Just put out some of the ham fat trimmings and the red bellied wood pecker has begun carting it off. Hope this is not a no no bad for birds thing.

Gita, this hawk was about ten feet away and looked like a barred owl at first as its head was so large and I couldn't see its feet until it flew off. It did have a long tail though so I am thinking it was a Cooper's Hawk. It was big enough that I worried it could carry off any of the ferral cats and it seems they can.

@tantefrancine
Good to hear from you. Yes there will be a Seed Swap Feb 4.
Here is the link
The thread "Feb. 4 (Saturday) 2017 "Think Spring!!" Seed Swap in Frederick MD" in Mid Atlantic Gardening forum

Three sets of cardinals showed up today for the sunflower seed as well as the usual diners.

Thats neat Pat. You should have lots of courting activity going on as spring approaches. Love how the red bird males so gallantly escort their chosen ladies to the feeding trays.

The first bird I ever ID from The Audubon Guide to North American Birds given to me the Christmas I was 10 by Aunt Elsie and Uncle Johnny was a new bird to our backyard in Illinois, a Yellow Shafted Flicker. One has showed uo here to dine on peanut chips. Any of the rest of you see them? They are larger than Blue Jays and Red Bellied Woodpeckers. As I remember they peck a series of square holes thru the bark of pines, etc and drink the sap and eat the bugs doing the same. Or maybe that's the Sapsucker

I used to see flickers more often, when we first got here; they are said to be fond of ants and out lawn was even poorer and sandy and bare towards the trees. They'd be on the lawn digging.
We have had sapsuckers, but no longer have the two trees they really liked a crabapple and a norway maple. I sure hope they transfer their affections to another of our maples

I make a big vat of suet and refrigerate or freeze it. I especially feed the birds more in winter. I have a heater for my bird bath. I also have a feeder for peanuts and walnuts nailed to a tree for the squirrels, have never seen them try to get the bird food, maybe because I feed them too. Here are the birds I always see: Woodpeckers, Starlings, Sparrows, Cardinals and Chickadees. A few times I saw crows, I recently read how smart crows are, I Googled Are Crows Smart? And it was very interesting. Anyway I have always enjoyed feeding the birds for many years now.

My sister in law Bonnie who is living with us now makes sure the feeders stay full. Her Vizsla puppy River gets so excited by all the bird activity there. Vizslas are a Hungarian bird dog breed and it is so cute to watch him point. No real chance of him getting a bird though, feeders are too high for him to reach and the birds are too smart anyway, so they are safe. Typical birds at the feeders are woodpeckers, chickadees, nut hatches, gold finches, and occasionally cardinals.

I missed being able to see and pamper my backyard birds during the recent cold snap because I was away.
I'm looking forward to seeing which birds come by this weekend, when it's supposed to get cold again.

I have seen Northern Flickers in my yard, but not the one Mariposa mentioned.
The steady visitors are Blue Jays (up to a dozen), Cardinals, Woodpeckers (Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied), Chickadees, Nuthatches, Titmice, Mourning Doves and assorted Sparrows. Crows come by now and then, and also hawks (Cooper's and Sharp-shin).
A handful of Starlings have started to hang around for the suet cakes....that seems to be all they want.

I'm glad to see that there are still berries on my Aronia and Winterberry shrubs....they're a food of last resort for birds, so that means I must be supplying much of their needs so far this winter! The berries were long gone by now last year.

Good job Muddy! Is your winterberry the one in the front the deer liked to get?

Am I the only one seeing Juncos? And earlier in the season pre holidays there were two kinds of wrens, Carolina and ??? Not sure if they stay all Winter or just pass through.

Pat, do you feed anything special for the cardinals?

Sally, sad about those gone trees.

Lots of Juncos here, too. Not often Jays, but then, I do not offer much sunflower and no peanuts.

Juncos by the dozens! They are in favor of my toss-it-down approach (alternative to filling feeders when the deck is icy/snowy), which fits their reputation as ground feeders... but I've also seen them clinging to a suet feeder, wings beating like mad as the feeder spins, determined to get a good beakful from it!

The juncos are indeed fun to watch on the suet. We have not put any out yet this year, and our feeding has consisted only of tossing sunflower seeds on the second floor deck. The juncos apparently think of that as ground feeding too, even at that height, and they come in abundance. No woodpeckers for the moment without the suet. I remember seeing the yellow-shafted flickers, but that may have been when in Connecticut.

Juncos are the majority of birds i see as well...they DO pick at the suet now and then.

