Aviary Ghost Town

Just a little over a week ago I was posting about how Anne had begun to see and identify some aviary activity in our backyard. Following this increase in activity, we went for broke, adding a suet feeder for the winter in hopes of attracting even more birds. I even surprised Anne by sneaking out to the Bird House to buy a wrought iron post on which to hang the suet feeder away from the fences.

Unfortunately, quite the contrary has happened...

Our backyard has become a ghost town of sorts, save the overwhelming presence of Eastern Gray Squirrels (EGS), which have become the bane of our birding endeavor. Despite feeder posts slathered with WD-40 and numerous attempts to place feeders away from prying claws, the EGS have commandeered our yard and (I can only assume), as a result, the birds have gone away.

Just the other morning, I was sitting on the back steps listening for birds, and, while I could hear them chattering just over the fence, none could seem to find their way to our yard. As it stands now, Anne and I have taken a break from feeding the EGS, and are rethinking our strategy, so that we. Our goal now is two-fold: 1) attract birds to our yard during the winter with a healthy supply of suet and seed, and 2) establish a welcome feeding area for BIRDS in which the food is unreachable by the EGS--thereby reducing their presence! HA!