Backyard bird watching

[striprman]

they make a nest like a hanging bag, different. I'll try to get some pic's

[FishermanTim]

I love seeing and hearing the orioles when they arrive.
When they are fighting off rival males they will fly through tree branches with wreckless abandon, and chirping loudly in their distinctive trill.

As for garter snakes eating birds, when they get large enough, they will eat wahetever they can fit in their mouths. They have been known to eat vole and shrews, so small birds particularly newly hatched ones, would be right up on their menu.

Fortunately the snakes are much more beneficial than harmful to our backyard environment.

[chrisjoe13]

So, two weeks ago I noticed that an Eastern Phoebe had built her nest
on the top edge of my shed door (about an inch wide). On a whim, I tacked a small box next to the door and moved the nest. I reformed it the best I could and within an hour she was back working on it.
Yesterday I reach up and snap a pic to see inside the nest and saw 5 eggs....but 2 are different.
Apparently the 2 speckled eggs are brown headed cowbird eggs. (they hatch first and get all/most of the food).
My first inclination was to take them out but after reading more, some say that the cowbird will come and destroy the nest if the host bird (or anyone) removes its eggs.
Anyone know if there is any truth to this?

[chrisjoe13]

stupid cowbird eggs..

[Raven]

they lay eggs in 200 specie's nests
and it's a leavem and forgettem process
so if it were me, i'd remove the C-B eggs and tossem

[Raven]

Welcomed them back with 3 batches made and 6 feeders HUNG !

had one there enjoying it in 5 minutes.....

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
now i'm real mad

it only took the Big black carpenter ants 1.5 days to find the humming bird set up
and i had to remove them all until i re suspend them usin 20lb mono (again) to
foil their raiding party because they cannot walk down it! basturds

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by Raven

they lay eggs in 200 specie's nests
and it's a leavem and forgettem process
so if it were me, i'd remove the C-B eggs and tossem

Although they have a place in nature, they have been doing a number on many songbirds up and down the east coast. They will lay their eggs in another birds nest, their eggs hatch first and the first thing they do after hatching is push out all other eggs/chicks so that they are the only survivor. They have played havoc with the bluebird population.

They had a nature special on PBS a few years ago about songbirds and their decline in the wild. Pretty interesting.

[chrisjoe13]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Although they have a place in nature, they have been doing a number on many songbirds up and down the east coast. They will lay their eggs in another birds nest, their eggs hatch firstm and tghe first thing they do after hatching is push out all other eggs/chicks so that they are the only survivor. They have played havoc with the bluebird population.

They had a nature special on PBS a few years ago about songbirds and their decline in the wild. Pretty interesting.

One of the PBS guys is the one that said if you remove their eggs, they destroy. still havent taken them out, but want to.

[justplugit]

The crows are raiding the nests here and the Blue Jays are after
them in full force.

Ants are amazing. The carpenter ants will move the sawdust 30 feet
away from the nest at night, not to be detected. You can Back track the army
from the saw dust as they march back and forth to the nest with a flashlight
at night.
Can't believe how strong ants are.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by chrisjoe13

One of the PBS guys is the one that said if you remove their eggs, they destroy. still havent taken them out, but want to.

THEN PERFORATE THEM

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Although they have a place in nature, they have been doing a number on many songbirds up and down the east coast. They will lay their eggs in another birds nest, their eggs hatch firstm and tghe first thing they do after hatching is push out all other eggs/chicks so that they are the only survivor.

Sounds like the earliest blue print for bird socialism. The Blue Birds do all the work building
the nest for their own and the Cow Birds reap all the benefits.

[Raven]

having raised cockatiels i can tell you they lay lots of eggs

[Saltheart]

Saw the first of those orange/red cardinals I get in my backyard. They have a distinct orange tint to them , not the pure red cardinal color. He was standing on the ground and kept hopping up a foot picking what I guess were bugs off a very short bush above him.

Love the colored birds. they seem to go with the bright spring colored flowers.

[Raven]

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/vi...ucked.cnn.html

[Raven]

late at night a high pitched whistle

that went up in scale ....ending in a quick zippy ending

the only way i can describe it....

sounded like a kids whistle or blowing into an acorn top...

i'm thinking some sort of OWL .....but have no idea....

which one it could be

[goosefish]

Originally Posted by Raven

late at night a high pitched whistle

that went up in scale ....ending in a quick zippy ending

the only way i can describe it....

sounded like a kids whistle or blowing into an acorn top...

i'm thinking some sort of OWL .....but have no idea....

which one it could be

Could have been a whipoorwill.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by goosefish

Could have been a whipoorwill.

i checked all whipoorill sounds and found no match....


that was a good guess however...

[chrisjoe13]

I removed the speckled eggs from a second phoebe nest in my yard....
4 white (phoebe) eggs hatched and grew, 0 cow birds.

[FishermanTim]

I was out fishing the Charles upstream from the Dedham Mall. I was fishing the weed line along a small cove just past the first bridge you would come to heading up river and I noticed what I thought was a bird in distress on the opposite shore.

turned out to be a turkey vulture trying to find a way to make a meal out of a huge dead snapping turtle on the shore. This was the first time I've seen one of these large birds, and it was an awesome sight.

