Remember back in January I fixed a feeder to my study window?
A Great Tit was first on the scene but as the weeks went by more and more birds could be found feasting on the seed.
Coal Tit
I’ve so enjoyed having the birds this close. My desk chair is literally a couple of feet inside the window, a lovely opportunity to study them in detail. I’ve even been mooned. Extricating seed from underneath the bar seems to necessitate having your tail end pressed hard up against the perspex at the back of the box. So cute.
Blue Tit
I didn’t realise until looking at the photos what a mess they’ve made of the feeder. Mucky little pups. Although some of it may have come from the weather. Judging by the window and the roof of the box it seems the recent rain has been pretty mucky too. It has been coming from the south east now I think about it, carrying sand straight off the Sahara?
Some birds opt for a take away service. Such customers will zoom in, grab a seed and make off with it post haste to the nearest tree. Others, the tits especially, prefer to eat on the premises. Which means, of course, that there are always second helpings close at hand. The tits hold the seeds between their toes and smash them to bits against the black plastic of the perch. When they really go to town it can get quite noisy, enough for Mike to hear in the next room. More than once I’ve had to ask them to “Shuush”.
Nuthatch
As you can see, we’re using mixed seed. The birds treat it like a Quality Street tin. They watch as we refill it and there’s an almost immmediate rush. The ‘Purple Ones’ and Caramel Cups disappear in an instant. Montelimars are thrown unceremoniously out of the box..
Robin
..though there’s always someone willing to pick them up
Excitement runs at fever pitch until only the Strawberry Delights and Orange Creme remain. I’ve seen a queue, orderly (mostly), three birds deep.
.
But you know how it’s all going to end don’t you. Some even predicted it. I admit to having been sceptical. It is a first floor window after all..
Rats.
pin it?
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Thank you for a cheering post those darn squirrels they always find a way.
They certainly do. Thanks Julie and welcome!
Nutkin Pah! He’s been rummaging in tightly packed pots of tulips here looking for his walnuts. And how lovely to be that close to bird life from the comfort of your desk. The row of bird boxes in the lane here have had visitors but so briefly that by the time I’ve found my camera they’ve moved in and out again. It will happen though because there’s increased activity and the clematis is beginning to give cover.
You won’t be able to keep up if they’re all occupied. And a garden full of fledglings, how lovely is that!
Drat …. you just knew they would find it eventually didn’t you 🙁
Gorgeous photos …. even the one of the squirrel tail 🙂
I suppose so Sue. If he was sitting there watching the birds get the seed you can be sure he would be figuring out a way. And sure enough he has.
Maybe a cage around the outside. Not very pretty though! The suction on the feeder must be good I would’ve expected the weight of the squirrel to bring it off the window.
I did remove the box temporarily, the squirrel was shaking it so much I feared he would rip it off. And then box plus squirrel falling on to the path below. Horrible thought.
“squirrel falling onto path below” actually sounds like the best thing that could happen to the nasty grey little tree rat . . .
Mike would agree with you. I’m too soft I guess. Watch out for the next post. It has a couple of shots in it that could melt even your heart..
Could you put a cage around it? Maybe you’ve been lucky to get away with it for so long Great pics! Brilliant.
Anchoring it would be the issue I think. We’d have to screw into tiled sill, cob wall or plastic window frame none of which would be ideal. Except that a hole in said plastic window might hasten the day we are able to get rid of it.
Blinking pesky squirrels! You’ve got to love their tenacity though. Love the pics, especially the nuthatch. They’re such pretty birds.
I do love the nuthatches. They prefer to eat from hanging feeders so they’re struggling a bit with the shiny plastic perch. It doesn’t seem to stop them coming back though.
Yet again, another brilliant blog that didnt fail to put a smile on my face! Lovely photos!
You’re too kind, thanks Becky and welcome to rusty duck!
Rats, indeed! What a bugger he is. On another topic, have you been to Cothay Manor? If all goes as scheduled, I’ll be there with a group on the morning of Thursday, June 9, and then at Mapperton House in the afternoon. If it is a good time for a day’s adventure, it would be a thrill to meet you. The full itinerary is linked to the tour page of my blog.
I haven’t been to Cothay Manor and it is well and truly on my must see list, it would be great to meet up! In June the gardens will be looking superb too, in fact your whole itinerary looks wonderful! The only possible issue that I have is some building work that is scheduled for about then, so I’d have to make sure I could be free on the day. I’ve put it in the diary, can we email nearer the time? I’ve got your address via WordPress.
They’re just ‘Rats’ with long tails to me, I can never understand why garden centres sell squirrel food. Lovely photo story full of gorgeous shots, you even manage to make the vermin look cute.
Tree rats is what we call them. But I suppose they have to eat like any other creature. And you have to admire their ingenuity. Better people than me have taken on squirrels and failed.
I did warn you!! Stunning shots of the birds, but squirrels will always find a way and now that it knows that the food is there……. The squirrels here are always climbing the walls to see if they can jump down onto the bird feeder from the balcony, thank goodness it is just out of reach.
You did and I had you in mind while writing the post. It’s been back several times. I’ve had the field cam trained on the window to see if I can catch it in action.
I’m soooo sorry, Jessica, but I did laugh, it was the first photo of the squirrel’s tail that did it!
In different circumstances it would be a quite beautiful tail 🙂
Your coal tits look like our chickadees, your nuthatches look like cousins to ours, your robins are much cuter and smaller than ours, but–why am I not surprised–your squirrel looks exactly like the ones out my window. Resilient little critters.
We also have marsh tits and willow tits (almost indistinguishable) and they are very similar to chickadees. And the squirrel, yes, same old, same old. They lost none of their guile on the journey across the pond.
What a lovely post. We’ve been lucky with our feeders … so far!
Long may it continue! When a squirrel finds one it doesn’t tend to leave.
Oh, no! Those squirrels get everywhere, we are always running out of the back door and going ‘grr’ at the squirrels, they take not a blind bit of notice and I sometimes wonder what on earth the neighbours think.. Are the squirrels shinning up a drainpipe or clinging to the walls as if mountain climbing? It’s funny but at our feeder it’s the tits that grab and run (well fly) and the sparrows and goldfinches that linger:).
I think I’ve worked out how he does it but I’ve trained the field cam on the window and surrounds to test my theory.
You nuthatch looks very much like ours.
I can relate to the title of your post since winter has been back for the last few days after it had been going so well!!!
Oh no! It’s time for Spring, tell that snow to go packing Alain.
Oh dear. Would moving the feeder up to the next pane of glass help – squirrels can’t climb a completely smooth surface – or can they? I do like your bird feeder but I am sure I would have the same squirrel problem.
I’m very tempted to try that. Maybe even two panes up so the squirrel doesn’t attempt to leap up to it from the sill. It would be a very stupid thing for it to do, but who knows?
I loved the peeking Robin pic and the pic of the squirrel’s tail. They are such smart little critters. They notice everything. Embrace your furry neighbor.
I might if they helped pay for all the bird seed that they eat..
I won’t eat soft-centred fruity chocolates either. Lovely view of the bubbling river you have. Oh no, just about to gear myself up to cycle to allotment and it’s started to rain – quite hard. Hope it stops before supper time, it’s hungry gap season and I’ve already researched 101 ways with purple sprouting broccoli.
We’re well matched here because I like the nutty & toffee ones and Mike likes the soft centres. Any nougat or turkish delight that comes our way goes in the bin. Good luck with the broccoli!
Such great pictures and so much fun to see that out your window. Good luck with the squirrel !!!
They are great fun to watch, especially as they’re so picky with the seed. They spend ages sorting through it to find the best ones.
Hi Jessica, well, I can’t help but giving your squirrels credit for their persistence and creativity in figuring things out. After all they just want to life as, too. Since you don’t seem to be able to get rid of them, I wonder if there is a way to live peacefully together with the little buggers? But maybe this is a question that can only be asked by someone, who has hardly any squirrels in the garden…
Warm regards,
Christina
I think you’re right with your last sentence. The trouble is they’re far too greedy. They want all the food for themselves and persist until they get it. And it costs us a fortune because any food we put out is gone in minutes!
