I'm happy to say that my yard is the bane of the neighborhood! I have flower gardens everywhere, I have houses for mason bees & logs on the ground, I have milkweed all over the place, rain barrels... the neighbors all think it's just a mess of weeds and I love it. I've let nature reclaim the back yard (the guy who mows my tiny yard refuses to use anything other than a riding mower & has killed all of the grass anyway, it's just dirt now) and have just a stone path leading to the bird feeders. I chose not to rake the leaves in the back this year so they'll provide shelter & compost material. I leave all of my spent flowers and grasses up all year to provide food & shelter (more untidy mess in their eyes). I think that all the repetitive rows of perfectly trimmed, symmetrical and structured yards are so lifeless and boring. I took your advice and spread peanut butter on the trees today so the neighbors probably all think I've gone round the bend. Your video was so informative and you have such a soothing voice. And you have a beautiful & lively yard!
Well, Allie, that was fun to read about. I have a good friend whose yard looks like what you describe: a well thought out mess.Just keep chuckling over what the neighbors must think. And it's especially useful to let the leaves stay on the ground, since all kinds of insect larvae overwinter there.I mentioned that in one of the two movies I made about the importance of native plants. You might have seen those films already, but if not, I bet you'd like them. You can find them in the row of movies ten minutes or more on my homepage.
You all probably dont give a damn but does anyone know of a tool to log back into an instagram account? I was stupid forgot the password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me
@Crosby Cesar i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Your narration was so very excellent! What a calming and peaceful voice you have! NICE MUSIC! It did not "take over" your video. Love watching the birds! If you ever do a video on feeders or how you make your own suet, I want to watch it. You're a SUPER lady!
Aww... They really do bring a splash of happiness. Excellent video Jo, wonderful footage and great advice, especially about waiting to prune grasses and flowering plants. You have a lovely and inviting backyard many birds must be happy to visit. Great look at that Cape May and also your Tufted Titmouse - I haven't seen any this season. Hope you are getting many visitors!
One of the things I love about this hobby, Cathy, is learning how to get better at it, and it's satisfying to take these two old films that I was proud of and--with another three years of experience under my belt--improve them, bring them up to my current standard. I'm especially pleased with how much more vivid the lighting is in the "new and improved" version. That's interesting that you haven't seen a Tufted Titmouse this season. I can see one any day, but you don't have the advantage of feeders, do you? Oh well, you see plenty of other birds, as your movies show.
Wow, hearing that you've watched the old ones so often makes me glow, Charles. Remaking them turned out to be more work than I anticipated, but I'm pleased with the result. The lighting is so much more vivid in the "new and improved" version because I've learned how to make the colors in the birds pop.
Thanks for the high quality presentation. To prevent water from freezing in the winter, I use a large clay flower pot with a 40 Watt light bulb inside, surrounded with fiberglass insulation; then put the saucer on top--then pour in some water. I set 8 hours on the timer for the bulb, and bring the saucer inside for the night to change the water; also, bring the bulb in so that it won't crack from thermal shock next morning. I also put a lid over the pot overnight so snow won't get in. This pot gets put on top of my regular summer birdbath. Just put a piece of plywood to cover the birdbath and set the pot on that. I love to watch the birds drink and splash, and no one else in my neighborhood has that--so the birds really benefit.
You figured out that system yourself? I'm impressed. It requires not only inventiveness but discipline about changing the water. I wish you years of joy watching the birds drink and bathe.
Great video! Well edited and great voiceover. You inspired me with your native plant videos and I’ve just ordered 100 plants for the yard around my summer place. 4 inch pots, so it may be awhile but I look forward to seeing what they attract to the yard.
Oh, thank you for writing me about it, Tim. I appreciate the compliment, but I'm even more interested in hearing that the native plant movies inspired you to action! Cool!
I think this is one of the most useful videos I've made, second only to the two part series about the importance of native plants. I relied heavily on my husband's input, since he's the one who feeds the birds.
Making these movies is indeed hard work, Murray, and I appreciate being thanked for it. It's a labor of love, of course, but I still like the thank you.
