Hee, thanks for sharing the gorgeous pictures.

My Annie is sitting on the window sill in my computer room. The winds are REALLY high today out of the northwest and I seem to be accumulating a huge pile of corn stalk leaves. She is watching the leaves fly like mad past the window, her head just a movin like crazy, LOL.

I am going to have to try and switch my cats (again!) to a better cat food. I've tried Iams, Eukanuba, all those, and they keep insisting on Purina's indoor cat formula.

Think I'll buy the Eukanuba and slowly start adding it to their food, see what they do.

Yes, mix it in....
 

Our cats really love Eukanuba... the older type. The newer
natural selection is less desirable to them.

There is some odor/flavor technology that really addicts them quickly. But if the pellets are more than a day old? Well, they won't eat them anymore. So we give small amounts, and mix the new into the old, so the fresh scent is there. (they smell the same to US--but who are we? <shrugs> )

I bought two very inexpensive window suction cup bird feeders on Amazon. I am putting sunflower hearts and black oilers in them, and the cats are going bonkers with this. You have to clean the window well, to keep them up. That is the only trick.
Locally I couldn't find anything less than $25 each!

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The shipping for these was quite low...and the price was less than 1/2 of what was on EBAY, so I bought two.
I have chickadees, titmice, finches, two kinds of woodpeckers and nuthatches coming every day! They are staying up well, and by choosing the right kind of seed, there is no mess.
A cup of seed is lasting 2-3 days...not expensive at all!

I have one in the living room, next to the TV, where the cats also have their cat poles, and one here above my computer.
For a very low price, we are getting alot of enjoyment, and the cats are loving it big time!

So please consider some window bird feeders for your kitties!
And for yourself too! We watched a nuthatch take an oiler sunflower seed over and over and hide it in the shingles of our neighbors house. Unbeknownst to him, the red bellied woodpecker was following him, and after the nutty hid his stash, the woodpecker went right to it and stole it! This was really mesmerizing! Competition in LIFE!

LOL Mrs. D!

Okay, yet another thing I MUST buy! In addition, I've been looking at specially made Dachsund clothes (?). She has this lovely sweater that HUA sent with her, but I'd like to get those that are more of a harness too. I can't find harnesses at pet stores that fit my wiener at all!

See if I can find what I am talking about....


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What are the black oilers? Regular sunflower seeds in their case? (Stoopid me!)

You sound like Ms. Alffe! LOL she is a bird feeder extraordinaire. I think Ms. Wren is also. If I could find the picture I'm thinking of...Alffe has one of Cooper sitting by one of their trees with a squirrel feeder on it that my dad made for her. He loves makin those things! But my trees on my property are young and not big enough for his squirrel feeders yet.

Now I know I've scanned that pic but can't find it.

There are 3 types of sunflower seed.
 

1) very large striped seeds which are the regular ones. They are black and white striped.

2) tiny all black narrow ones, called oilers. These are quite small, and almost all birds will take them

3) hearts and chips. These are sunflower seeds like we get at the grocery, only they are damaged and not grade A type for humans. They are bits and pieces but no outer shell to make a mess. These are the most expensive. And highly desired and we only use them close to the house, carefully.

There are very good prices on oilers and hearts at WalMart. As good as at seed/feed stores.

Sometimes when I am feeling generous, I mix a premium finch food with the hearts, for the house. We have a narrow, tube feeder outside the kitchen. But the doves and black birds and house sparrows, have crowded out the nicer prettier birds there. They are basically PIGS... They will empty that feeder in a day, and we can't afford that anymore. So now I put oilers in there, and am carefully putting the other seeds in the smaller suctioncup type.

I have never had success with thistle. I think alot of it is stale by the time we get it in the stores.

We have a large wooden pole feeder in our backyard...for many years now. We get a cheap generic all purpose seed for it. The sparrows, and doves usually will go there.

I like the Doves...but man, they are such PIGS.... gad!

We also have alot of hawks, which are drawn to the feeders.
That is a sad fact of life, but sometimes they are very interesting to watch as well. I am not so upset when they pick off a dove. There seem to be so many of those, anyway!

The cardinals have not yet learned to come to my new suction cup feeders. I don't understand why that is happening? But time will tell. ;)

The cats really get into watching this. It is better for them, than toys on some days!