Oh my goodness, look at that guilty little squirrel! He know what he is doing is wrong. It’s so funny to see his face sneaking up after all those adorable bird pics. I have some sneaky squirrels in my yard as well. They will perform all sorts of stunts to try to get the bird seed. Even with the cone guard, I’ve seen some do ridiculous acrobatic style jumps all in hopes of grabbing a few seeds.
If they were hungry I would feel sorry for them, but there’s plenty of food around in the woods and none of them look exactly skinny!
I was scrolling down slowly. I loved reading this post & as for the squirrel tail shot! xx
Couldn’t believe it when I saw that tail. Little blighters!
Where there’s a squirrel, there’s a way! Love the nuthatch, by the way…lovely birds.
True, sadly. I watch them performing death defying leaps between trees way up off the ground. They’ve got balls anyway.
Those little monsters are unstoppable! You’ve reminded me that all my feeders are empty (including the “squirrel feeder”) so I’m off to take care of my own critters.
We’ve just had to empty and refill the window feeder.. the squirrel left four calling cards!!
It took your friend a while to discover it, does staring at it out of the window not scare it away or is it too bold? It seemed such a good idea and it was lovely to see your welcome d visitors too! Sarah x
Hi Sarah. I’ve even banged my fist on the window and it just sits there looking at me. We have to physically open the window before it takes fright and leaps away. They are far too bold.
Ah, the squirrels! Bane of people who feed birds everywhere. My feeders are on posts and we’ve installed squirrel baffles that are very effective in keeping them out. But how would you “baffle” a window feeder? I’m at a loss, but good luck. It would be a shame to lose your entertainment.
I’m beginning to think feeders on poles with baffles are our only solution elsewhere in the garden. But protecting the window feeder has turned out to be impossible. Unless we have a cage of some sort bolted to the sill, but it would ruin the sill and not look very pretty either.
Beautifully told Jessica!
The wildlife make the post themselves really 🙂
You can actually see the glee on his face at having made the discovery and then found that he can actually reached the seeds easily.
I am quite sure there is a huge element of gamesmanship in it for a squirrel. They show every sign of enjoying the chase.
Oh that cheeky face. The nuthatch has decided me, I’m getting one for the biggest boy’s (the birdwatcher) window. I did wonder if birds ever visited these window feeders but clearly they do. Although we don’t have nearly as much wildlife here as you with all of your lovely trees. We do have tits and robins in the garden regularly though so I shall give it a go. No squirrels around here either. CJ xx
Oh bliss.. a squirrel free zone! You should get one because I’m sure he would love it. They are dirt cheap on the online retailer beginning with A, so nothing lost really. He must just be careful not to make any sudden movements inside the room when the birds are around, especially when they are getting used to the feeder. And some species startle more easily than others. The coal tits are quite nervy.
Thanks for the tips Jessica, I shall investigate immediately. CJ xx
Forgot to say, it does take the birds a while to find it/pluck up courage. Don’t be disheartened if they don’t come straight away.
I used to find the orange creme first in the box of Black Magic
then had to wait patiently
for the second layer to be
ready to eat.
I am the same with anything nutty or caramel. We still have half a Lindt bunny left over from Easter, amazingly..
It’s a lovely tale that made me chuckle – but I can understand your frustration. Brilliant photos though – you have to admit he is a star!
Don’t shout it too loud, he is difficult enough already! Thanks Sue 🙂
Oh dear Jessica …… nothing keeps those squirrels away !!!! Still, how lovely to see such a variety of birds at such close quarters ….. what’s a few squirrels between friend’s ?!!!!! { I know they are greedy buggers but I can’t help liking them }. XXXX
If it were only a ‘few’ it would be OK. Maybe. Our neighbour shoots them, which I don’t like at all. Perhaps that’s why they all come over here!
Hilarious photo of the robin peering in the window. So sorry the darn squirrel has discovered the feeder.
It’s odd because the robin can’t seem to get the hang of perching on the feeder, he prefers to pick up the bits that drop on to the windowsill. But after the squirrel has visited there’s a lot of those so the robin doesn’t lose out too much.
The squirrel does look a tiny bit cute……..but what a bother getting into the birdfeeder……I’m glad you took so many photos of the birds before he came along
We’ve noticed that the squirrel tends to visit more in the mornings. It’s late afternoon now and the birds are having a field day!
