This icy, snowy, windy winter storm has covered up all the "natural" food sources for the birds in

[Atticus]

southern Illinois, so we have an SRO ( squatting room only ) crowd at our feeders this morning. At one point, we had 8 pairs of cardinals at one time.

Because of the frenzy to access the feeders, I decided to put a large unused dog water dish underneath on hanging feeder and stock it with extra seed. THE BIRDS WOULD NOT FEED IN THIS 12" DIAMETER 3" DEEP DISH! They would perch on the rim and look down at the seed but would not hop down into the "enclosure".

I had known some birds prefer platform feeders, but had no idea they would pass up visible food in a blizzard if it was in a wide 3" deep bowl.

"Count not the day lost!"

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I've always fed birds and brought my pole and 3 different types of

feeders to my apartment in Illinois. Then new management made me take it down (next to my tiny patio) in August. So, in defiance, I toss out uneaten dry cat food, bread scraps, and bird seed every day. The birds come and eat off the ground. Yesterday, with the drifting snow, I had a fairly clear spot, and they crowded in to get food.

[SheltieLover]

2. Wow!

8 pairs of Cardinals at once? 😱

Ty for feeding!

[Atticus]

3. We've fed nearly 100# of black sunflower seed and about the same or slightly more

of the the "mix"--- cracked corn, sunflower seed, rape seed, milo, etc.

It's sort of a family tradition on my side and Mrs. A enjoys them, too.

[JudyM]

4. I have a bag of unsalted sunflower seeds but no feeder, was going to put it out in a bowl today.

Wondering how I should put it out for the birds now.

[Atticus]

5. I think a plate or shallow tray would work. Just nothing deep. nt

[JudyM]

6. Ok, thanks, I'll give it a try.

[Marthe48]

8. I've had feeder woes

I ordered big bags of bird seed, and the store I use was out. The clerk said they might be doing a reset. I shopped around and can't find the big bags. I have about 20 lbs of blackoil sunflower seeds. I thought I had about 25 lbs of mixed seed, but when I scooped out seed, there was a block of moldy seed in the bag, which looked like it had been there for quite awhile, probably at the bottom. I just bought 2 bags Jan. 3, and had opened this bag a few days before I discovered the mold. I threw it away, and asked for a refund, which I got. I got smaller 2 bags of seed at Lowes and the birds that are coming don't like it. There aren't as many birds coming and I am worried that giving them bad seed harmed them. But also, when I went out to fill the feeders, I saw blood on the snow and feathers scattered in a broad area. I think a hawk got a bird. I didn't see tracks leading to the blood. I don't know if the hawk is discouraging the other birds to come to the yard. I moved a feeder into a more sheltered area, but I saw a smaller patch of blood under the bushes. Again no tracks. It was just a bad week in my yard.

The feeders with the Lowes seed are getting emptied, but not as fast as they had been. I was filling daily and this week, every other day. I keep checking with the store I usually buy from, but so far they haven't restocked.

[Marthe48]

9. I saw an idea for small dogs in snow, thought I could use for birds

If you have a piece of plywood, or other, lay it flat. After the snowfall is over, move the board to get to the bare spot. I didn't have any big boards, but I park my car outside, so I moved it after the snowstorm was over, and used the bare spot to throw seed down. It worked very well. I kept moving the car back over the spot if I heard snow was coming, but the 3rd storm started earlier than predicted. Not a heavy snow, but covered the ground there.