had been watching and waiting
to see Bluebirds since winter began
but they've been a NO Show til today

So, I chopped up 5 lbs of special beef Fat
put it at the window ledge feeder
and saw my first Male and Female bluebirds today 2/15/14

I had a Eastern Bluebird (male) at my suet box yesterday couldn't believe it . Never had one in my yard before, I know the bog owner behind my house puts up nesting boxes . Like I said never seen one in the 29 years I've been here probably never see it again
ML Sr.

well you have to change your brand of suet
if your using the store bought squares in the plastic tubs
that particular suet freezes hard as a rock

what's awesome is having a flock of them coming often
grabbing hunks of the "right kind" of suet and knockin them back
like someone doing a shot of tequilla
this suet is the kind people make bread pudding with
then there's the regular white beef fat.... almost as good

only certain meat sections have it.... you have to look
hard far and wide to finally find this special fat they love
they tell other bluebirds once they find it... i swear

added comment: the suet is called beef kidney suet
used for making bread pudding ALSO called RUMBA

cool

Here are my pets, Carolina Wrens. They sleep there. Their heads are buried in their feathers and never even move no matter how close I get. I have not feed the birds this year but my compost pile has been like a bird feeder with tons of birds rooting thru the kitchen scraps all day long.

my wrens are actively feeding and have a green house to go in for shelter
and my hollow log feeder that's always full of goodies

went over to JOB lot to get another 50 lb bag of black oiled sunflower seed
and they had jettisoned the whole load because of old age i suspect

you can always tell (well i can) but there will be teeny tiny white specks
in the seed and that is a bad sign ... so it had been on sale for 25 bucks

found out that an added benefit to running a roof line de-icer to prevent ice damming
is that it provides some drip water when the temperatures are way below freezing

redwings are back

interesting BOB ....they know what's up!
here we have some single digits coming all next week
but they are on their own schedule

redwings are here today

this serves as a guide to how things vary time-wise
from the coastal shore to inland.... roughly two weeks behind

so we'll give it a test ok, soon as you hear spring peepers
down the cape (please announce)
and ....we'll see how long it takes for them
to start their chorus in the woostah area

i've already witnessed Robins staking out territory
and chasing off Bluebirds (i believe they're cousins)
in territorial battles from their chose turf

Today, i have been watching a couple of deer roam
around my canyon and then as i was watching the deer it
bedded down for awhile very camouflaged down there.
Invisible unless you saw it walking.

I saw a Great Blue heron flying near some open waterways, if that counts for anything?

I finished off the last of the suet cakes and now it'll just be niger seed and sunflower, until that runs out and then they are on their own!

Racoon's will be raiding suet soon

got raided the night before last
they took off with a suet cake

today ushered in the arrival of
the welcomed ROSE Breasted Gross Beaks
Love the Bird but they are supreme eating machines
so much so i have to feed the blue jays all the left over
dry catfood abandoned by the fussy fat cat

beautiful day today
outside working on the boat
heard a bird calling that sounded new
lo and behold the baltimore oriel had arrived

nice visit raven
did you have oranges in the feeder to bring them in?

Heard my first oriole a week ago here. One of my favorite calls
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

but i have so many different colored feeders
it was checking out the whole set up hoping from
one to another....

i had placed a partial bag of sunflower seed
in the wheel barrow and it absorbed some rain water unfortunately
causing a good portion of it to sprout, So having already purchased
a new 50lb bag of smaller higher quality black oiled from south dakota
i dumped it (the old one) over the chain link fence.

tonight to our surprise our old friendly turkey (a male)
was over there 30 feet from the office window
stuffing his crop .... with much pleasure.

orioles here and my favs- hummingbirds :).

not allowed.... same as SODA

thanks for the heads up on the H-Birds

gotta go grab 5 lbs pronto :uhuh:

I haven't seen or heard the orioles yet, but they should be here soon as the crab apple trees (and pretty much all trees) are blooming. For me nothing matches the sight and sound of orioles chasing off rival males, as they rocket through the branches in an orange blur.

