Backyard bird watching

[PRBuzz]

Not a bird post but has anyone seen squirrels devouring a holly tree? There are at least 4 squirrels seriously pruning this tree for the berries over the last couple of weeks. The branches on the ground (sorry for the blurry pic) are just from today. Other trees/bushes in the vicinity are not even being touched.

Must be a really bad year for acorns.

[PRBuzz]

I haven't had my feeders up for about 3 months and put them up Saturday morning. I can't believe the number of species and total numbers of each type bird that found the feeders within the 1st 24-36 hrs! They really aren't eating a lot of the food but are stashing it all around the area. I sure hope birds are better than squirrels at finding stashes....at least the wrens are finding the nuthatch's stashes.

The rundown: chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, goldfinches, house finches, cardinals, bluejays, juncos, hairy woodpeckers, redbreasted woodpecker, winter wrens, and of course sparrows but they don't count.

Maybe just forecasting the impending 2 snow storms?

The squirrels will have a special treat this year......

[JohnnyD]

Since putting my feeders up last December, I've never had any blue jays or wood peckers at them. Been seeing both pretty consistently lately. Also had a junco last week as well for the first time.

[Raven]

see that !
one junco last week
this week snow

some-how
they always know

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Raven

see that !
one junco last week
this week snow

some-how
they always know

Amazing and so true.

[basswipe]

Got the feeders going yesterday.Not much activity yet but we had a few chickadees and a wren this morning.

This has probably been the latest I've ever waited to put out the feeders.Hell I'm still feeding the fish in my pond,usually this time of year the deicer is already on and the fish have been done eating for a few weeks.

[Raven]

the old timer at Comet Pond told me
that they come in cycles of two's

(14 years a snow plow operator)

meaning that this winter will replicate
last winter.

[ProfessorM]

So I had to take down this monstrous white oak next to the house this past weekend. This tree has been the center of my bird feeding stations for 20 years. God I hated to take it down, perfect specimen, but it has just gotten to be too much work so close to the house. The next morning the birds all came around and were like WTF. Where did the tree go? Why is it on the ground? So I am in charge of cutting up and removing the wood to my stacking area so I didn't get the feeder put up in another location by then but I could tell they were pissed at me for not having their breakfast ready for them. Late that day I put it up on another tree, not as good as viewing for me , but they found it an hour later and this morning they were happy as clams.

[Raven]

One thing i can advise you to do
is to provide a "landing ZONE" for birds
so that they can do a look-see survey first
before they go to the feeders.

Just like at an AIRport
the planes have a runway then disembark passengers
to terminals and there is a rotation of planes coming in.

the airplanes don't land inside the airport buildings.

It's the same with Birds! and that's their comfort ZONE.

I have a dowel screwed to the house at the gutter level
then i have runway ONE screwed to an old fence post
where they have safe landing and hop on in further.

below that
i have various perches and feeders for them to explore.
and of course a recycled 8' footer christmas tree with SUET

on the other set up in the middle of the backyard i have three of
those metal "candy cane shaped" feeder poles in a row with bamboo
sticks going across the top tied down
and then a larger fatter maple branch on there too
so they can zoom down and land easily without any hesitation.

[Raven]

for photography

here's the results while sitting in the office

one for Paul and One for Buzz ;o)

[PRBuzz]

Nice! How much you pay them to pose, going rate 100 black oil seeds?

[nightfighter]

Wind blew seed all over the place last night. Found it >20ft from the feeder.... Threaded a dead circular saw blade through the wire that holds the feeder to keep the squirrels from climbing down to it so easily. So far, so good. If they get around that, I havce a 10 inch ready to try.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

Nice! How much you pay them to pose, going rate 100 black oil seeds?

Suet....
with 4 degrees coming it's more important than seed to them
for survival... otherwise a seed mix with Spanish peanuts

Ross a policeman out in Cal is the latest abuser...
just sprayed a baby squirrel in the eyes with pepper spray....
and he is catchin hell for it... like pissin on dead guys

[PRBuzz]

new bird for the life list today: Snowy Owl

Not expecting to do bird watching so photo taken on an iPhone (thanks ODM) through a spotting scope.

Anyone else that wants to go see it: Sachuest Point National Wildlife refuge

[basswipe]

Snowies are now becoming lower 48 residents this year.That one at Sachuest has brought in quite a few watchers.

[Gloucester2]

A very good friend of mine has great pictures on his phone of a snowie at Bradley Airport in CT

[PRBuzz]

Not all birds of prey have talons and sharp, curved beaks!