Oh, and I did manage to catch a few good size bass and pickerel as well!

[Raven]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

on the opposite shore.

turned out to be a turkey vulture trying to find a way to make a meal out of a huge dead snapping turtle on the shore.

Oh, and I did manage to catch a few good size bass and pickerel as well!

when i was growing up there was a story of how a couple went to have a picnic (beside the Charles river)
and spread a blanket to lay the baby down then walked back to get the basket and beverages....

as they turned around to walk right back a huge snapper was observed dragging the baby into the river never to be seen again...
afterwards...
the Police used huge hooks baited with chickens and cable i guess and hauled out a large number of huge snappers
then shot them with shotguns to check stomach contents for baby parts.

i think you were lucky to be on that side of the river

[PRBuzz]

Great site for counds, here's owls: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax/55/


How close the the E Screech come to what you hear?

[Raven]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

Great site for sounds, here's owls: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax/55/


How close the the E Screech come to what you hear?

yeah a great site

was freakin the wife out with those calls-lol

sounded more like a barn owl shreak actually ....
but more of a whistle sound to it... very zippy.... kinda
it was so weird it woke me out of a sound sleep

[FishermanTim]

Maybe it was the North-Eastern Chubacabra?

You might check to see what nocturnal birds are resident to your area and do a search based on those results.

[FishermanTim]

Here's a quick result to my search:

Is something (or someone) keeping you awake these summer nights?

Many questions come to eNature about night birds calling and other weird and incessant noises in the dark. It seems that there’s a lot of activity taking place when most of us expect our birds to be resting.

What’s going on? And who’s making all that noise in the dark?

Depending on the kinds of calls, and the location in North America, they could be any of at least four bird species.

Whip-poor-wills and their relatives are famous for calling their names, over and over again, sometime into the thousands of times without stopping. Unless you like to fall to sleep to the call of the whip-poor-will, it can become annoying.

Northern Mockingbirds are well known night callers, especially if there is a full moon. Enthusiastic mockingbirds can stay up ALL night, mimicking every bird song in the book as well as other sounds such bells, whistles, and sirens. These are birds that can try the patience of the most committed bird-lover!

If the call is coming from a wetland, it is probably one of the two night-herons, the black-crowned or yellow-crowned. They make squawks and cackles, and sometimes scary noises that will wake the heaviest sleeper.

Owls make another kind of noise in the night, which can range from the hooting of great horned owls to the whinnyings of screech-owls.

All of these birds are protected by state and federal laws, and nothing can or should be done to disturb them, not matter how annoying they are. The best solution is to either enjoy them, or to put plugs in your ears.

[Raven]

after much thought...
i believe it was a death shriek of a fur bearing mammal
that was just caught by my always around well fed wild Bob Cat
or a bird of prey that got lucky ... as it was more like a scream

none of the Owl sounds have even came close....

[justplugit]

I saw 7 small hawks in about 10 minutes time migrating at high speed and altitude yesterday with the clear blue skies.
They had to be flying 50 mph and after looking them up I identified them as
Peregrine Falcons.
They were flying east to west and I have a feeling they were migrating from NYC
as they have been making a comeback there for several years and like the high buildings. They say they can dive up to 150 mph. Unbelievable speed and a thrill to see.

[justplugit]

Nat Geo had a program this morning on Goshawks and Peregrines.
The Goshawks have telescoping eyes that can see up to 5 miles and produce a circular air current from their wings when flying, similar to a helicopter to hold them up. They will spend up to an hour hunting a single prey.
Unbelievable.

[Raven]

to the south of me is some 200 foot tall pines
that are growing up on top of Rock mountain
the Hawk sits up there at the very top each afternoon to scope the
grassy valley below and to catch the last of the afternoon Sunshine
before the sun sets. Many mice and voles come out at dusk
and they'll descend to lower branches as the light fades.

[ProfessorM]

ok so i go over to pick up my daughter at her friends house which is very close to Lake Assawopsett and as we are getting in the car about 5:30 yesterday a bald eagle glides over us about 50 feet over the car. I saw it coming about a 1/4 mile away as they are in an open area with few trees. I thought it was a large buzzard but when I saw the white head I knew it was a bald eagle. Friggin awesome, majestic, gigantic raptor. I know we a few nesting pairs in town and have for years and have seen them before in town sitting along lake in bare trees in early winter or early spring and also way way up in sky above the lake but never that close as it faded off into some large pines where I guess they have a nest according to my daughters friends mother.

[justplugit]

That had to be a thrill to see one that close up, P.
About 5 years ago my wife and I put the canoe in at Poxono on the Delaware to fish at dusk.
As we came out of the cove, about 200 ft. away, a Bald Eagle swept down picked up a fish in his talons and slowly circled around upward along the side of the mountain and flew off. My wife caught the whole thing on tape. I haven't seen it for awhile and fear it was put in the attic, lost forever along with 1/2 the world stored up there.