What a lot of happy birds! And a very happy squirrel 😉 Love that shot of the robin looking in from one corner!
Robins are such gorgeous birds. They can’t fail to look cute whatever they are doing.
Definitely DRAT! Could you arrange a roll of barbed wire to be secured below the feeder, on the wall? Might that work – for a while anyway!
He gets to the window sill from the side, leaping from a nearby bit of roof. It’s quite a feat because the sill only juts slightly out beyond the window recess so there’s not much room for error. A barbed wire fence around the roof maybe!
Such fabulous photos! I really enjoyed this post, until the squirrel. Ahem. Our clean up operations are undertaken by the chickens. The moment they are released from their coop in the morning, they stampede over to the bird feeders and mop up all the spillages.
Lol. Ptolemy pheasant provides this useful service, but he has been missing out one of the feeders lately. I noticed the other day we have a crop of something growing!
I read your post and had to laugh Jessica, you tell a great story! How wonderful to see Nuthatches up close though.
Thanks Julie. The nuthatches were a lovely surprise, I didn’t expect them to venture this close to the house. They linger too.
You can just give in! I have, they find a way whatever you do! Even the so-called squirrel proof feeders are no problem for the, Great photos!
You have to admire their intelligence don’t you. I think they enjoy the challenge too though and perhaps that’s even worse!
Well, it was only a matter of time wasn’ t it? What a shame though, you have such lovely birds, I enjoyed seeing the nuthatch. Now what will you do? You know you will never outwit him.
I fear if he persists the box will have to go. He managed to dislodge it from its original position on the kitchen window. But then neither the box nor the squirrel had so far to fall.
Terrific photos of your visiting birds. I love the robin sneaking a look through the window. Great to see the nuthatch, too. I suppose the squirrel was always going to seize its chance. It is frustrating, though, to see it push out the birds.
It is so frustrating, especially as it had worked for two months. I had dared to wonder if, for once, I had managed to beat him. But no.
Fantastic idea which I will copy in spite of those bloomin squirrels. In our Aberdeen garden you would only see a squirrel in the garden occasionally. When we first arrived here in Cheshire we were so excited in seeing them so often we started feeding them,(duh)
Did you see red squirrels in Scotland? I’d dearly love to have those… !
Our birds are like yours, eating their preferred seeds, then turning their little beaks up at the remainder …… I had to threaten them that there would be no more food until they ate everything up! There is one particular seed that they don’t like – I left it so long on the bird table that it sprouted!
Ha! I suppose, if the squirrels have any useful function at all, it is sweeping up the food that the birds leave behind!
Oh Jessica, what a delightful post, your visitors are gorgeous, the Nuthatch really does look as if he is taking his time choosing his favourites, and the robin is just too cute. Great captures.
I like your reference to Quality Street. Like Vera I too had to laugh at the tail photo, then did a uh oh as I knew what was next. They are little buggers, but you have to admire their persistence though.
I’m afraid they do have many admirable qualities, pain in the neck though they may be!
Those squirrels get everywhere!!! I don’t suppose there is a window feeder twirler!!! xx
I’ve suddenly got this image of a clown with a twirly bow tie…
I have been thinking about buying one of those feeders, your pictures have convinced me todo so. Could your genius of a husband fix a piece of weld mesh across the front that would allow the small birds through?
They probably wouldn’t be happy to be ‘confined’ in the box. They are quite nervous when they’re inside it, always looking outwards and preferring to stand on the perch where they can make a rapid exit if something bigger comes along.
Oh dear. Can you get a version with small holes rather than a big opening? Where did you get that feeder from I love the shape and would like a window feeder for the back of my house, we don’t have any squirrels here at all so they wouldn’t be a problem ( I live in Red Squirrel territory and they don’t really visit gardens unless there is plenty of tree cover to get them there).
This is it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chapelwood-CPW0199-Window-Seed-Feeder/dp/B003Z97D1C/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1460106632&sr=8-8&keywords=window+bird+feeder
Where there’s a will and all that Jessica! I’m with Brian here and think Mike will be genius enough to come up with a solution. Great pictures it would be a shame to lose the opportunity to get more.