Yes, the info in this movie is worthwhile, but much of its appeal is the close looks at birds.I really did improve the lighting in this remake so that their colors pop. And I appreciate your compliment--makes me feel like a little kid, blushing and twisting with pleasure at praise from an adult.
This video showed up as an ad on my TV, and my cat, who normally could care less about any of the other "bird videos for cats" - was MESMERIZED!! Plus, very informative and relaxing to watch!! Thank you Jo!!
We just got our first snow of 5 inches. It’s beautiful. Your video was very helpful and interesting. We cleared areas on the ground and put sunflower and no mess seed. We also put butter bark in small cups. We came inside and had a great time watching all the action. Thanks for a great video.
Interesting information. Ive been feeding local birds and squirrels throughout the winter storms we’ve had lately, and this channel definitely has the info I need. Im subscribing and will definitely watch more of your content! Thank you!
I'm happy to hear that this movie helped you--and, of course, happy that you subscribed. May I suggest the two movies that I think are, in addition to this one, my most practical and useful ones: The Importance of Native Plants (Part 1 and 2).
This gives me something to look forward to in winter ! This is my first foray into birding and putting out feeders . Whoa ! Just made it to the bird fights ! Intense !
I came across this video just today. What a really lovely and special little film! I live in England so many of the birds in your film don’t visit us, so it was lovely to see all the different ones that you have there.
Thank you, Sue. It's a pleasure to hear what you liked about this movie. If you don't mind, I'd like to suggest another movie that's well worth watching: the Importance of Putting in Native Plants: Part One (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TaU9m2XGnlA.html).
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME Thank you, I will watch that! I’m actually in the process of making a Wild area in my garden so that I can help out the Wildlife in my area, so I’m sure I will find your video interesting.
@@Suzy373 That's exactly what I love to hear, Sue. Although my films will be about American plants, there will be some carryover of the general info no matter where you live-. And all those little bugs! What fun I had filming them, They make the movie visually compelling, I think.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME I have watched part 1 and 2 , both very enjoyable and fabulous camera work! Loved that still shot of the Bee too! I got myself a couple of books a little while ago to help me with my choices for the best native plants for the UK and I have made a start, so fingers crossed for lots more birds,bugs and Bees eventually here too 🙂 As an aside, the book ‘Dancing with Bees’ by ‘Brigit Strawbridge Howard’ may well interest you. It’s an incredible insight to how important Bees are to us and I have found my self saying ‘wow really?’ many times at the things that I have learned from it. Well worth a read or a listen as the case for me as I have it on Audible.
we just put out our first bird feeders in East Tennessee Smoky Mountains and we are enjoying seeing the birds, we need to add running water cause the small bird baths are not being used yet
I'm pleased to hear that you're enjoying your new bird feeders and that you even want to add running water. Unless you know how to build a water feature yourself, it will be expensive, but I can't tell you how much we've enjoyed ours.
Thank you so very much dear Jo Alwood!...I'm 73yrs man. I feel I'm too old for pets who will outlive me and wind up in a pound until they're exterminated so I decided wild birds would be best...Anyway, thank you for sharing your vast experience/ knowledge of our avian neighbors! I've an awful lot to.learn but it's fun and I'm looking forward to it!
What an endearing message, Mike. I'm 80 and my husband is a few months short of that. We too are reluctant to adopt any more pets for exactly the reason you stated. We have measured out our lives together in cats, and our current one is 12. I hope you'll explore my channel and find it worth your while. Have you seen the video I just posted about why hummingbirds fight so much? Now there's a bird that will entertain you! It's even possible, if you're willing to put in the time, to get a few birds to come to you. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gR-CgVAGSyQ.html
Thanks Jo! That was really great!!! I don't feed the birds, per se, but I do leave all my garden seed heads, etc. until springtime, so there is plenty for them to pick at. Plus I live next to a fallow farm field, so there is plenty of seed material for them there too. Thanks for sharing!!
You're welcome, Maggie. Sharing is my pleasure, especially since it's not like giving food away and then having less to eat. The more people I share my movies with, the happier I am.
Glad you enjoyed it, Lisa. My husband feeds the birds, and he told me what advice to offer. He's also the one who was determined to have that beautiful stream. I'm so glad he insisted.
