sad story...looking for the upside

Picked up this great, melmac, handmade bird feeder at a local art show. It is my first bird feeder ever! Yea, yea so I get excited about a bird feeder, we all have our little pleasures. I filled it with the finest seeds that Home Depot has to offer. It was, in fact, a special blend of seeds. Hand selected to attract the finest song birds one's ears will hear. The prettiest little beauties to grace one's yard will come seeking this exquisite blend of seed. It was at least two weeks before the birds found the feeder.

Not long after they were enjoying the tasty delights that I had set out for God's little angels, I found a scattering of feathers under the feeder. I mentioned it twice to Dan. He was quick to change the subject, due to boredom of topic or he really could not comprehend why I was asking. I say this because I finally pushed for a response and it went something like... (I can't really remember the exact words other than "3 yr old" and "killed" because of the shock)...so, something like this... do you have the mental capacity of a 3 year old and you really don't get that birds did not get into a fight and thus the feathers, something killed a bird there!

I was shocked and horrified and not by Dan (he's the sweetest guy who meant no insult) but by the fact that I aided in the death of a bird that I only wanted to feed so that I could selfishly watch and maybe listen to a "thank you, phoebe... for the bird seed" song. ugh

I have since been refilling the bird feeder but may look for a new home to hang it. I bought 2 books from Rodale on how to attract butterflies, humming birds, and birds into my back yard and will do the required research. I hope they have lots of pictures and big (font) words that are easy to understand...