Cardinals and the Blizzard

I posted yesterday about the juncos and my concern for them finding food since they normally feed from the ground, as do the cardinals. Well today, the cardinals figured out how to get sunflower seeds from these tube-type feeders.

 

Cardinals are the quintessential winter bird, aren't they?

It looks like we got a little over two feet of snow, with many drifts four or five feet high, so it is hard to tell. The picket fence around the garden is about four feet tall, so we can approximate from there.

Juncos and the Upcoming Blizzard

The snow began falling at 7:30 this morning. It has been falling quickly and steadily. Already the ground is covered with about two inches of snow. The juncos, who normally feed on the ground, are trying desperately to get seeds from the tube feeders and food from the suet feeders. These feeders don't have perches for the juncos to land on so they are finding it difficult to get the food. I got the globe feeder which has a small 'floor' in it and hung that up. (This feeder doesn't hold much seed so I replaced it last fall with a larger tube type feeder.) If the juncos can get through the small openings, they should be able to rest on the floor and grab some seeds. I have gone through several different types of feeders over the years and any that have a platform or ledge enable squirrels and starlings to feed from them. It eliminates cardinals too, but they feed from the ground, so I haven't been concerned for them.

Almost immediately the juncos found the feeder and tried it out. Hooray, they can get inside! They are happily feeding from it now.

The prediction is for only a few inches during the day, with blizzard conditions beginning about 6 p.m. tonight. We are supposed to get anywhere from 2 to 3 feet! I'll keep you posted...