I put out three hummingbird feeders, and hopefully there will be some visitors soon, I mean besides the usual ants and wasps.

seems the hummingbirds pass on the nectar after only 2 days, I remember it lasting longer last year?? does that sound right??

now that you mention it....

i've been debating the same thing and the necessity of boiling/simmering
the water to get the sugar to dissolve

i find that if it's warm thats fine and i stand there stirring
until the water is clear and no sugar is seen on the bottom.

Yesterday i sat out front to observe them and a female ruby throat
was coming to the feeder.... watching me watch her....

As i love mimicry... i imitated the sound of a humming bird doing
multiple sit sit sit sit's sound effect and she flies off the wire's
that stretch over the front yard immediately stopping in front of my face....
as if to say... i know it's you.... heh heh heh

but then.... i observed something kinda cool
over in the pine tree (blue spruce) where they seek shelter and build a nest...
she started doing this maneuver flying in a short arch
like a pendulum (but upside down arch) maybe 24 inches wide
making this weird sound .... maybe attracting a mate? dunno
but it's hypnotic because they are making a sound at each side
of the arch and they blend or harmonize because they are moving
almost faster than the eye can see...

out west i witnessed this too but it was loop de Loops (big ones)
it's difficult to describe at best...

i have my feeders hanging underneath the front porch roof so
it keeps the solution out of the sun except for an hour or two...
~
i went and purchased an oriole nectar feeder thats ORANGE
but so FAR .... the oriole hasn't returned

the wood thrush

best vocalist of all :point: in the bird world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnTKO6uurG8

play it once and when you hear it you'll know what it is

as cold as it is....post rain storm
raw crapola
birds are appreciating the no melt
peanut suet big-time....

sounds like a baby goat hollering help to it's mama
or when the feeder person shows up at feeding time on a farm

or a child calling out to a distant friend >>>> HALP

it flew over.... and the sound was heard fading as it
got further away.... and further away

it was very LOUD
and i cannot say that i've ever heard it Before
my hearing is Extraordinarily good....too

i have no idea what it was :huh:

had a Flicker dancing around my yard yesterday... the only woodpecker that does some ground feeding

typically they hunt/ find and eat white lawn grubs

If they eat grubs I hope he sticks around... I did use Grubex this spring... but I usually do nott put any fertilizer down..

white hen! on the bench with all the chicks under it.
never seen one this light colored :uhuh:
been there half the day,,,,

59420

judging by the lighter color of the head and neck skin i'd have to say
what you have there is an Albino Turkey
dark pigmentation not seen in the feathers is not seen also in the skin
comparing it to the individual in the foreground....

judging by the lighter color of the head and neck skin i'd have to say
what you have there is an Albino Turkey
dark pigmentation not seen in the feathers is not seen also in the skin
comparing it to the individual in the foreground....

pretty cool hey Rav?
if and when it comes back I'll take a little closer picture,,, I'm suppose to be working instead of looking out the window over my monitor!!! :smash:

the money shot would have been a male albino
with feathers spread

had cardinals and rose breasted gross beaks eating side by side til 8:30 pm

noticed this evening......... :)
a red headed wood pecker (probably a red belly)
taking the peanut suet from the woodpecker tree (i built) basket
and then feeding it to it's new Baby ,,, mouth to mouth
basically teaching it... "this is where you get the GOOD Stuff"
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/woody.jpg

inundated with female Rose-Breasted Gross Beaks
after two pairs here produced mainly females in the broods.
Man can they ever EAT ....they are like Machines..... munch munch munch
said in Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice>>> Give US your Sunflower Seeds
and we Will Terminate them....

Seems like those Grosbeaks travel in packs. Here today, stick around for a short while like a few days eating a bunch of stuff, then you never see them again.

