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Not all is fun and games though as we found when Mr. Merlin, the falcon, came to prey upon our songbirds. Because he attacks with a dive, we now understand why many of our birds were hanging out under the covered porch where an effective dive cannot be done. We have seen him around a few times and we are sure he has got a few of our birds but there are still many around.
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Most of the peanut eaters are squirrels and blue jays (Steller's Jays in the northwest). These are pretty brave jays to tuck their bodies into the hole of the squirrel feeder and enter the gallon jar to steal a peanut. The squirrel feeder is up there for squirrels so Dean has added a piece of wood with a smaller hole and so far the jays have not been brave enough to squeeze in. Don't worry. They aren't starving. They dig up peanuts the squirrels have buried in the lawn and gardens and the jays have mastered the technique of "bump and scatter" at the bird feeders. They bump the bowl with birdseed with enough force to tip seed out of the bowl and then the jays eat the seed that has fallen to the ground.
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Most of our squirrels are Eastern gray squirrels. We've been told that they bully our smaller Douglas squirrels. Well, as we've seen, those Douglas squirrels are very territorial and they can fight off more than one gray squirrel that is trying to get a meal at the feeder while he is there. Go Doogie!
