Backyard bird watching

[Chris in Mass]

Looks like a Sharp Shinned. Had them in the back yard as well, and just looked it up. Could be Cooper's, which look very similar, but bigger. The Sharp shinned is more common I believe. Let the more experienced weigh in though.

[justplugit]

I agree, 80% SS. Hard ID but the barrel chest makes me think it's a SS.
Tail tip in the pic is hard to ID wether it is square or rounded like the Cooper.

[PRBuzz]

The head coloration is what I find difficult to reconcile!

[striperman36]

Sharp-shinned hawk
pretty high

[justplugit]

.Check out www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw.../accpiterlDtable.htm[/url]. They have pics and comparisons
of the SS and Cooper.
Really hard to tell from the pic posted.

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by justplugit

.Check out www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw.../accpiterlDtable.htm[/url]. They have pics and comparisons
of the SS and Cooper.
Really hard to tell from the pic posted.

Checked that site and 2 or 3 other sites plus 2 different field guides, just couldn't get a match I was confortable with, that is why I posted here: the ultimate authorities?

[nightfighter]

Pellet gun comin out shortly... too many squirrels showing around a now empty feeder

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Pellet gun comin out shortly... too many squirrels showing around a now empty feeder

Ah, you too? After being woken up every morning the last 3 days and only the rare visit from birds, the squirrel must die. There's only one right now that comes by at the same time every morning.

[PRBuzz]

I've got between 6-7 squirrels that fear the sight of me, one has felt my sting! A clap of the hands now has them scurrying for cover.

[FishermanTim]

We get anywhere from 7-12 grey rats ** every day.
It wouldn't be so bad if they were content to feed on what I give them, but they have destroyed too many of the feeders for me to let it go any further. Fortunately the will only bother with a feeder that has sunflower seeds. Unfortunately they have learned to leap great distances in order to get at the only feeders that I fill with sunflower seeds, and they have chewed them into worthless plastic tubes.
I don't want a deterrent, a repellent or any other device/method to repell these creatures. I want them gone PERMANTLY. They not only destroy the bird feeders, they dig up way too many transplants in the spring, and take too many liberties in the veggie garden.
Their time is up!

** I was referring to squirrels, but in hindsight I don't want to give rats a bad name.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

I've got between 6-7 squirrels that fear the sight of me, one has felt my sting! A clap of the hands now has them scurrying for cover.

when i attached the wire baskets to my one feeder
to deter the pack of bluejays

they finally gave up ...

But not the squirrels, and as i sent out the dingo to chase them off
one had difficulty navigating back out of the wire loosing precious seconds
and was actually in my dogs mouth for a split second before she went to do the clamp down...
he flew outta there missing entrapment by a half second
(wishing i had my camera) and hasn't been back since.

Rats -Grey_ i find live inside trees same as squirrels but down low.

[2na]

so...how many of you guys blast squirrels?? Nothing pisses me off more than seeing one on the feeder shoveling out the seed and scaring off all the birds. Anti-squirrel devices simply do not work - they figure them out eventually. I had a red squirrel the would just chew through the line leading to the feeder so I had to start using a picture wire leader. They are like the Terminator.

I have a friendly neighborhood fox that collects them at nite, and as another benefit I have found far fewer mice in my sheds. Additionally, my accuracy has improved tremendously over the last 4 years.

[Raven]

I'd like make a simple blow gun with a curtain rod ,
a piece of yarn and a large sewing needle.....
have the compressor sitting there attached with 80 lbs of air..
the rod goes out right next to the feeder...


sitten there with finger on the trigger....

but....then,
the sk-wirl -dog would have nuthin to do or to get excited about

[PRBuzz]

Within city limits one has to be extremely careful shooting anything...never know when a neighbor might report gunshots to police or PETA. Doesn't mean I don't do it (BB).

