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These and the pictures on the first page were taken in 1998. By this time, the feeder was well established. It did have some minor problems above and below, however. From above, the iron rod provided a perfect path for squirrels to crawl down.
I wouldn't have minded that so much, but they begin chewing holes into the plastic 3-liter bottles.
Then below, there was a problem bare spot on the ground. Not all the bird seed was being eaten at the perches. A good part of it was falling to the ground and being eaten there by the larger birds who couldn't fit on the perches. Nothing goes to waste, but the foot traffic was preventing anything from growing.
Small branches and limbs fell from the Texas Native Pecan tree constantly. I got an idea to create a barrier about the parameter of the bare spot; this would put a limit on the foot traffic and prevent the spot from spreading.
As the years passed and branches kept falling, I kept adding to the circular stack of sticks.
All the grass at the roots of the tree was disappearing as the birds fed on the seed fallen from the bird feeder.
The pigeons were the largest "bottom feeders" as well as the smaller brown white wing doves. The doves, however could get on the feeder perches, albeit somewhat ackwardly. Small sparrows were the major customers at the perches.
