A New Bully on the Block

Georgia gets a lot of pleasure out of feeding the birds. We have a "squirrel proof" feeder hanging off the back deck filled with a mixture of Safflower and Sunflower seed all the time, and it is visited by a steady stream of Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, Finches, Titmice, Cardinals, with occasional Nuthatches, Woodpeckers and even a couple of Mourning Doves, which are just a bit heavy for the feeder.

It also really does keeps the squirrels frustrated, as long as you hang it out of reach. Other birds, including Bluebirds and Blue Jays visit a water dish we try to keep thawed. A dollop of freeze dried meal worms daily is set out to attract Bluebirds, who never actually get any because the wrens and squirrels gobble them too rapidly.  We've tried deterring the squirrels by soaking the meal worms in hot pepper sauce. It helped for a few days, but now the squirrels come by in sombreros.

We were in Wallyworld a couple days ago looking at bird food, and Georgia decided to buy some peanut butter suet in an attempt to broaden the mix of visiting birds. The first morning, it started to look promising, as the Blue Jays found it, and started steadily chiseling off chunks, However, shortly this guy showed up, and the scene changed dramatically:

Yes, this Mockingbird loves the peanut butter suet, and declared the whole back porch to be his exclusive property, sitting on the deck or in the apple tree overlooking the deck, and systematically chasing off any birds trying to feed on the feeder, drinking water, taking meal worms or eating the suet. Even though he doesn't seem to care about the seed in the feeder, or the meal worms.

I don't think we'll be buying anymore peanut suet after he and the squirrels finish off this block.