Well it is spring again and time to put your feeders out. I have already seen a couple of birds here at my house this year.
Here is something to consider. If you use feeders that have plastic in them, it is a good idea to replace them every couple of years. The reason for this is that plastic will deteriorate over time as it is subject to the sun and weather and could contaminate the nectar. So if your volume of birds has been shrinking lately, this could be one of the reasons. Another reason, as I have mentioned in an earlier post, is to keep the nectar fresh by changing it out every week or so. As it sits it will get stale and also the openings will get covered in pollen and other contaminates. So try to clean your feeders and refill with fresh nectar about every week or so. If you do these 2 things you will increase the amount of birds you will see.
This time of year in order to save on nectar I mix up a batch and only fill the feeders half way and keep the left over in the fridge until needed. Filling the feeders only half way saves on nectar and will easily last for over a week as there are not many birds during the spring. As it gets into summer and the temp rises you will probably have to increase the amount you put in the feeder and maybe even add more feeders. In the spring I only put 2 feeders out and with only half the nectar.