Don't fight the starlings, they're another living creature. People shouldn't hate on them, because us as human are far more destructive to natural habitat due to our huge population numbers than starling. We hate in them what we don't want to see in ourselves.
Margaret Rosin I am glad you commented, Margaret. As a subscriber you have access to almost 300 movies. I’m not trying to overwhelm you, just letting you know that there’s a lot of good content there that I hope you’ll enjoy.
Thanks for commenting, Rohini. I'm gad to hear you enjoyed the video. I have close to 300 other movies, and I'll bet I have others that will appeal to you too.
Thank you! Love you! So do my kitties which have 10 windows w/out blinds to enjoys their entertainment! They and I have lots of great entertainment! Yes, the starlings and squirrels do drive me crazy at times it is great entertainment for us !
Sounds like your last name fits your outlook on life, Soraya. We have windows everywhere, also without blinds. And one of my cats loves to sit on my lap while I edit film and watch the birds up close.
Came back for a refresher course! I can only feed the birds in winter thanks to the black bears. 😩 I’ve been getting pine grosbeaks, chickadees, woodpeckers, bluejays, purple finches, goldfinches and nuthatches in NE Minnesota. This morning we had 14 wild turkeys underneath the feeder! After they were through pecking and scratching for seed, they walked across the street in a line like a parade to check out the neighbor’s yard! A little brave of them considering it’s only days away from Thanksgiving! 🦃
Sorry I didn't see this sooner, Carol. I'm in the midst of a week's worth of house guests. I loved your description of the turkeys crossing the road in a line like a parade--days before Thanksgiving.
What a welcome compliment, Denise! Thanks. Speaking of keeping them coming, check out my latest if you haven't already. It's about Robins eating berries, and I think it's one of my better ones.
Really enjoyed this video. I live in town, not I country, so don’t get as many species as out in country. On the positive side, I don’t have any Starlings. Also live in Wisconsin, so winter limits the species. Bark butter I never heard of, I want to try, but will squirrels eat it all? I don’t like squirrels. Thank you again for informative video.
Nice to hear from you, Bob, and thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, the squirrels love bark butter, as they do peanut butter. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
YOU inspired me to go out and clean the bird feeders and get them dried out before adding more. We have a nice sunshine today but really cold. We have many cardinals.
Really? One of the things I like about that place is that they will replace any feeder you bought there that breaks! I also appreciate their Bark Butter and their willingness to order large bags of the finest grade of sunflower chips.
Awesome video. I also have blue jays, cardinals, finches, woodpeckers, wrens, etc.. I feed them safflower, sunflower, nuts (shelled/unshelled), sunflower kernels, etc. I love it. They "know me" and it's flattering. Funny thing is, they don't like the nyjer. In the spring (it's winter here now) the hummingbirds will show up. We have about 3 dozen cardinals and 2 dozen blue jays. And everyone loves the suet squares.
Sounds like we get similar numbers, Christopher. A week ago, my husband counted 26 Cardinals. I'm sure we must have a couple dozen Bluejays. My husband feeds the birds, and he's had the same experience with Nyjer. In fact, I said so. In Part One of the two part series about attracting birds (that was the source for this movie) I said that finches didn't like the nyjer all that much. But several people wrote saying that the visitors to their yards do like Nyjer. Not knowing exactly what to make of the different reports, I left that out of this updated version. So ... one vote against nyjer, right?
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME Last year they would nibble at the nyjer, but as soon as I hung both the safflower seed and black oil seed feeders, they stopped feeding at the nyjer feeder.
I'm glad you found the video useful, Barbara. Maybe you'd also be interested in one I made about how to help birds survive a cold snap. (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Jz42o4FSWbg.html)
thank you! informative and beautiful. I smiled through the whole thing. (except when the hawk was eating :(. I learned so much. I have my feeders filled with black oil sunflower seeds, and a bunch of suet feeders. (year round) I got a surplus of bacon grease from a friend, which I mix with nuts and seeds to make my own suet. they seem to tolerate it, some birds more than others. It must have a strong taste and smell. How do you feel about this? I'm afraid of giving my little friends too much cholestorol. Should I stop offering it and just offer store bought beef suet? I use both. Thanks so much for the wonderful video!
