[Tweeters] buying bird seed

[Patricia Asher]

When I lived in Illinois I almost always bought seed at Costco.  It was a
great mix of black oil and striped sunflower seeds, safflower, a few
peanuts, dried cranberries and very little (if any) white millet.  Imagine
my surprise when I purchased the seed at our local Silverdale Costco and
saw the difference in the blend.

I know that different Costco's can have different products depending on
their buyers.   But the difference between the two is unbelievable.

Happy New Year,
Patricia Asher

On Mon, Jan 2, 2023 at 2:25 PM Gary Bletsch <garybletsch at yahoo.com> wrote:


> Dear Tweeters,

>

> When I lived in Skagit County, I bought most of my bird seed at Fred

> Meyer. They'd have huge bags of black-oil sunflower at a price usually a

> bit lower than other stores. At times, they'd have it on sale for even less.

>

> I must admit, the last time I shopped at my local Fred Meyer in

> Burlington, the service was so abysmally shoddy that I vowed never to go

> back. That was not too hard, since I knew that I was moving to NY State in

> a few weeks, anyway.

>

> Sometimes I would splurge and get seed at Skagit Wild Bird Supply on

> Memorial Highway, just west of Mount Vernon. They had a mix called

> something like "Skagit Blend." It was good stuff, but often rather

> expensive. I could usually rationalize spending that extra bit, because

> they there was a good chance they would have a few interesting birds at

> their feeders, including American Goldfinches, which can be hard to find in

> wintertime in Skagit County.

>

> The bird seed at Costco in Burlington seemed to vary. I had bought some

> there about 20 years ago, and it was very poor quality--not just white

> millet, but a lot of the useless red millet. A couple of years ago, I got

> some there on a whim, and it was much improved. There was either no red

> millet, or just a trace. I had chickens, so I didn't mind having a little

> seed that the wild birds didn't like. The chickens would take care of any

> leftovers.

>

> White millet is fine by me--juncos like it. It's not as good as black-oil

> sunflower, but I think it's a good bird seed for some species.

>

> I had so many Red-winged Blackbirds at my feeders that it didn't really

> matter what sort of seed I got. They'd even eat the nyjer seed when I'd

> splurge on that. Quantity was more important than quality.

>

> Another good spot for bird seed was Skagit Farm Supply. I would often buy

> seed at their Sedro-Woolley store, and sometimes at the Burlington one.

> They'd have suet on sale sometimes for a good price.

>

> Now I'm here in Chautauqua County, New York, and I buy virtually all of my

> seed at the Audubon Community Nature Center. Their Conewango Blend is quite

> good--not that you could get it anywhere near Washington State!

>

> Happy New Year.

>

> Yours truly,

>

> Gary  Bletsch

>

>

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