Sunday, April 7, 2019

Yard Report

The snowstick still has snow and ice and water.   It spit rain off and on all day yesterday.  It was a dark dreary day.
Pauline asked why we place the snowstick where we do...it is a level spot in the open and no snow from the roof reaches it or snow from the snowblowers.   It is a pretty good indicator of snowfall amounts over the winter.  See that  long pile on the right?  That is snow that came off the house roof.

The snowbank named June is getting smaller.

 We worked in the yard for a bit....removing 2 more wheelbarrows of spent bird seed.  We feed about 150 pounds of Thistle Seed, 120 pounds of a Premium Sunflower seed (mostly sunflower hearts) and then about 400 + pounds of Black Oil Sunflower seeds during the winter.  We rake off what we can until we run into a layer of ice...then we let it thaw out.   Spent seed is moved into the edge of the woods so the birds and squirrels can still scratch around and get seed remnants. Thistle seeds comes in 25 pound bags, Sunflowers seeds in 40 pound bags.


Bird feeder area
The tin on that far tree helps to discourage the squirrels from running up that tree and leaping onto the bird feeders and emptying them...don't feel too sorry for the squirrels they have their own feeder area. 
Will the snow, ice and water clear away from the snowstick  before the snow that is forecast for this upcoming week?  Probably not.  We will have to wait and see. 
Far Side

19 comments:

  1. No...we should be done with snow! Sigh. Though we did have a nasty storm last year on April 18, that was quite the whopper.

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  2. That is a lot of birdseed! We put out seed but not so much since we have spells during the winter when there is no snow and the birds find food elsewhere as well as at our feeders. We get a lot of enjoyment from watching the birds from our dining room window. Tom takes photos from there also.

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  3. Happily my snow stick fell over!
    I have no idea how much seed we've put out! The turkeys are happy, too!

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  4. Snow predicted for this week, but I can complain too much as it will melt quickly this time of year.

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  5. No wonder you have so many critters come calling with all that food up for grabs. Hope you don't get more snow. I know you're sick of it.

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  6. That's a lot of seed, I'm sure the birds and the squirrels are happy to be fed so well. I'm sure it makes for some interesting viewing too.

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  7. Wishing for more beautiful spring days for you; pretty sure you don't need more snow.

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  8. We buy oilers in 40 pound bags too, it goes fast. I buy thistle in 10 pound bags but often buy 2 at once. Also goes fast. I have never thought about hauling off the spent hulls...hmmmm maybe I should!

    I laughed that you named a snow bank June! Perfect, I hope she's moved on before June!

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  9. We have weight sensitive bird feeders but the squirrels work really hard to hang upside down from the branch to reach the seed without closing the feeder. Nothing dumb about squirrels. Right outside my office window (I work from home) is a bird feeder hanging in a birch tree. The squirrels are as entertaining to watch as the birds.

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  10. We went through a few 40 lb bags of seed and lots of suet blocks, but nothing like what you did! The patio gets to be a bit of a mess, but nothing like what you are cleaning up!

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  11. You've got me on edge about the snow stick. My guess was the tenth!

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  12. It looks like the snow stick is about done with its winter job. I think my guess was far too late this year but that is okay because I know you are ready to be done with the snow!

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  13. Thanks for the update on June. I was wondering. Boy, you really DO feed the birds! :-)

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  14. So interesting, here we are in autumn and it is going to be 33°c today

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  15. That's a neat trick to foil squirrels from taking a flying leap onto a feeder.

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  16. So good to see the ground in your area, hopefully the snow won't last, and the weather will continue to warm. I think it is great that the squirrels can finally get a taste, we haven't found a way to keep them out of our feeders, we wouldn't mind if they weren't so greedy. lol
    Thanks for sharing.
    Sue

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  17. I hate to even think of snow now...hoping we have seen the last. But it has been known to snow here the first of May...but that does not happen often.

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  18. I bet that isn't cheap feeding all those critters all winter long. I've always had neighbors here that feed the birds plus we don't get snow for long if at all so there are still plenty of berries and stuff for them to eat. Bless you for taking care of them in those cold winter months up there. It makes you wonder how many little lives you saved over the years....plenty I'm sure!

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Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments! If you have a question I will try to answer it here. I no longer accept anonymous comments. All comments will be approved before posting...due to spammers...may the fleas of a thousand camels infest every hair on his body. Connie