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Index of Subjects annabelle wrote: > Hi Everybody, I sent the concern to a friend of mine in Winnipeg & > she had noticed that the sunflowers north of her looked sick so I > think she phoned, anyway I finally got a reply from her & here it is. >> well I have some news about the sunflower seeds. >> Yes, they spray them early to kill the plants because that makes the >> seeds easier to harvest. apparently they have been doing this for years. > > > Thanks for this! My own personal problem with sunflower consumption continues unchanged and unique in around 25-30 years of feeding: the seeds are barely touched; they are discarded onto the ground directly from feeders, left in feeders, feeder 'saucers' and left untouched on feeding platforms and on the ground - all to be (thankfully) cleaned up by my faithful night feeding staff - the raccoons, who mercifully appear none the worse! I have bought bags from several different stores and companies (and learned in the process that a large portion of all the seeds comes ultimately via the same distributer, Armstrong, in Ontario), I have washed and cleaned my feeders twice (including an additional vinegar soak on my main one), I have tried buying a brand new feeder and I have checked that the seeds I use do have kernels inside, all to no avail. I also borrowed a feeder currently in successful use, plus seeds from a friend (this was sporadically used by my birds, but I was not able to keep it too long and ultimately transferred the remaining borrowed seeds - which were also from the store I usually get mine from - into my own feeder, but the use dwindled to nothing again.) The only feeders to have remained consistently popular thoughout the entire season are my nyger and fat feeders. Despite all these difficulties I continue to have a fairly lively collection of regular birds daily around the feeders - chickadees, bluejays, pheasants, woodpeckers,1 nuthatch, 2 boreal chickadees - until very recently, mourning doves, starlings, 1 song sparrow, 2 whitethroats, a few juncos, goldfinch, siskins and loads of redpolls (approx 30-55 consistently over the past six weeks or so - have never had such a sustained presence of these birds before.) All this has reduced me to using much more 'luxury' seeds than usual on a daily basis: sunflower kernels, peanuts, and added nyger; I will continue this for the remainder of this season and then see what happens in September................... Eleanor Lindsay, Seabright, St Margarets Bay
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