Watched a RAVEN ravage a morning dove's nest this afternoon. Saw the adult dove fly to the ground injured but not mortally. Think it later recovered. Then saw the raven fly off with a chick in its beak to another tree. This was no small chick: covered in almost mature features and about 1/2 size or better than the adult. The nest was in a Colorado Blue Spruce in a fairly open, exposed area.

A 2nd chick flew to the ground and disappeared. The raven (same/different?) returned a short time later looking for dessert?

[Raven]

the dove was faking the injury to draw the predator away

[Raven]

Bluebirds at my suet feeder's today

[ProfessorM]

Cool. I've heard them Off and on but not spotted them around the yard for at least two weeks now.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Raven]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

Cool. I've heard them Off and on but not spotted them around the yard for at least two weeks now.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

actually they've been here ever since .....shoving a broken in half berry suet cake into the hollow log is a perfect attraction for them.
they go in... luvin it

[Sundowner]

Any chance to get a birding forum on here? The posts go back on this thread to 08 but there are over 650 posts.One of the cooler pair of birds I have frequent my feeders has been the Eastern Towhee.

[2na]

this kinda is the birding forum.

As such, an outstanding few last days for me. Had the return of the pine warblers (they are pretty much unafraid of me/people so I can get to within a few feet of them), a rare sighting of a yellow rumped warbler (they both go for suet until the bugs come out) (and as I was typing this one showed up on my seed board - I didn't think they did that) two female indigo bunting (hope the guys show up this year), chipping sparrows and, last but certainly not least, something I've never seen before: two ruby-crowned kinglets (unfortunately, they seemed to just be passing through - I was out in the yard and they came from one end to the other flitting through the branches looking for bugs - they are tiny and jumpy and I was fortunate enough to have them pass right around me, within a few feet). On top of that I have a pair of Downy woodpeckers and Hairy woodpeckers taking turns at the suet too - those Hairy's make a racket. When I got down here to Truro I found a pile of feathers under the seed board, so looks like a sharp shinned hawk is around.

Speaking of suet, where is the cheapest place now? I've been hitting Ocean State at $1 a cake - anyone able to beat that? With all of the attention I'm getting at my sole suet station I was thinking of adding another, but I'm going through a cake/week.

[2na]

here's a couple of pics of a male indigo on my seed board from a couple of years ago (May 2009)

[Raven]

a handful of finch food thrown into the mix attracts many other birds.
i have found that some birds enjoy regular beef suet better from the grocery store.
the deals for suet squares less than a dollar each seem to be absent now.
nice pics on the male indigo!
i once had a 5 inch cube stuffed with 6 squares hanging over the seed board and on top of it
i piled a big handful of hulled sunflower seed right in the middle.
well it was like a little table and soon goldfinches started lining up on all four sides
like a little Party until they were shoulder to shoulder....it was the greatest site.

[2na]

thanks for the tip on the beef suet. If I'm gonna set up another station might as well use that. As you point out, having different seed sets the table for different birds. I use mainly black sunflower and safflower in my feeders but grab the tweety bird seed for the ground feeders on the seed board. I mix some of that into the feeder seed, but I find that it usually doesn't get eaten and I end up dumping it out on the ground anyways ~

[Raven]

those red onion bags are super for beef suet feeders
so say the woodpeckers as they like how easy it is to
latch on to. i've never really questioned the price of beef suet
because i could tell i was getting more for my buck than squares

[Sundowner]

I was digging up a small stump in the yard today and came across basically a baseball size and form of grubs, threw them under one of the bird feeders and before I walked the 30' back to the stump all sorts of birds were going ballistic until the grackles showed up and ravaged them. A little while later I looked up and saw something chasing a dove through the trees, they were "moving". Just saw the white underbelly, no time to see the tail. Alot of that going on in my yard lately. 3 weeks ago I looked out and saw a red tail almost smashing into the front window. It came through the middle of 2 spruces that the branches are 10' in front of the window. I could see the whole bottom of the bird, its wing span from a foot away looked like it was 10'!!! Almost messed myself

[Raven]

one thing i have preserved in my backyard is a wicked tangled grape vine thicket that gives the birds an escape pod type of place when the predators arrive and
they'll often sit inside of it singing away with absolutely no fear.

[Raven]

So i'm sitting there.... actually kneeling on the couch
looking out the window at 3 am....the dog's been barkin
somethings been out there doin sumthin...
and i see this mouse jump off the side of the house
into the suet cage basket and start eating away
this is only like 24 inches from my head.

This changes everything....about feeding suet
bad enough that the Fokin racoons have been rampaging
and stealing it blind... now it's time for 1/4 inch mesh wire
.............i am going to build my own set up for suet.