I have in the yard. (If only the cats’ owners knew what kind of water they were drinking! I’m sure they would do a better job about keeping them in the house!) I can certainly see your point about taking down your buffet feeder…
Jackie J. Griffey says
Girls: I’m an avid ‘bird-watcher’ too. And we also are having troubles with squirrels because there are so many of them! First of all, do have your repair crew fix the roof and attic where these little varmints can’t do any damage BECAUSE YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY EXCLUDES THE DAMAGE THEY DO! I have an Insurance series (Cozy Mystery/Romance) and since I worked in the claims branch for more than twenty years, one of my series is named VARMINT – ha! Is there anything we can do to discourage these (cute) little beasts – the birds now just wait till they leave. We had hummingbirds for a while but the feeder drew so many bees which were a nuisance and kept the humming birds away, we just gave up on the hummingbird feeders. How can we get rid or or discourage the bees? Any ideas?
Thank you,
Jackie Griffey
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jackie, if you move the Hummingbird feeder about five to six feet away, apparently the bees don’t know where it has gone. We had to do that once, and it worked! (Apparently the bees think the food is gone.) We found this trick on the internet.
PamB says
Now we know the ‘rest of the story’ where the phase Empty Nest syndrome came from….this made me chuckle.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
PamB, first we had our children, then we had our children with our puppy, then we had just our puppy, and now we have the birds. A definite downward spiral!
Karen says
I LOVE my birds. It has taken a few years to finally get them squirrel proof. Those rascally squirrels are relentless! But, I love my birds so much, I’m willing to go to the trouble to keep them around. I get all the ones listed above and a lot more. I love the woodpeckers (all varieties), chickadees, red breasted grosbeak, northern flicker, goldfinches, blue birds, and lots more! I also enjoy watching the squirrels try to climb the baffles (and fail now), the chipmunks chase each other all over the back yard, and all the baby birds during spring and summer. I have removed a few rats from the attic and relocated some ratty stray cats that think my feeders are for them to eat the birds. But, watching my birds gives me the sense of peace I need to write.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Karen, we have the squirrel bafflers that work great, unfortunately, when we use bird seed other than the thistle, the squirrels get enough of it from the ground. (Well, perhaps not “enough of it” since they kept working on eating our house!) I know what you mean about those squirrels attempts at by-passing the bafflers. Their gymnastics are a sight to see!
It sounds like you have a wonderful variety of birds. That would be so neat. (We have a very limited variety down here in San Antonio. The Blue Jays and male Cardinals and Goldfinches are the most colorful we get.)
Diane says
Danna, I’ve always wanted to ask you why you have not included Lucy Maude Montgomery to your cozy list of authors. I can’t think of anyone to represent the cozy genre more than her. I had the privilege of going to Prince Edward Island where her books are set (and also my mother’s birthplace) and visited her gravesite.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Diane, I had never thought about including Lucy Maude Montgomery to the Cozy Mystery site. Let me think about her. I certainly enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables miniseries with Megan Follows and Colleen Dewhurst.
Laurel says
Danna, I love the miniseries, too, but I would never think of her as a cozy author and I don’t really see her fitting into a mystery category. No disrespect meant at all to Diane.
Diane says
Laurel, when I posted my question to Danna regarding the inclusion of Lucy Maude Montgomery I did so on the basis of Danna’s current listings. The majority of the books listed are “cozy mysteries”. However, several books are stipulated to be “not cozy” and “definitely not cozy”. In the same vein, there were several cozy books that were described as “not a mystery” just a “feel good” book; I.e, “the Mitford Series by Jan Karon and books featuring quilting groups who meet regularly and solve the everyday problems of life in general. In other words, this is a book list of “cozy mysteries”, and over time have also made room for some exceptions here and there, especially when they are popular and several fans have asked for there inclusion. If anyone has ever taken the time to read all her books, I think they would agree that she fits right in with the rest of the wonderful authors and their books that Danna has meticulously put together for “all” of us. Thank you, Danna.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Diane and Laurel,
You are both so right.
I think that because I have been so back-logged with authors to post on the site, I have recently sort of tried to focus on just Cozy Mystery authors. But I do have a lot of authors who I consider Cozy, like Jan Karon, Miss Read, and Jennifer Chiaverini (although she is now writing a mystery series) >>> not to mention Debbie Macomber, and my all time favorite E. F. Benson. Also, I have a lot of “not so Cozy” mystery authors on the site.
NancyB says
I love the goldfinches, too. If you plant a few sunflower seeds, you will receive plenty of entertainment. I find the hummingbirds a bit aggressively territorial with one another.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
NancyB, I doubt I could get sunflowers to grow. I’m pretty sure our squirrels would be back extra quick. But I can just imagine how much fun it would be to watch Goldfinches digging out the seeds.
NancyB says
Oops..speaking of hummingbirds I enjoyed the Hummingbird Falls series by Joanne Clarey which I learned about through your super site. I just wish there were more.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks for telling us about your enjoyment of Joanne Clarey‘s Hummingbird Falls mysteries, NancyB.
NancyB says
Back to the bird feeders. We had a black bear wander through one morning and when I reported it to MNR they said to be sure to take down our feeders as soon as spring arrived. There would still be lots of food for the birds and the feeders would not attract bears.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Yow, Nancy B! You must live close to a wooded area, right? I cannot even imagine looking outside and seeing a black bear wander through our yard! (Of course, we live in a cookie-cutter type of subdivision, where the largest animals around are the cats that a lot of the folks let wander around.)