Seems like those Grosbeaks travel in packs. Here today, stick around for a short while like a few days eating a bunch of stuff, then you never see them again.

they are Juveniles recently hatched out
i had one fly into my greenhouse glass door and break its neck...

i keep the feed bag on that i am more of a wild bird breeder
than feeder because i have multiple species broods of crying babies
flappin their wings helplessly wanting to be fed...

and Paul (professor) ....i have a Carolina Wren that made it's nest in our plastic mailbox... they're known for making them in Odd places

Can't recommend no melt peanut butter suet highly enough
the downies love it so do the catbirds, nuthatches
the red belly woodies
and the flickers are hooked on it

well here it is Thanksgiving

i just got finished loading up all the feeders and filling all the suet
stations as it is very miserable conditions outside.

Got a Carolina Wren living in a nest above the light over the back door. It is sheltered over the light with a roof so it is out of the weather. I usually have one or a pair living under that roof somewhere over many years now.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nothing unusual about this, I know, but I did see a large flock of lucky wild turkeys today.

job lot had 18 skids of black oiled sunflower seeds
coming in
i had to return a 40 lb bag back to wally world
shoulda known better that for 18.95 it was to good to be true
it was soooo old the meats had separated out of the shells

Yeah, they had tons of sunflower seed but no large bags of niger seed. They had small bags, but they are not worth the price when you feed the birds all season long.

Suet has been out a couple of weeks now, and the only birds I haven't seen (as part of my regular contingency) has been the slate colored junco's.

@ these temperatures (ie below freezing) store bought suet
or REAL beef suet is better ..... not so good in a steady rain (week of rain)
as it tends to mold up...
Niger seed is good ....but clumps in rainy weather
better to buy FINCH FOOD somewhere and do an ocasional
broadcast by hand into all the dry or drier spots

always nice to brighten even the nastiest day
seeing bluebird's return and eat beef suet


the photo's came out SUCKY because of reflection off storm door

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/bbs%20006.jpg

I also enjoy feeding the birds , i guess growing up in a farm environment, back in norwalk , and loving the out doors. i keep several suiet feeders filled year round. like you guys said big difference in suiet types. i found the best ,i like is located right in the meet- chicken area . fresh beef suiet . and i enjoy keeping several bird seed feeders up also . and allot of bird houses . it mellows you out when you watch them. Frank

Just had a huge flock of robins fly through my back yard. Rested for 15 minutes and flew on..

Just came home to see a big flock of Bluebirds in the tree next to the house.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Big flock of Robins eating berries off the Viburnums now too. My compost pile draws in tons of birds too.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Just had a huge flock of robins fly through my back yard. Rested for 15 minutes and flew on..

i discovered when i moved from florida to atlanta one year
that the robins arrive 30 days before spring arrives.

this process repeated itself the same spring
when i relocated just afterwards from atlanta back to boston

the robins arrived 30 days before spring arrived
even though the snow storms were happening in both locations.

.. wow ? while out snow-blowing my rear driveway near the lightly wooded area today ( southington-CT ) , I seen a small flock of robin's 14 + - , out and about . I sure wish them well ,when heavy snow falls I always spread extra seed out , in no snow areas for my feathered friends. Frank.

robins will eat finely chopped suet
they are not fond of hoping on snow tho

bittersweet berries is what sustains them
during the Last month of winter

yesterday i heard one here .... but
no flocks yet.

My bird of the week was a bald eagle that was picking up pickerel off the ice after a small ice fishing tourney on the lake. It landed between a gull and a crow and robbed their asses, it was pretty cool. Made a pass about 20 feet away from me.

heard and then saw my buddy the Caroline Wren this morning

Carolina wrens are my favorite bird in the yard. I had huge numbers of them for years then a few winters back when we really got smoked with snow they disappeared. I have had a handful this year, will be interesting to see if this snow makes them split.

i just got back from plowing the driveway
and shoveled the walks & clear the door swing area ect.

i go to un-burry my rubbermade trash can (birdseed can)
thats under a 1 1/2 feet of new snow....

