Janet - some companies or farm cooperatives that package sunflower seed for sale put packaging dates either on the bag or on the tape sealing the top of a 50-lb bag.  Check to see what year's crop your seed came from.

Bob Yunick
Schenectady, NY



-----Original Message-----
From: Janet Warren <[log in to unmask]>
To: VTBIRD <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sat, Feb 3, 2018 2:49 pm
Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Feeder birds missing again

We’ve had more birds here than last year, but fewer than past years. I’ve started to wonder about the black oil seed this year. Could the plant breeders be changing it somehow? The birds here seem to have little interest in our two tube feeders of black oil seed, and go for the blend we scatter on the ground, which this year has a LOT more sunflower seed in it and more kinds of sunflower seed, too. I’ve even started to wonder if there was a really big harvest of sunflower seed in 2016, and so this year could we be getting some stale seed along with 2017’s harvest. I remember some of the problems with stale niger seed a few years ago. 

Janet Warren
Cornwall
> On Feb 3, 2018, at 8:41 AM, Robert Dudley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> I still have plenty of Juncos at my feeder and the chickadee numbers have picked up.  Saw my first goldfinch in several days.  I have seen only one tree sparrow all winter and the tufted titmouse is running at their normal number at the feeder.  Overall the total number of birds are down.
> 
> 
> Other critters at the feeder are also down.  No chipmunks this year and only an occasional visit by the red squirrel.  I usually have a fair number of coyote tracks through my yard and neighboring fields; have not seen any.  I suspect the mouse and vole population is down also.
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Vermont Birds <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Ruth <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, February 2, 2018 10:14 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [VTBIRD] Feeder birds missing again
> 
> So all fall the number of birds coming to my feeders was down significantly. Many folk have asked me 'where are the chickadees this year?'  In late Dec on into Jan we saw a large influx of juncos. Then large flocks of goldfinches for a few days.  Now birds are again fewer at my feeders...
> 
> 
> Is anyone else experiencing fewer birds at the feeder of late.  Anyone care to speculate 'where have all the birds gone?'
> 
> 
> Ruth Stewart
> E. Dorset, VT