This fall I revamped my bird feeding arrangements. Previously, I put mixed seed into a closed feeder that looked a lot like a little log cabin. You simply flipped the roof to fill and the birds pecking or gravity directed seed to the small base from which the birds fed.

There are lots of feeders built on this design. They work but I found that rain, snow or ice often moistened the lower seed clogging the openings. Servicing that wasn't difficult but one had to watch for moldy seed.

Rule one - if you are going to feed birds, keep the feeders clean. Think of it as dozens of little children with unwashed hands eating from the same dish on an unwashed table. Dirty feeders will cause sick and dead birds.

For a replacement, I split a full sheet of plywood, sawed it until it wasn't square, found a couple of dowl rods and created a roofed platform feeder. With this, bird viewing is enhanced and sanitation is a breeze. As soon as I convince the wind that it is not a sail, things will be near perfect.

I also moved my feeders about 60 feet from in front of the living room window near the woods to a more open area viewed from the kitchen windows. The target is to turn that area into a hummingbird garden next summer, but that is a different story.

Small shrubs, three branchy larger deciduous shrubs, a happy 15-year-old dogwood and two "why won't you grow faster" evergreens ring the new area.

Successful bird feeders offer the birds many escape routes. If you watch closely, you can see that any bird's top priority is to escape the bad guys. The key is to provide easy escape routes without providing cover for predators to ambush your birds.

My new arrangement provides no cover closer than five feet, but plenty of hiding places within 10 feet. That seems to be working rather well.

The chief bane to bird feeding is outside cats, of which I have at least three. I had four but I suspect one of them decided that the neighbor lived in a better world so he moved. My cats are commissioned to mouse the greenhouse and religiously bring me their offerings for my blessing.

After a small bird was brought I had a long discussion with the cats and since then have seen only mice and moles. I suspect that the positioning of the feeders is of more value than the chat I had with the cats.

Other birds also will prey on smaller ones. Cooper and Sharp Shined hawks will treat a poorly located feeder as a smorgasbord. In three months, I have seen one definite kill, several chases with undetermined results and several escapes. When my birds scatter in unison, it is often an opportunity to get a good view of a hawk.

In a recent reading I saw a reference that the common grackle will also target smaller birds. That explains why my birds scatter when a flock of grackles arrive. For a while I was puzzled why the little guys would eat side by side with a grackle-sized morning dove or woodpecker while staying well clear of any grackle.

My new arrangement is more sanitary, more visible, gives the cats less opportunity to ambush and, to my surprise, has eliminated the entertainment provided by pesky squirrels. Life is good. I think my birds agree.