and a rodent has chewed a whole right thru the LID

now i'll have to upgrade to a steel barrel :hs:

Had a good size red tail hawk almost come through the deck window doors try to grab a junco on the deck railing. Banked hard left and missed crashing...missed the junco as well. Keep watching for the replay since the juncos are back on the railing. Rather the hawk take a few squirrels as long as its in the yard.

i have so many birds that they descend down from the maples
.......it's like falling leaves in a windstorm

i have a red tail that will land on the roof peak
to grab a chickadee or junco or titmouse
on occasion as i find feather piles where it smacked into it

60580

count birds? I have done this the past few years


http://gbbc.birdcount.org/?utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=96bf17009f-2015GBBC_News_Release_January_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-96bf17009f-278108985

Bob that's a real task
i'd go bonkers trying to do that :spin:

they only will eat suet

sometimes it's available sometimes not
scored today!

this extra large basket found at walmart holds
$6.00 of suet all at once.... the other suet froze rock solid

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/bluesuet.png

small bird stomachs are really really small

so take your toaster outside and give it a

good shake and little birds eat it right up

Rav, that looks like a 1/2 inch opening. The squirrels were able to get through mine until I cut out pieces of 1/4 inch hardware cloth and lined it. Their little ugly sharp teeth can't get through to reach it and drives them crazy. :)

yeah i know.... was thinking along the same lines
might have to buy a piece of mesh....

friggan starlings are more of an issue as their feasting sound
draws more and more until it's like piranha

just a heads up:
Lowe's has the bigger suet baskets and they have
this slide over the top (something new)
landing deck to allow birds to sit and scarf suet....
new sound: (coming to a Bigfish gutter near you -lol)
this morning the woodpecker was drumming on the maple tree

Going to fill up the feeders today for the first time in 2 years. Feeling bad for the little buggers this year. I'll bet it only takes an hour before an air traffic controller will be needed.

I'm trying to figure out how to get to where the feeder will be placed... Chest deep snow where I want it, which is based on not hitting neighbor's property when I want to "discourage" squirrels.....

Good to be small. Most of the snow holds my weight. Got to all of them easy.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Feel bad for the poor things, been feeding them bread all winter. Usually gone within an hour.
Saw my first Robin this am... Spring is comin'!!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

old dry cat-food thrown out at night
brings out the predators .... "hint"

i even feed Crows
using the broadcast method on top of hard snow
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/sign-GUYS/CROW.jpg

see that thicket behind the crow
i throw old apples to deer in there
and watch them BED down back in the canyon
redwings returned today

wish this was my photograph -it isn't of a Pileated wood pecker
but this is what i saw this afternoon hoping up a dead tree
across the canyon....just got a quick peek with the binoculars
and he left the area... unreal how big they are!
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/pileated.png

enjoying the purple finches song.....
having an outside coffee on our
first 70 degree day
listen to it here....
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Finch/sounds

birds in full chorus now
that's my alarm clock
time to make the coffee
towhee's are back
still no catbirds

catbirds showed up today
two baltimore oriels arrived
rose breasted gross beaks are here too...
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/rose.png

Saw my first hummingbird this morning. Also heard the catbirds too
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

hearing your Hummingbird sighting
i made a batch of sugar water (6 cups boiled water to 2 cups sugar stirred clear)
located two feeders and set them up
have hummingbirds feeding today already

Also known as a Black and white Creeper
because they behave like the Brown Creeper

here's what it looks like. positive ID because i was
only 12 feet away with very powerful Binoc's

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/Blackand%20white-Warbler.png

a great idea
the ant moat (http://parkseed.com/jewel-box-hummingbird-feeder/p/37651/)
on this feeder
the (black ants) bastids
can even crawl down 20 lb test :hs:

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/hb.jpg

after living once on a ranch that had 100 chickens
i got pretty good at imitating their c l u c k i n g... ok (that being said)

i go to let the dog out yesterday
and our Local sorta pet neighborhood turkey
comes walkin up the trail from the back field

for what ever reason instinct kicked in and i started
c l u c k i n g at him/ her not sure which
and it was Fascinated studying me intensely sensing
no danger....

it extended it's one leg backwards in the air to stretch out
as it stood on the other .....staying there ...about 35 feet away
trying to figure out what i was saying in fowl language....

then it slowly headed back down the trail :jester:

Noticed something odd hanging off my cedar stockade fence today when I went to fill the feeders. Seemed feathery but pretty decomposed.

