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I had a flock of 60+ pine siskins eating the black sunflower seed at my =
feeders today - I have a hunch the lack of birds may be due to the =
weather rather than the food. Of course here I have four cats (only one =
is mine), 5 crows, 6 blue jays and a lot of traffic going by so that =
sometimes drives the birds away.
With my pine siskins today I had one redpoll, and three white throated =
sparrows that joined the party. I also have a dozen chicadees around and =
a red breasted nuthatch. My cardinals have not been seen for over a =
week.
Roland=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Andy Dean=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 11:43 AM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Questions
We recently noticed our sunflower seed in the feeders was not getting =
any attention and wondered if it might be stale, or something wrong with =
it....we were getting a lot of goldfinch, siskin, and redpoll =
previously. We buy the seed in small amounts from various sources so =
have no idea where the current supply originated and it may be purely =
coincidence with no connection to the concern expressed , but it is food =
for thought.=20
Andy & Lelia Dean
86 Baden Powell Drive
Kentville, NS. Canada. B4N 5P5
Tel: [902] 678-6243
aadean@ns.sympatico.ca
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Eleanor Lindsay=20
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:36 AM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Questions
James Hirtle wrote:
> Hi all:
> =20
> I recieved this recently and was wondering if anyone has any =
knowledge=20
> on this issue. If indeed there is any truth to the following, I=20
> myself would find it somewhat disturbing. I would like to send an =
> answer to the individual, but I have no first hand knowledge in=20
> regards to the topic.
> =20
> James R. Hirtle
> Dublin Shore
> =20
> I am writing about sunflower seeds which I feed birds at my =
property on
> Hidden Lake in the Labelle/Chelsea area.
>
> In October my wife and I took a trip across Canada by train. On =
the
> outskirts of Winnipeg we saw large fields packed with sunflower =
plants=20
> that
> were brown and withered looking. I felt this to be somewhat odd=20
> considering
> that the weather was still quite summer like and that I had seen=20
> sunflower
> plants in Maniban gardens that still seemed robustly upright and=20
> appealing
> to the sun.
>
> Whe I arrived at my older son's place in Kelowna BC I happened to =
ask him
> whether he knew about the sunflower crops around Winnipeg. He had =
spent
> some time in Winnipeg and his girlfriend comes from a town out =
side of=20
> that
> city. My son said that he was told that the sunflower plants are =
sprayed
> with Round Up to facilitate the harvesting of the plants and the=20
> gathering
> of their seeds.
>
> In January of this year I purchased an 18 kg bag of sunflower =
seeds at
> Costco in Halifax. On the bag was printed the name of the company, =
> Keystone
> Grain Limited (they have a website) that distribute the seed and I =
> noticed
> it was in Winnipeg. I looked on the bag for more infornmation and =
was
> surprised to see no mention that the seed wasn't for human=20
> consumption. So
> I wrote them an e-mail to find out if the seed was fit for humans. =
I have
> had no reply.
>
> I was wondering whether you, because of your area of expertise, =
would=20
> have
> any knowledge if in fact this is a method used to harvest the seed =
and
> whether use of such seed - possibly corrupted or contaminated with =
a
> herbicide - would be detrimental to birds.
>
> I read and hear of the decimation and reduction in the counts of =
some=20
> types
> of birds. Could this be a factor to consider or at least make =
notice of?
> =20
>
> =20
> =20
>
> =
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This may or may not be relevant to the above, but this past winter I =
have noted a very dramatic reduction in black oil sunflower seed=20
consumption compared with all previous 20++ years of bird feeding=20
(seeds for which I get locally here in Tantallon). The local =
supplier=20
told me at the beginning of this season that he had changed =
suppliers so=20
I have just contacted him after reading the above to ask where he is =
now=20
getting the seeds from; he tells me they come from a distributing=20
company, Armstrong, in Ontario, but that at least some of the seeds, =
if=20
not all, may well come from further west. He tells me he is not =
hearing=20
from other customers about any change in feeding patterns - but he =
also=20
hasn't asked - and I am left with an even greater concern than I =
already=20
had about the low consumption I am noting. Just for interest I am =
going=20
to try and get some seeds that originate from a different source to =
see=20
if that makes any difference.
I'll keep you posted..........
Eleanor Lindsay
-------------------------------------------------------------------------=
-----
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.=20
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.6/1282 - Release Date: =
2/15/2008 7:08 PM
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I had a flock of 60+ pine siskins =
eating the black=20
sunflower seed at my feeders today - I have a hunch the lack of birds =
may be due=20
to the weather rather than the food. Of course here I have four cats =
(only one=20
is mine), 5 crows, 6 blue jays and a lot of traffic going by so =
that=20
sometimes drives the birds away.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>With my pine siskins today I had one =
redpoll, and=20
three white throated sparrows that joined the party. I also