[ProfessorM]

I once shot 12 squirrels one summer as they were eating all my peaches off my trees. A pellet gun took care of them but I have since cut those trees down and moved my peaches away from the tree line and out in the open and they don't bother them anymore. I have 3 outdoor cats so the squirrels are hunted all day long and rarely reach the feeders and they are squirrel proof feeders so they really don't waste their time if they are lucky to reach them.

I had 7 or 8 Robins at the feeder yesterday morning. I have to get more feed today as i am running low. Probably have the most Cardinals this year I have ever had. Sometimes there are 8 of them at the 3 feed locations I have in the yard at once. Going to grab some suet today as I have not put out any yet this year but came across 3 feeders in cellar yesterday so I'll fill them up. Still got my eye open for the flock of Bluebirds I see every winter but still a little early. Usually see a flock of at least 30 of them every winter. Also my compost pile is becoming a big hit with the birds again this year. I dump pretty much all my kitchen waste in there and the birds go thru it and seem to really enjoy the fruits and veggies and table scraps. It is always full of birds when I look out there.

[Raven]

a cute girl from Grafton ma. b4 christmas that i chanced to meet
at the suet selection table said she was getting bluebirds
feeding them the blueberry suet that they sell there @ the christmas tree shop.

so they're here... or around

what are the robins eating.....?

they only been hitting the bittersweet here...

this year they will be evicted every time i see a nest because
they are too dammed bossy over their friggan babies


and we have 25 -50 on the front lawn every spring
so there's at least 20 or so pairs. No wonder my maine coon cat
cringes in fear sitting on the back of the couch at the bird feeder window.
WE are inudated....
it's like the seal population.....quit eatin my worms ya fat bastids,..
i dream of robin pie.

[ProfessorM]

they were eating off the ground. I have no less that 8 Viburnums that are loaded with berries right now and they are not being touched much. I think they prefer the sunflower seeds more.

[justplugit]

Hav a Hart with peanut butter bait works well.

Just make sure you release them on the other side of a river
from your house so they will need to swim to get back.

I usually spin the trap around in circles a bunch of times before I release
them to confuse their direction.

[FishermanTim]

You could just toss the trap into the river, but that would be unneccesarliy cruel.
I know, to give them a fighting chance catch 3 or 4 and release them on a frozen pond/lake as far away from shore as possible and wait for a hawk or eagle or some other bird of prey to fly overhead, and then release them to see which one doesn't make it to shore?

If you get more than one bird of prey, it could make for an interesting event.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by 2na

so...how many of you guys blast squirrels??

The same one or two squirrels have woken me up every morning going after the feeders I have hanging from my front windows. Grabbed my pellet gun last night from storage. This morning was the first morning in a week that I haven't seen them out there. It's like they know.

[PRBuzz]

I coated my hanger poles with axle grease, so far so good as they don't make it to the feeders. Anyone want any squirrel fir?

[FishermanTim]

I wish I had my feeders hanging from a pole based stand, but I'm stuck with having to hang them from the tree in our back yard.
I keep changing the location, changing the distance from the feeder to the nearest branch/launching point, and even the length of the wire it hangs on, but they still find a way.
My last addition was using an unraveled wire coat hanger about 3' long. They ride that thing like a stripper pole!
One other option I thought about (ONLY thought about) was taking the coat hanger wire and sharpen one edge, so that when the buggers try to slide down the wire, they lose a digit or two.
Even I'm not that sadistic, but they are pushing me to the limit.

Mind you, I wouldn't be this peeved if it were only one squirrel, but it's a flipping GANG of them each and every day.

My logic at this point is that if they HAVE to raid the feeders every day, maybe it's time to "cull the herd" and decrease their numbers?
It would be the most humane thing to do when they are all starving during the rest of the winter when I am forced to remove my destroyed feeders.

Does anyone have a good recipe for squirrel stew?

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Does anyone have a good recipe for squirrel stew?

Fried they taste like chicken! Use to live off them (in Iowa) while in college, Sunday evening meals.

