In Valley County, McCall area, there is a very good seed crop in the ponderosas, so my feeders lack customers. Birds are out there but getting natural foods.
Dean Jones
Boise & Donnelly
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Category Archives: Listserv Posts
Re: No Birds at Feeders
So I took a hike yesterday around the house. Within a mile we saw flocks of goldfinches, juncos, pine siskins and chickadees. They’re out there, just not at the feeders. That’s a good thing.
Re: No Birds at Feeders
Boise North End. Justa few Juncos. 1-2 atta time
Bob Perata
Re: No Birds at Feeders
Thanks to all of you for these interesting reports. I appreciate the descriptions of your observations.
Diann Stone Boise
Re: No Birds at Feeders
Same here (foothills east of Pocatello). There was an abundance of seeds on the maples, the fir trees are loaded with cones, we’ve had very mild temps and snow cover is nil. I often hike in the forests around here and the birds are out there, hard to say if the numbers are down or if they’re just more dispersed. I have noticed more red crossbills than years past.
Re: No Birds at Feeders
Wow! I didn’t realize how lucky I am. I’ve got Juncos out the wazoo in my yard, and frequent visits from Song Sparrows, House Finches and M. Doves. Plus, when they all disappear, I can usually be sure that Alice, our resident Cooper’s Hawk, is around.
Plus the Boise Greenbelt has been great of late and my daily totals have exceeded 30 birds. Today’s raptors included a GH Owl, RT Hawk, and A Kestrel.
Tom McCabe, Boise
Re: No Birds at Feeders
We are in the West Bench of Boise, and our bird counts have been way down since early spring of this year. Rough guess is that we are getting no more than 25% of the numbers we are used to. Early this year we figured some of that was due to the bird flu going around. It seemed to hit the American Goldfinches the hardest and we took down the feeders for about 5 weeks. We also had a couple of sharp shinned hawks visiting regularly, which probably got us a down grade on Google feeder reviews. Hummingbird numbers were way down, as well. They showed up at our house at least a full month later than usual and in smaller numbers. We have seen a couple of days with larger flocks coming in, but mostly we are still well below average. I’m wondering if our warm winter is reducing demand, as well. The only upside is that we have saved some serious money on seed, but I’d rather be buying seed.
Tom Soniville
Re: No Birds at Feeders
I’ve had very little activity at my feeders here in New Meadows the past few weeks. Several other folks in the area have told me they are seeing very few birds at their feeders.
Re: No Birds at Feeders
I still have the normaL flock of sparrow & finches, a few chickadees, but what’s missing this year are the usual 5 or 6 juncos and nearly always a song sparrow or two. Saw a single goldfinch back in November, none since. I’m sure the open fields have kept them spread out a bit, but I’ve had not even a glimpse of the missing ones.
And I’ve noticed very few hawks on the poles going back & forth to town. Maybe they’re utilizing a different area this year.
How about anyone else in Eastern Idaho?
Jeff Brough
No Birds at Feeders
I seem to have lost my touch. Two feeders are up, sunflower and mix, and very few birds are hitting them. Used to have to refill every few days, but now they just last and last. A few goldfinches every once in a while hit them. I’ve got a normal magpie flock and I saw a shrike in bush, a few juncos and a Rough Legged Hawk, but not much else.
Maybe it’s a really good seed crop in fields and bushes that’s not yet covered up by snow or another disease outbreak. Any one else seeing really low feeder activity?