Last week when we were away a bird appears to have gotten a leg stuck in between two pickets. Struggling it just slipped deeper down to the top rail.

What a way to go.

saw one of free range chickens dead (long time ago)
it tried to eat a lizard that was a little too big to swallow
the back legs sticking straight out at the Beak...

night visitor ....smaller than a grey squirrel
...faster than speedy gonzales...
turns out the wide eyed lil bugger is a
flying squirrel ...known for getting into your house

Rocky
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

(stairway to heaven) we call it :)
Christmas Turkeys strolling by
@9:20am
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/Christmas-Turkeys.jpg

setting my wife up for back yard bird watching, bought her a set up....did not realize the cost, the free standing pole(rod), squirrel cover, plastic thistle seed container and suet and holder....
$110.00 ....may need a loan to buy thistle seed....lol.....:)

those RED mesh or white mesh potato bags
work great for suet feeders.

Hey, you PAY for them when you BUY potato's
they are easy for wood peckers to "Cling" to

I wrapped a hollow log with black shade cloth strip
to make it clingy and to hold IN the GROCERY store bought
MEAT fat suet which is Highly preferred ...and a chunk of
LOG with Simulated wood pecker holes 3/4 inch to 1 1/2
and you HEEL IN(with palm of hand) some fat into those holes
and you'll have happy nutty's and WOODPeckers.

I spread seed for some cedar wax wings
but they didn't go for it... they split.

the Turkeys got Captured from my Blind
heh heh

wooped em again Josey

how's this for a close up
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/a-turkey.jpg

Nice close up......looks like all hens and one tom....U ever harvest one for thanksgiving or xmas?...:)

thinkin bout that
turkey season 2016

I'm about to make a big pile of dead woodpeckers if anyone wants to take some pics…. #^&#^&#^&#^&ing things have made holes all over my house.

I'm about to make a big pile of dead woodpeckers if anyone wants to take some pics…. #^&#^&#^&#^&ing things have made holes all over my house.
they are either looking for food in your wood
because it's there

or merely using the wood as a RING the bell Knocker
to announce that this is their territory to other woodies

you can hang hollow logs (drums) far from your house
to attract them :point: away
and/ or make suet logs (combo)

like so....
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/log.png

the log has a "hollow"
I took a perfect sized chunk
of real beef suet
and hammered it in the hole (tight)

the black netting is to
replace the bark which fell off
to give them something to cling to

I lent a buddy an owl with the wobble type head and it seems to be working. Just move it so they don't get used to it. He actually saw the woodpecker put something in a hole it made. He got the ladder and found a black sunflower seed it put in the hole.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I used to watch nuthatches
(incredible birds)
tuck individual sunflower seeds
underneath each roof shingle where
the little gap (cut out) is for later.

First casualty from the new bird feeder....red tail hawk pounced on a dove...tried to take picture to far away....:)

have a cheapo round plastic table out there
to provide a semi free no snow zone

I have a dozen doves...but today they are gone
riding out the storm because they are ground feeders

as Nothing goes to waste here @ the Homestead
the Xmas turkey rack and bones goes to the crows
rather than the trash can which just invites trouble.

