Absurd Avian Accommodations 3: Uninvited Guests

Here are some modifications to the steel pipe bird feeder. The thick steel pipe (formerly a flagpole, I believe) is sunk in concrete to keep the bear from knocking it over, but these new modifications are there to keep the squirrels out.

That large disc is made of copper, by the way. It's a re-purposed chimney cap that got blown off during a hurricane several years ago (yes, I get hurricane weather where I live, though it hasn't been severe enough to threaten any house's structure since before I was born).

I have yet to catch a squirrel IN the feeder since these installing these modifications, but the bloody blue jays love to pick through the seeds, looking for the perfect seed and throwing the rest on the ground, where the squirrels get them, such as this little bugger:

Yes, pictures taken with the phone are automatically rotated. Anyway, that's a black squirrel. No, I do not live anywhere near NYC, but squirrel melanism is common enough that I see it enough where I live. Now, if only that damn pileated woodpecker that lives just outside my office window would hold still for a photo...