[Raven]

no pellet gun here

so the hav -a- Heart with a full piece of bread covered in old peanut butter topped off with black sunflower seed proves out to be an irresistible bait that works every time! I use half the size for chippy's

had a red squirell coming over this morning which i thought odd

Dave the squirell's know their home turf by sound
not by internal compass

they remember things like sirens from the local fire station
church bells
a particular dog's bark
the sound of a dump truck squealing

so if the wind carry's that sound to them
they'll know which way is home

[Chris in Mass]

Is there enough ground swell (15 pages) here for an "Outdoors" Forum... Or maybe a combined "Outdoors/Sportsman" forum. Scuppers doesn't seem right. Maybe I'm being too anal

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Raven

no pellet gun here

so the hav -a- Heart with a full piece of bread covered in old peanut butter topped off with black sunflower seed proves out to be an irresistible bait that works every time! I use half the size for chippy's

had a red squirell coming over this morning which i thought odd

Dave the squirell's know their home turf by sound
not by internal compass

they remember things like sirens from the local fire station
church bells
a particular dog's bark
the sound of a dump truck squealing

so if the wind carry's that sound to them
they'll know which way is home

Interesting stuff, Rav, I had no idea. I know they have a great sense of smell
too as they keep trying to pry the lid off my metal garbage pail where
I keep my sunflower seed.

If they hear the sounds of the old neighborhood they'll have to swim
a 1/2 mile over the resivoir, then find the bridge over the river to
get back here. When everything is frozen they betta think twice
about running over the resivoir with the pair of Bald Eagles we have
wintering there.

[Saltheart]

I would guess its a Cooper's.

I understand doing something to get rid of squirrels damaging your house or eating garden/orchard produce. I do not understand why people get pissed when they put food outdoors for birds and squirrels also go after it. Yes the birds are pretty and yes you can do things to make it hard for the sqirrels to get to since the birds fly and they don't but to me , you are putting food out for the "wildlife". I could even understand a BB in the butt for them but killing them , I just don't get.

Anyway , to shoot a squirrel that is coming to eat food you put out is too much like baiting them in for the kill.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by justplugit

Interesting stuff, Rav, I had no idea. I know they have a great sense of smell
too as they keep trying to pry the lid off my metal garbage pail where
I keep my sunflower seed.

If they hear the sounds of the old neighborhood they'll have to swim
a 1/2 mile over the resivoir, then find the bridge over the river to
get back here. When everything is frozen they betta think twice
about running over the resivoir with the pair of Bald Eagles we have
wintering there.

~
i used to cross the Charles river over a bridge and walk another half mile.But, Before i opened the hav-a-heart i sprayed a small amount of paint on the tip of their tail so if they returned i'd know it.

One day, i happened to be there on a Sunday just before ten oclock
and the air was as still as can be,,,, then i heard the Church bells sounding off and i counted to ten. 2 weeks later that squirell was back and i figured he heard the bells and went closer tree by tree.

[Raven]

isn't always necessary..........

because some play nice and eat the seed that the birds flick on to the ground inadvertently when looking for that perfect "one" seed to fly off with.

others fill their mouth pouches and run back and forth filling up a cache
in a hollow tree until the feed is gone and can empty a feeder in a single day.

they will chew up the plastic and wood feeders and destroy them or get them to drop onto the ground and smash spilling all the seed in a single act. I have watched them do this.

the only ones i'd shoot were the ones that had already been caught in the trap once and would have nothing to do with it ever again.
these were the very destructive squirells that caused the most havoc.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Raven

~
i used to cross the Charles river over a bridge and walk another half mile.But, Before i opened the hav-a-heart i sprayed a small amount of paint on the tip of their tail so if they returned i'd know it.

One day, i happened to be there on a Sunday just before ten oclock
and the air was as still as can be,,,, then i heard the Church bells sounding off and i counted to ten. 2 weeks later that squirell was back and i figured he heard the bells and went closer tree by tree.

LOL Rav, maybe he just missed going to church,