Dear
Friends:
 After having an enlightening and thought provoking
conversation with a customer last week, we created a new term, “feeder
pooling”. The customer had just told me how she and the two neighbors
directly on either side of her home were taking turns filling their feeders in an attempt
to save money, and not have to give up completely on a hobby they all thoroughly enjoyed,
and loved. The birds are still being fed, but by taking turns, they save a few bucks on
birdseed.
I thought, hmmmm…this sounds a lot like the concept of
car-pooling…they’re all going in the same direction, in this case feeding birds,
perhaps the same flock of birds, but now they are offering birdseed collectively.
It works so perfectly for these neighbors because of the configuration of
their backyards: the area blends, and they still have nice views of colorful songbirds in
winter. The customer began giggling as she told me that her designated weeks
"off" from filling the feeders this winter have been the snowiest!
She also said while it seems like a solid plan, she just could not help
herself and still tossed out a few handfuls of seeds for the squirrel that comes to her
deck just outside her dining room window. She suspects the others are doing the same. The
cost of birdseed and feeding birds has come down in the past month, and we hope the prices
hold steady for a while. As Old Man Winter settles in for what seems to be a nice long
run, attracting colorful songbirds to a bird feeder makes it all worth it. Happy bird
feeding!
Louise Dawson
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