Thoroughly enjoyed your video! Do you have cages that you can mix and match with different feeders? Where do you get the cages by themselves (without the feeder inside)?
My husband's the one who feeds the birds (and who told me that advice to offer in this film). Right now, I'm on vacation with my sister, so it isn't convenient to ask him, but I'm sure that any Wild Birds Unlimited store could answer that for you. Anyway, I glad you were thoroughly pleased with the remake, Lanny.
Very nice video ! My cat loved it too :) She doesn't get to hunt though, much to her dismay. Thanks for the tips. I'm hoping to get the birds to notice my new feeder so I can take some nice photos of them in the winter.
It's a pleasure to hear from you, Yvonne. Your cat and mine share a love of my videos. 😉 Good luck with attracting the birds and getting the pics you want.
Thanks for letting me know how much you enjoyed the movie, Irma. I recently did a movie about Birds on Bark Butter that might also be useful to you next winter: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ASE72moPGPU.html
You're obviously having a lot of fun learning about the birds in your yard, and I'm glad you found my channel too. Please explore. We're in St. Louis, MO, but many of our birds--like the Carolina wren, Robins, Cardinals, Gray Catbirds, owls and Cooper's Hawks--will be in your area as well. Welcome, Charlotte.
Fantastic guide and epic storytelling :). Quick question: do you know or have seen if house finches can use the thistle feeder filled with sunflower chips?
Ooh, "epic". I like the sound of that. Thanks, Michael. The House Finches can and sometimes do use the feeder with sunflower chips, but they're a bit large to be comfortable on it. They're more likely to go to the tray feeder with safflower seeds or to the tube feeder with black oil sunflower seeds.
I have a balcony that overlooks the large shared garden, what is the best way to provide a source of food for the birds. its impractical to put food out in the garden as the cats would have a wonderful time, the birds, not so much.
stephen meinhold The birds not so much, huh? I see we have a similar sense of humor. Can you hang feeders on that balcony? I mean, after all, the birds can fly. Is there a post where you could smear peanut butter or bark butter?
Great job, Jo. love the soft music. i have a situation. i just bought 2-5$ feeders and one 20.00$ squirrel one. i started out with the basic generic"wild bird seed" with bs, milo,cracked corn,fillers,etc. the only thing i was atrracking was HUGE CROWS, and sometimes blue jays. But the moral of my story is my neighbor has a tube feeder, with all white/light tan food, in it,AND EVERY DAMN BIRD IN THE HOOD, IS AT THAT FEEDER, the sparrows are fighting a spot it, like one in your awesome video. can you please tell me what im not doing, or doing wrong..ty ps...his feeder has been up for 4 years mine has been up for 4 weeks, ty again.
Can you ask your neighbor what’s in his feeder? White/light tan food sounds like it might be the finest grade of sunflower chips, which is what we feed the finches.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME ok will do, yea that sounds/looks what it is. ty, very much Jo. ttys. God bless. your voice, is soothing as a song bird, singing in the mourning dew!!!!
Thank you! So beautifully done and narrated. I want to watch it over and over again. Could you tell me who you hired to put in your stream. I live in the St Louis area also.
Please, Ellen, don't let me stop you from watching the video over and over again. 😉 Landworks on Charbonier in North St. Louis County installed both our artificial stream beds. We highly recommend them.
I recall a remark you made in another video about having to take out a second mortgage feeding birds. I seem them often squawk and quarrel over food, imagine if it was us humans quarreling and fighting over food.....a scary thought.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME unfortunately our grudges can and have led to wars. Perhaps world leaders should dine with birds and learn, er, forget a few things 😀
@@wintermoonomen i’m tempted to say that putting more women in charge might moderate that war like tendency, but I doubt it would make enough difference. As a species, we are just a quarrel some bunch- with the means to do tremendous damage.
