Birds!
Every morning the yard looks like a Disney movie. Birds and squirrels flit about, and I half expect a princess to come waltzing through and burst into song.
But really, it’s because we have bird feeders.
In the winter, the birds go crazy—like this tufted titmouse—for the black oil sunflower seeds I feed them. With the exception of one high-capacity feeder, I have to fill them daily, or every other day.
We enjoy watching the birds, and our four-year-old is learning to identify some of the regulars. Cardinals are pretty easy.
We have one feeder in the front of the house, and it doesn’t get much action.
This is a pretty accurate shot:
I’ve hung it on one of the plant hooks under the front eave of the porch, hoping that birds would flock to it and we could watch them from our living room. A few finches dart in from the dogwood at sunrise and that’s it. I was hoping they would take cover in the shrubbery below.
Perhaps the type of feeder is more appropriate for finches, yet they aren’t fans of black oil sunflower seeds? This feeder has seen better days. Also, apparently so has the metalwork on our porch.
If you have bird feeders and squirrels, you’ll appreciate this book. No kids necessary.
Do you use bird feeders?
The Suburban Farm 
I heart birds too 🙂
The Town Stratford has a new law about bird feeders and feeding wildlife, mostly they outlawed it. The law states that all bird feeders most be over five feet off the ground (to deter squirrels!, every squirrel I have seen can jump that high but they know best I guess) this becomes a problem for me because I have chickens. I welcome all sorts of wildlife in my yard and in Stratford this makes me an outlaw!
@Kevin. This is interesting! I went over to an article on the Stratord Patch and saw a comment about communication with CT Audubon Society, and it looks like the ordinance won’t be enforced for birds, just for mammals.
http://stratford.patch.com/articles/is-the-new-wildlife-feeding-law-in-stratford-unfair-to-birds
Regarding chickens, that’s different, right? They don’t come under wildlife. Does Stratford have ordinances for keeping animals like chickens?
The zoning laws are pretty clear in Stratford about chickens, I have to house them a certain distance from my neighbors house. I am allowed to have up to twelve birds and they even changed the rule regarding keeping roosters, they are allowed. Stratford is a very politically contentious town and the wildlife feeding law actually relates to deeper hidden agendas (in my opinion). Luckily many topics like this are only enforced as nuisance complaints so as long as I can buy off the neighbors with fresh eggs I am safe.