I have a pet crow that I am Taming step by step.
Here he is sitting on the POST right where I want him
as they are quite adept at recognizing peoples Faces.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/mycrow.png

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/2deer.png

after the 5 inch storm, high winds and cold temps no birds at the feeder for 2 days....maybe with the sun out today they will appear...:)

wind chill factor i think
when the snow becomes hard
that's when i broadcast sf seed
and switch over to pricey hulled seed

because it takes allot of energy to
peck open a seed for the little ones

....blue jays swallow them whole....

i have my sentry crows all eating out of
my bacon grease cans i screwed to the top edge
of my fence posts...which i replenish with mice
and other :point: freebies

They were back in full force today.....:)

i'm psyched after seeing a Pileated wood pecker land on the cedar tree next to my garage and he was pecking away. They are just Huge having the side profile of a pheasant in flight. Now ....i'll go over there and fill his holes with beef suet.

here he is :point:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/awoody.jpg

that dead wood up there is 8 inches wide and your seeing just half of him.

My buddy was back yesterday and actually hung around long enough for me to take a pic.

great photo Basswipe

i haven't seen my snowy owl that normally sits atop of the barn
and wish i had a few more predators around...too many rodents!

here's my flock of Goldies
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/goldies.jpg

Friends with feeders complain about sparrows and squirrels....have not had problems with them, I have 3 squirrels in the yard....only been putting out thistle and homemade suet some little birds and a woodpecker enjoying the suet, doves love the left overs on the ground...:)

they are probably using millet based seed and i consider it worthless

I have about a 1/2dz pics of "a" bird in almost the same exact position over the past 5-6yrs.Me thinks its the same bird!

Great pic of the Piliated. I have been seeing one the last two years at my house. Last week he stayed for about a half hour, wasn't concerend about people in the slightest. I had 8 people come over for a viewing. Pretty cool watching it pound a swamp maple. From about 40 feet away i could see chunks of wood falling to the ground. By far the coolest bird i have ever seen.

Friends with feeders complain about sparrows and squirrels....have not had problems with them, I have 3 squirrels in the yard....only been putting out thistle and homemade suet some little birds and a woodpecker enjoying the suet, doves love the left overs on the ground...:)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
there's suet and then there's cheap suet

the peanut butter no melt is highly favored

the REAL beef suet sells for under 3 bucks typically
for a big chunk but hard to find sometimes tho

I have been making my own hard suet treats with crunchy peanut butter, dried fruit too....bought some Nut N Berry food which has safflower, sunflour, peanuts etc:, gonna mix in a gelatin mixture...just finished making a 7'pole with 4 feeding stations, cost about 70 bucks and then my labor

pictures would be nice.... fly rod

f-ing turkeys try to keep me busy out back
they have made a deal with the squirrels
then 3 will sneak around to the front
i send them flying hurahhhhh !!!!

Great pic of the Piliated. I have been seeing one the last two years at my house. Last week he stayed for about a half hour, wasn't concerend about people in the slightest. I had 8 people come over for a viewing. Pretty cool watching it pound a swamp maple. From about 40 feet away i could see chunks of wood falling to the ground. By far the coolest bird i have ever seen.

here he is: about 50-60 feet away :point: feeding at the 8" x 8" suet basket
and it took me 3 weeks of waiting to seem him finally get interested in
something other than making holes in my cedar trees. of course i filled all his holes with suet ha ha ha

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/feeder.jpg

thank god for another sign of spring

red wing blackbirds have arrived

i LONG for the sound of Peepers....


can't wait for ICE OUT

thank god for another sign of spring

red wing blackbirds have arrived

i LONG for the sound of Peepers....


can't wait for ICE OUT

Lots of grackles here.

There are some around here that are still waiting ICE IN!

and the real prize is
seeing the "indigo Bunting"


http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/indigo%20bunting.jpg

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

what is you thoughts as to why he came in raven. Been waiting for one for a LONG time.

and the real prize is
seeing the "indigo Bunting"


http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/indigo%20bunting.jpg

Jim.... he came in to the sunflower seed set up
and they are ground feeders exclusively.
luckily for me he returned so i could get a front shot.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/indigo%20bunting2_1.jpg

his beak looks strange but that's because he's shelling a sunflower seed.

man hes all lit up looking for a mate

mate is here....striped and dark