Woodpeckers, Suet and Suet Sandwich Feeder

I mentioned earlier that I'm partnering with OpenSky.  It's an online store with birding products that I like. Part of my end of the deal is to make blog entries and videos of the product I like.  Non Birding Bill and I see this as an opportunity to create some short fun birding videos.  Below is one on woodpeckers and suet filmed in Mr. Neil's backyard. It's about four minutes long, safe for work and has a great photo of a woodpecker tongue. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJMZf472jmo[/youtube]

If you are interested in this feeder, you can purchase it here.  It really does work well to keep raccoons out and I've had great success chaining to to tree branches (with a lock) to keep raccoons from running off with the feeder and it's fatty booty in the middle of the night.

Cornhatch?

Usually, it is the hummingbird that is the best at communicating when the feeders are empty.  If you have a nectar feeder and it goes empty, one of the best clues is a hummingbird flying up to the window as if to let you know the nectar is bad or empty.  If you have studied bird behavior or worked with birds as an education animal, it's not a far stretch for bird--even a hummingbird with an incomprehensibly small brain to figure out that the large creatures in the building come out and fill the feeders.  The above white-breasted nuthatch has appeared to figure out the same strategy.  The other day, it was hanging around the suet sandwich (a great feeder if you are having raccoon problems, they can't seem to crack it).

I was out taking photos around this feeder still had a little bit of suet left in the center of it.  I was in deep inside, a woodpecker with a long tongue would have problem getting at the food, but a wee nuthatch with a short tongue would be SOL.  So, while I was out taking photos, this white-breasted nuthatch kept hanging out and just sitting on the feeder.  A nuthatch sitting still is immediate cause for suspicion.  At first I wonder if it sees a hawk, but no other birds at the surrounding feeders appear alarmed.  The nuthatch then worked around the feeder pecking the fake bark, the screw, any little crevice it could and then it would look at me as if to communicate, "I'd like to eat here, but there appears to be no fatty bounty on which for me to forage."

I filled the feeder.

I had some of what I would call "emergency suet."  Not the best stuff, it read "peanut suet" but had a ton of corn inside.  I filled both the suet sandwich and the suet log with the same stuff.  The nuthatch (and the downy and hairy woodpeckers) went for it.  I was really surprised at how they devoured it...especially when I think of all the times I have splurged on fancier cashew suets (that I made sure did not have corn).

The nuthatch did appear to be perplexed with the corn.  I love the above shot.  It set the corn kernal down on the log, repositioned it, picked it up, set it down and repeat.  I think the nuthatch was expecting the usual nut chips and the corn texture surprised it. As I watched teh nuthatches comeing in for the suet, they didn't eat it right at the feeder.  All of them (both white-breasted and red-breasted) would take a hunk and cache it in a nearby tree.  I'm not sure if they will eat it later this winter or not, but it's interesting to watch their reaction to corn.

Anyone else have nuthatches eating corn?

OpenSky

As a blogger with good regular traffic, you will be approached with all sorts propositions and marketing ideas. Usually, it's amounts to an affiliate link that will get you a 3% interest on products sold--not very enticing. Especially since most people will see a blogger affiliate link and may keep that product in mind, but at the end of the day when the product is purchased, they go to the site directly or google someplace cheaper. However, if you love to blog and like to do it as often as possible, you need to find some way of supplementing your blogging habit and it's not easy to get paid to blog (and have total creative control of your content and own it at the end of the day). It's kind of like trying to find producers and advertisers for tv shows. I was recently approached by a company called OpenSky that asked if I would make videos about birding and products that I personally own and use. They will use the videos to create an online shop and if someone buys the item based on my video, I get a good percentage and at the end of the day--I own my own content that I created.

I am under no obligation to blog about any product I don't like and I can make the videos as educational as I like. So, I'm going to give this a whirl, these will not be infomercial style videos (not like Vince from SlapChop).  Almost everything I post here already involves some birding product (especially all the digiscoping I do or birds that I get at feeders).  So, when I post about woodpeckers feeding on the suet sandwich and I mention that I like it because it's fairly raccoon proof, there might be a link to a video or other information that I made for my OpenSky shop. We're in the process of editing some videos now, they should be popping up soon.

I see this as kind of like the days I managed a wild bird store but I don't have to carry products I don't like. Back then, the motto I gave to all of my employees was, "We are a nature center that happens to sell bird seed.  Information first, sales second."

I promise this blog will not become all ads, but this is just a heads up that if you see OpenSky mentioned, that's my shop.  And if you like the blog and want to support it, you can purchase an item there.  All of the products are ones that I either use at my home, my friend's yards, give to family and friends as gifts for a particular bird issue and have a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  There are some up now and we're hoping to add more soon (especially in the form of shade-grown coffee).

Aggressive Downy

I have the butchest downy in town. A hairy woodpecker keeps trying to eat at my suet log and usually that's no problem, but the smaller male downy is having issues with this. Every time the hairy starts to peck at the log, the downy dive bombs him and swooping at his head zooming from right to left, left to right. Now the hairy just flew to another tree with the downy in hot pursuit. I'm sure there's a small pecker joke to made in there somewhere. By the way, I need to set up my FAQ and I have an idea of what questions to answer, and I'm going to try and compile it this weekend, but does anyone have a question they need answered? Start emailing them. I have gotten few questions about a crow proof suet feeder, this photo is about the closest one out there. It's called a Suet Sandwich and is on the pricier side, but in the long run you save lots of money as the crows can't eat out of it and squirrels and raccoons have a tougher time with it as well. It's two pieces of (fake-yet oh so durable) wood held together with screws that leaves about a quarter inch opening. You can buy presliced suet to put inside or you can mush in your favorite suet flavor. The opening is large enough for all the regular suet eaters (up to an including the ill named pileated woodpecker). Crows have a tough time clinging to the feeder and cannot get their big bill inside. Here's a photo of the feeder with an unpestered hairy woodpecker feeding at it: