Backyard Bird Watching 2016-17 edition

[PRBuzz]

got about 200 pics + video of this hawk the other day hunting sparrows on my solar array.

[PRBuzz]

Couple days later saw this red shouldered hawk

[FormerUser]

That is awesome!

Great pics and video PRBuzz.

[Guppy]

Buzz
If you didn't sell Rockies toilet you could use it for a bird bath

(Buzz owned (owns?) Rocky Maciano toilet )

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by Guppy

Buzz
If you didn't sell Rockies toilet you could use it for a bird bath

(Buzz owned (owns?) Rocky Maciano toilet )

Still own the house, the toilet left in a dumpster

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

Still own the house, the toilet left in a dumpster

YOU THREW IT OUT!
I was thinking gold fish bowl on my front lawn, damn

[Raven]

the crow on the left (difficult to see)
is eating meat scraps out of a can

the Turkey's are scratching up old cat food (dry)
that i spread on top of the snow

[rphud]

Goldfinches seem to be turning yellow, maybe the groundhog got it wrong again. No skunks yet though.

[beamie]

So the other day I reloaded my feeders. Have 4 feeders out and 2 suit cages.

I used the last of some high priced food. It was $10 for a little bag at Ocean State. The other 3 got filled with stuff I bought at Lowes, allot cheaper.

I tell ya, what ever is in the more expensive bag must be like crack to the birds. They are turning their nose up at the other 3 feeders. My god. I must have snobby high class birds in the neighborhood.........

[FishermanTim]

I picked up a bunch of suet cakes back in Dec when Ocean State had their "crazy card" deals (buy a product and get a gift card)

So I had a couple dozen cakes, a 50 lb. bag of sunflower seed and a 25 lb. bag of niger seed.

The niger seed is most expensive. 25 lb. bag for $29
Sunflower seed is $22 for a 50 lb. bag
Suet cakes, cheap ones were 8 for $5 or $6, the better ones are $1.00 each.

If you go with any of the mixed seed bags you are essentially wasting money (in the long term).
Mixed seed bags (or seed blends as they like to call them) contain ingredients that are on the bottom of every birds food list.

The two main "junk" additives are cracked corn and millet seeds.
Although both will be eaten by birds, they are not a preferred food choice. Corn, if not eaten, can sour and also affect other seed's germination. Millet is a weed seed, so you WILL find it growing in spots around your yard because birds are notorious for dropping food in flight.

I'm not saying don't use these blended seed bags, but just be aware that you can cover all the backyard bird food needs with just the basics (sunflower, niger and suet).

Do a price comparison and see what you spend and then go with whatever you decide.

Above all else enjoy your backyard feathered friends!

[Got Stripers]

The birds are active today for sure, they seem to know what's coming Thursday, had to top off all 3 tube feeders. The sunflower feeder is nice as the song birds have to work to get that one down to a point I need to top it off and it brings in my favorite birds. The cardinals, nut hatches, chickadees, juncos and finches seem to favor the sunflower. The hundreds of sparrows are pigs and empty my tube feeders in short order, even though I have a cooper picking them off regularly.

I have a downy woodpecker who literally is camped out on my suit feeder and sleeps there hanging on when not feeding. I've thinned out the squirrels and I've seen some large prints in the snow (when around), that indicates some coyotes are taking the dead ones home likely that I've chucked in the brush.

[FormerUser]

Originally Posted by Got Stripers

I've thinned out the squirrels and I've seen some large prints in the snow (when around), that indicates some coyotes are taking the dead ones home likely that I've chucked in the brush.

Why would you do such a thing?

You're killing squirrels,throwing them in the brush,attracting and feeding coyotes.This is no good for anyone or anything,including the coyote and any neighbors(and pets) within many miles.

If you're going to kill the squirrels at least keep and consume them yourself,if you don't like that kind of game then I suggest buying a real squirrel-proof feeder if bird watching is really that important to you.

[FishermanTim]

Started watching the eagles nest webcam again.

A nest in PA got destroyed by the winds this weekend.
The tree the nest was in got blown over with a parent bird sitting an egg.

I'm watching the ones in Washington, DC.

[Rob Rockcrawler]

I have been seeing a bald eagle a couple days a week driving down the pike in Auburn. What an awesome sight. I damn near ht one a couple weeks ago near Albany. It came off the river and was about 10' above my windshield.