Olá , JO Realmente um filme muito bonito , fico impressionado com a variedade de espécies , que tem por ai. Também adorei as , house birds , são muito lindas. O lugar é maravilhoso , e fica lindo no inverno. Um grande abraco. Renato RS 🇧🇷 Brasil
I didn't understand much of what you said, but I did pick up words like bonito, adorei, and multi lindos, so I assume you were pleased with the movie. Thank you Renato.
Our share. I've never tried very hard to film them, though, because they don't stay put long and because Lesley the Bird Nerd does incomparable films about them.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME Yes her videos are great. It is neat to see the footage of birds at your feeders. I live in Ontario, Canada where we get quite a lot of cold and snow in winter. Many of the birds in this video are ones that have migrated away from our area for the winter leaving it far more silent.
Thanks for telling me, Jessica. Might this (also longish) video about putting in native plants interest you? Natives are so important, not just for the birds but for the whole ecosystem. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TaU9m2XGnlA.html
My Euro Starlings don't pay my feeders any mind. They are too busy plucking up big, fat, creamy grubs from my untreated "lawn." I say "lawn," because most of it is weed. :-D
ॐ *#_सादर_प्रणाम__इन_धर्म_परायणा_देवी_को**,* *#_साधुवाद___भी**........* ॐ *सनातन धर्म की जय हो,* *सनातन विरोधी दुर्जनों का सर्वनाष हो;* *सनातन धर्मींयों में परस्पर सद्भावनां हो,* *सनातन धर्मींयों का कल्याण हो* ॐ🚩🙏🚩ॐ *॥ विश्वगुरु भारतवर्ष की जय॥* *॥ हमारी शूरवीर सेनां, सुरक्षा बलों की जय ॥* *॥ राष्ट्र माता~गौ माता की जय ॥* ॐ
i have a friend who did the cage over the feeder and she had to remove it because they kept getting bluejays heads stuck into them they were dangerous for other types of birds
Ignore my first response. I misread clapped, thought it said clipped. Don't ask me why. 🤷♀️ Just picture me taking a bow. Thankyou. As for your other comment, every time I click on it, RU-vid makes it disappear. Sometimes it does that with comments for no apparent reason. So I've only been able to read the first couple of sentences of that one, which isn't enough to give me the idea of what you were talking about.
@@JoAlwoodBIRDSANDTHENSOME That is because i typed that comment before really watching the video. i was so satisfied with your video, that i deleted my first comment and felt silly about it.
@@goognamgoognw6637 Thanks for explaining. I'll be happy to remember you, then, solely as the person who clapped at the end of a movie. Nobody else has told me that before--and I love taking curtain calls.
What no one ever tells you about having bird feeders is the trouble that can happen. 1. Flocks of Starlings take over and eat everything, and make a mess. 2. After the Starlings make a mess there's a possiblity, as what happened with us, that RATS will come to eat whats below the bird feeders. Been a real nightmare, and sad because we really enjoyed the chickadees, woodpeckers, finches, jays, cardinals, etc. But i can not have RATS hanging around. Anyone have a solution?
Kim Brooks My sister lives in Oakland, and she dare not feed the birds for the same reason you described. We live in the suburbs with woods behind our house, but rats have never been a problem. I think it just depends on where you live.
I stopped using feeders for a similar reason-- mice, raccoons and I think I saw a rat. It broke my heart to have the birds ask and I couldn't help. I have planted many kinds of browsing plants and don't prune or mow til spring. I did put out food in the snowstorm.
What I should have thought to suggest when you wrote the comment above is that there is another way to attract birds to your yard without also attracting Starlings and various other critters: put in lots of native plants. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TaU9m2XGnlA.html and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ovDD95mYXq8.html
@@YSLRD You are my kind of gal, Joan! In fact, I posted two movies last summer about putting in native plants. Obviously, you already know plenty about doing that, but I'm going to give you the links anyway, because you'd likely find useful information there, not to mention validation for what you're doing. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TaU9m2XGnlA.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ovDD95mYXq8.html
They had to start spelling it "Nyjer" seed, because the original spelling "Niger" (named for the region in Africa from which it hails) kept getting mispronounced as a nasty word.
I just figured you got to enjoy all the birds that leave us for the winter, and you don't have to work at helping them survive. The emoticon was perfect for your question.
