In the meantime I've decided I want to encourage the goldfinches again. We still have some of that thistle feed they love, so we buy another thistle feeder (a metal one that I've found) and hang it from a shephards crook type of metal pole that I had lying around. It 's really a plant hangar and not tall enough for feeders, but I wonder if it won't work for thistle in a metal feeder. Certainly they will figure out it's indestructible AND that it contains something they don't even particularly care for.

So up goes the feeder, in a prime spot between two trees. And it works. The squirrels examine it, climb all over it, dance on top of the crook, but they soon lose interest. It doesn't offer anything tasty. The goldfinches are soon back at it and we are enjoying them immensely.

One small victory?