3:28 AM – A few days ago we reported our scheme to seed the platform feeder with pieces of the ‘pepper’ suet, with the expectation that it would repel the squirrels and raccoons. We had a video showing a squirrel checking out the feeder, and then moving on. Well, it turns out that, no, the squirrels didn’t fall for this trick. See here, as this one takes a victory lap around the feeder and birdbath, then parks himself in the middle of the pepper suet/black oil seed mix. Our only hope is that the juvenile delinquent bluebirds will show up and run him off.

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The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a much more frequent visitor than he used to be. He used to stick to the suet feeder, but he’s now at the platform and mealworm feeders also.

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The young bluebirds are still around. In this video, they’re getting feed by the adult male bluebird. They don’t assault any of the other bird species, for a change.