Where should you stake it so it actually catches the light?

Copper only scatters light when the sun is behind it. Point it wrong and you get a brown pole. Tell me where you sit and when you are out there.

your view
Pick your seat and your hour and I will tell you where to plant me.
When you sit outside, which way are you looking?
When are you actually out there?
Overhead plan of where to stake the spinner relative to your seat
stake it here the sun you, looking this way
Sun positions are the usual ones for mid-northern latitudes. The sun swings further north in summer and further south in winter, so treat this as the right neighborhood, not a survey.
A free tool from my VUFOZ copper wind spinner review.