[FishermanTim]

Late last year my brother was driving near his house in NH, and there were turkeys feeding in a hay field, and as he's watching an eagle swooped down and picked off one of the turkeys.

It never stood a chance...

[Raven]

in my neck of the woods
sign's of spring............
even tho its only 14 degrees this mornin
chickadee's changed over to mating call mode
and several song sparrows arrived.... they are
usually the first to return

[FishermanTim]

When the feeders are empty and I'm in the process of refilling, the chickadees are first to arrive, chirping up a storm as if to say "Can't you fill that any faster?"

One of my funniest events this winter was after refilling all the feeders late one afternoon, I happened to recheck the backyard that same night and found an adult raccoon standing on our deck railing attempting to pull down a suet feeder I had close to the house (on a clothes line). It didn't want to give up until I opened the door and it retreated.

I then moved the feeder out of reach.

Now only the birds can access the feeders.

[PaulS]

Went by the Naugatuck river in Ct yesterday and saw 2 bald eagles in trees about 25 yards off of route 8. Saw them there previously so I knew where to look. 100s of cars drive by them daily and I doubt more than a few people see them. The river use to be so polluted that it would be different colors based on what color sneaker the keds factor was using to color the sneakers that day.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

When the feeders are empty and I'm in the process of refilling, the chickadees are first to arrive, chirping up a storm as if to say "Can't you fill that any faster?"

One of my funniest events this winter was after refilling all the feeders late one afternoon, I happened to recheck the backyard that same night and found an adult raccoon standing on our deck railing attempting to pull down a suet feeder I had close to the house (on a clothes line). It didn't want to give up until I opened the door and it retreated.

I then moved the feeder out of reach.

Now only the birds can access the feeders.

i put up a wooden bird house that has two holes one on the side
fun to watch the chickadee's go in the side and pop out the front
with a sunflower seed.

i also just changed out the hard as a rock suet
with a huge chunk
of beef fat so the woody's can fuel up
before the freezing rain arrives

[FishermanTim]

I put out suet cakes primarily for the woodpeckers, but I've noticed that because the suet cakes are laced with seeds, virtually all the birds (except for ground feeding birds) are hitting them regularly.

Seeing a sparrow hanging on for dear life while feeding made realize the birds will eat whatever and whenever they can!

[rphud]

bear stole the suit and cage, bent the hanger from 45 to level in process

[BEETLE]

just saw the first osprey of the season out on the marsh here in Weymouth. is it early for them to return now ?

[Raven]

had a good sized doe browsing in an area where i threw away
some old bagged cat food (for the turkey's) a while ago that had previously
been covered by snow. After eating she layed down to rest right there while
two other deer slept just outside the gate with the smaller one laying her head
on top of the other one for warmth.

[OLD GOAT]

Charge of robins feeding on our lawn for a few days.
Our snow storm turned to rain and the robins are happy

[PRBuzz]

FYI: the is a King Eider drake in breeding plumage swimming among about 100+ other male common eiders (play Where is Waldo) at the Herring run on CCC. Best views yesterday were as ships/barges transited the area and the flock swam right up against the shore.

[Raven]

buzz,
i have golden's (ducks) and man are they smart...
always escaping and when you try and catch them
you'd swear they know kung fu moves-lol
recently discovered is that they are more intelligent
than dolphins...

[FishermanTim]

Yeah, but do they taste like chicken or "chicken-of-the-sea"?

[Raven]

they taste like veal or liver being extremely rich

i want them for "slug and snail control" as we are inundated
with them so when it's wet and mild i walk them all five
where needed.

[PRBuzz]

Rav,

What sense(s) do Robins use in catching worms: smell, sight, hearing, feel, other?

[Raven]

Robins utilize all four ...they take three or four hops then freeze
-if they feel movement in their feet they cock their heads if the worm cannot be readily seen.

If they see it (right off) they yank it out and dismember it on the spot and swallow the pieces
which they regurgitate into the mouths of the baby robins.

i had a nest in my green house one year and thought it was cool and even hand fed them.
NEVER EVER AGAIN!!! the adults become HOSTILE ...the "little pals" fly out of the nest prematurely
and get lost as they aren't ready to fly really.