I have 2 suet cakes out (the good ones)--not the ones from Aldis which are hard as a rock.
Still..now and then, someone picks away at those as well.
I have seen some female Cardinals, Downies, one Red bellied WP--and scads of sparrows.
A few Doves..but not many. Just looked out....2 Doves are chowing down on the ground.

I too feed them by tossing big cup-fulls of seed on my patio floor. Black SF seeds too.
The squirrels eat those. They just pig out...
My 3-tube feeder has mostly millet i it. Had one tube filled with Safflower seeds....NO takers!
Threw some on the patio floor....NO takers....

Is it time to start putting out Mealworms??? Are they nesting already?
I have a mealworm feeder. may give it a try...

Most birds love mealworms any time of year, Gita.

Judy, yes my Winterberries are in the front and yes, they're the ones deer seem to like. I noticed about 4 small branches on the ground around them today, and have to blame the deer for breaking them as they bent their heads in to feed. Fortunately, knock on wood, so far I haven't had any young bucks attack them like they did last year, when they broke one shrub in half in several places!

I saw some Juncos in my yard several weeks ago, and rushed out to buy millet for them because I think that's their favorite next to suet. I haven't seen any lately, though. They really only show up en masse when it's cold and snowy.

Weevils got into a (supposedly sealed) container of barley here... I put it outside a couple nights ago to kill the bugs and was about to toss it out when it occurred to me that the squirrels and sparrows probably were less picky LOL. I couldn't really tell today -- with all the warm weather, I think the birds are doing their foraging other places -- but we'll see if the barley is appealing when it turns cold again.

Muddy--
Do you have a Big Lots near you anywhere? They sell bird seed in nice, sealed bags.
A Millet mix in an 8lb. bag is just $7. They have sunflower seeds too--I think for #6.
Cracked corn---?? maybe $6.50???
Since The Big Lots is just across the parking lot from my HD, I stop in there often to get all
kinds of deals. Many great buys there....Gita

The only place I've found locally that sells a big bag of white millet (not the mix, which has those big red seeds that NO bird wants) is Southern States.

I'm chuckling, imagining Susan setting out with great purposeful strides to get the millet that "her" juncos must have at once! :-)

I've skidded into the garage at the start of a snowstorm with 50 pounds of BOS in the back of the car, so I understand.

Jill--are you talking about the big, brownish, round "seeds" that no birds eat?
Hmmmm--I have not noticed anything mixed into the Millet Big Lots sells. Maybe a few black oilers...
I don't know if it is white Millet--or the more common off white one. Light beige?)
There are a couple different shades
I always check the ingredients--and will not buy the bags that have those big, dark, round seeds..

ACE Hardware always sells these 20-LB bags of Bird seed. You can see--just by loking close--that
half of them are the round seeds. What are they called???? They are just fillers....
G.

BOOOO--HOOOO---- Sob...Sob...
My fancy schmancy, copper colored, 3-tube feeder is no more....GONE! kaput!

I filled it up this evening and hung it up on it's usual hook hanging from the patio roof.
This is a hard job--as I have to stand on my 5' ladder (2 steps up) and it takes a bit of effort to get
it hooked. I really cannot see --so I have to make sure I get it hung right.

I did--but decided to turn it a bit to the left. WELLLLLLLLLLL.....somehow the 2 hooks were not well aligned
and with a huge crash--the feeder came down, DONE!!! GONE!!! Laying on the ground in smithereens.
There goes my $60 investment... All this just so the squirrels would not reach it.
That is it!!!!!!!!!! No more BIG feedesr!!!!!!!!!!!! Need Plan #2--or I think it is #3 by now????
The previous 3-tube feeder met the same end--even though I succeeded to glue it back together ywice.
Third time--I said NO MORE!!! Besides--thid fall distroyed any cjsance of mending it. It is shattered!

Gonna just hang a chain, or a strong string, from the patio ceiling (from the same hook)
and get a smaller feeder. Something I can reach just standing on a step stool.
Yeah! I may have to fill it 3 times a week...maybe...but so what. They get enough seed on the floor.
Also--if I hang a small feeder from a free-hanging chain/rope--I doubt the squirrels will chance jumping for it.

I have always kept my feeder about 4' away from any chairs, seats, etc on the patio----as that seems to be the safety margin for the squirrels to try to jump and land on something.

I tried to find a picture of this beautiful copper feeder--but I could not.
SOO--Rest in Peaces--my dear feeder......It was nice knowing you for a couple months. Gita

well, that's really disappointing.
But I'm glad you'll stop getting on a ladder to try and hang that awkward thing.