Caveat: Tigger’s electrolyte levels went way up a while back, and the vet surmised that it might have been because she was scarfing up the wild bird seed that the Java Sparrows were knocking onto the ground from the feeder.  We removed the feeder to eliminate the scarfing, and the levels went down.  There’s no scientific evidence here; it’s just an observation, but you might try to ensure that Terry doesn’t eat the stuff.

That’s good to know. I’ll keep an eye on her. I’ve had a couple of birdfeeders on the deck for several years with regular wild bird seed and sunflower seeds with the hulls on and she never showed an interest in those seeds. I presume she doesn’t like chewing on the shells. However, I just bought some shelled sunflowers for the first time, and she was sniffing around under the feeder with some interest. I might have to move those to an area she can’t get to. Over the fence or out front or something.

We put safflower seeds (shelled) in our feeders. The starlings don’t like it, nor do the squirrels. However, the chipmunks do like it, but they’re so cute, I don’t mind their pilfering.

I wish I could grow sumacs. I planted 25 on the side of one of our islands (to keep it from eroding) and I can’t find a one of them alive now. Of course, they could be swallowed by the lush grass that is growing there, which also prevents eroding.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen safflower seeds for sale in my usual haunts. I’ll have to go check Agway. I’d love to have something the squirrels don’t like. And I wouldn’t mind having chipmunks, either. I know they are around—I see a couple from time to time, but I’ve never seen one at my feeders. That’s kind of strange now that I think about it.

From my own experience, I surmise that sumacs like sand. That’s all my soil is and they volunteer by the dozens every year and thrive. I’m constantly yanking volunteers out of the yard all summer long. Same for locust trees. I have dozens and dozens of those crop up every year in the oddest places. If only maple trees and dogwoods liked my soil as much as the sumacs and locusts.

Agway has safflower (blackbirds definitely do not like it, but squirrels will occasionally eat some of it if nothing else around they can destroy--little buggers)- I go to the one in Salem, NH and buy BIG bags of it, that and thistle seed for the goldfinches and some of the other birds, plus regular seed and so on.  You need a special feeder for those (thistle) though. 

You have two feeders now, I bet before the winter is over, there will be at least two more!!  I started with one, then two, then another and another… - have a big apple tree outside my kitchen window, have turned it into a little oasis with feeders, bird bath.  What I want now is one of those Home Depot pond (little) things.  Am meeting a lot of resistance on that one though.  Not everyone here shares my enthusiasm   And for the record, I had SIX male cardinals out there the other day.  Hopefully there are more than one or two femals flying about or things might get a little hinky!!

OK, off to DC for the long weekend--whoohoo, just thought I should pop in and say hello!!

Hey Cyn! Have fun in Washington!

I do so envy you your apple tree. That would be much more fun than a couple of sumacs.

The two feeders above are additions to the ones I already have.

I also have a thistle feeder and a big glass tube sunflower feeder that the squirrels can’t chew through, plus a wooden platform feeder with a roof on it that the cardinals, sparrows, and blue jays like. Then I have a suet basket and I also put a board over the top of the deck table where I scatter sunflower seeds. The mourning doves, juncos, and squirrels compete for that. There’s a lot of activity around here in the winter.