Cardinal Box a Huge Hit

The new window box on our sunroom window, installed early January, has definitely been a huge hit.  The extra height helps, the extra capacity (up to 12 oz.) doesn't hurt, and the "privacy" (fewer birds in the immediate area) helps more!  The birds, usually cardinals and House Finches, figured it out quickly and are draining the box in 2-3 days.  And we get a bigger show as the birds seem willing to tolerate us as close as two feet provided we don't make sudden movements.  Best of all, the squirrels have not been able to bother this feeder!  A great deal for a low price tag...

New Feeder!

There's all kinds of excitement today at CaryBirdCam!  First, I roused myself to put up the peanut butter feeder (and its layers of anti-squirrel security), top off the peanut tube, and install a brand new window box.  This feeder was provided by my beloved as a birthday gift and greatly expands our enjoyment of feeding birds from the view of the sunroom.  The older box could perhaps accomodate three birds at one time and the new one will allow for up to five more which can relieve some of the competitive pressure elsewhere.  A cardinal found it within an hour of installation.  It will be fun!

The Box is Safe

For some years we have operated a simple window box feeder.  And this one feeder remains the sole exception to squirrel attacks, which is a marvel.  I have seen the squirrels eyeing this one and no doubt thinking about ways to get at it, but they don't get close.  They haven't jumped from a nearby Japanese Maple, nor from the drain pipe, or even attempted climbing the window frame.  It remains safe and secure. But will a future Squirrel Einstein finally conquer the box?

The Window Box Returns

A favorite winter feeder habit we have here is the sunroom window box.  I have had more fun watching the activity of this oh-so-cheap plastic feeder than any other I own.  While it is cold out there, I can sit in comfort and watch the arrival and behavior of titmice, chickadees, and House Finches.  And no squirrels are able to spoil the entertainment.  It took hours for the first bird to spot the handout and already seed is disappearing.  So hooray for inexpensive bird watching fun!  We'll have a whole winter of it!

Enjoying the Window Box

It is always interesting how simple things can provide such manifold delights.  I always find that to be true with our little window box.  Simple thing.  Inexpensive.  But it is positioned so that the quiet reader in the sunroom can enjoy a feeding bird in the bleak days of winter.  Our visitors this winter have mostly been the piggish House Finches.  There are occasional Tufted Titmice and even the odd Northern Cardinal.  But as much as I scold the finches, I don't mind seeing them.  I wonder if they're odd birds out, or birds on the edge of their society.  Our usual finch mob is very much social and the birds each together.  But here are finches who work this back corner away from the others.  The finches will fly in with a "thunk" and gobble at the trough for some time.  What a contrast to the hit-and-run titmice!  There are many more weekends to enjoy these doings.  Winter is hardly done with us yet!

Window Box Still Pleases

Sometimes the best things are nice and cheap.  This window box, with an original market price of less than $12 has been in that category.   It gets used---hooboy does it get used!  The birds are easy to watch.  And squirrels have not gotten in.  The only real beef is that the feeder holds about three mouthfuls of seeds, finchwise.  And yes, the House Finches are very fast and very thorough in cleaning the box out.  But every now and then the odd cardinal shows up to make things interesting.  In the end: well worth the doing!

Perhaps It's Crazy

Is it crazy to enjoy very simple things?  For years I have had a very cheap plastic window box, and for a few here have affixed it to the sunroom window.  It was down for the summer, but this weekend decided the fun of watching small birds nab sunflower seeds needed to be had this winter.  So the box is back, filled with seeds.  And already Tufted Titmice have been raiders of the seeds.  It's a hoot to be sitting reading and suddenly hear the soft banging sounds as a bird pops in for a snack, and to look up and meet the gaze of a titmouse, chickadee or even a cardinal.  They don't mind the cheap quality of the box.  Nor do I.  It's wonderful entertainment.  And I get some all winter...

Cardinal In a Box

One delightful impact of our travel-related "cooldown" that led to a disappearance of the Finch Mob was the practical takeover of a window box...by Northern Cardinals.  The cardinals continue to surprise me.  Over time they took to tube feeders, suet feeders, visits in the high part of the day... all things I had been taught that cardinals don't do.  The poor things can barely land on and perch in this particular window box, but they do so anyway.  And they don't seem shy about pushing House Finches out.  The only trial left for them is getting used to the people on the other side of the glass.  I don't get too close, and they keep coming.  Eventually I suppose, they'll be less jittery.  What else will they do?