You are probably to the north of me - up until the last week or so, the birds were eating like crazy. The last time I bought seed, everyone else buying seed said they were in fear of being eaten out of house and home by the birds eating so much. Now I have very light traffic.

What happens is you get nesting birds and while the nest is being built and the eggs are being tended, mom and pop birds stick close to the nest. When the hatchlings emerge, there are suddenly 5 - 8 mouths to feed for every nest instead of 2. And they all seem to nest about the same time -- especially for the first brood (some birds have 2 or 3 broods each year Can you imagine having 6-10 or more babies every year?!?!?). And the hatchlings have to be fed every 15-20 minutes all day long. Those momma and daddy birds work so hard and take the easiest food sources they can, especially if weather or other factors are limiting their foraging in any way (like all the rain we were having in TX). Cat food is rich and has protein and fat for growing and energy -- maybe not ideal, but it's available and it works. Probably not too far from suet cakes you can put out for them and that's great food during the cold and nesting months. Like moving in close to a McDonalds for them. The fledglings leave the nest after 2-3 weeks and get brought to the feeder to be taught to get food for themselves and then they learn to forage.

Point of the story -- things will probably settle down a lot on their own. If you can shield the dish so it isn't seen as easily by the birds, it might help encourage them to look elsewhere (inside a box, maybe set on a table, with a hole cut on the side -- similar to a covered litter box). Trying an alternate spot might help, especially if you can feed him indoors for a while. Birds naturally fly to ledges