Backyard bird watching

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by 2na

Johnny, the tail fur makes nice teasers - go dig it out!

I thought of that a couples hrs later and the body(s) had already been dragged off by a predator, damn!

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by 2na

Johnny, the tail fur makes nice teasers - go dig it out!

I have more deer tails and other teaser making stuff to last me a few years. Thought about collecting the tails and sending them off to Mepps, but I'm just gonna feed the local foxes for now.

I have a couple yuppy neighbors and the houses are pretty close so I'm trying to not draw any extra attention.

[ProfessorM]

Cardinals. Just counted 9 males and 3 females at the same feeder at once. So cool to see so much red in the same place. Most i have ever seen at one time. had 3 on the feeder perch at once and the others were on ground or on branches with in 3 feet.

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

Cardinals. Just counted 9 males and 3 females at the same feeder at once. So cool to see so much red in the same place. Most i have ever seen at one time. had 3 on the feeder perch at once and the others were on ground or on branches with in 3 feet.

For a territorial bird their testosterone levels must have been off the charts!

[striperman36]

get your birdhouses up shortly. that smell is in the air!!

[PRBuzz]

Has anyone ever heard of Canada robins? Weather guy just said he's getting lots of reports of robins as being a sign of Spring. He said what we are seeing is southern migration of robins from Canada. He commented you can tell the difference in that the Canada robins are fat and when the US robins fly north when Spring does arrive they will be skinny.


I've got a flock about 40 fat robins going around cleaning off holly bushes of the last remaining berries.

[Raven]

AS a type of Shelter from the Storm..... (blizzards)

i recycled a huge Christmas tree by tying it
to my wooden Bird feeder pole outside the office window.

In the Center of it i tied a suet basket feeder
so that smaller birds would have unrestricted access
from the other "more dominant" suet feeder visitors.

AS it turned out , MALE cardinals preferred this location
because i think they felt more safe and that particular suet
basket was the first one to go "empty".

[JohnnyD]

Finally getting a chance to post some pictures I've taken during the days I've been snowed in. Pretty sweet being able to get within 3-4" of the birds and they can't see you - loving the mirrored windows. And not too bad of quality by the iPhone cam.

Sorry about the large size:










And I have no idea what this guy is. I've only seen him once. Only ate the suet. Any help from you pros?







The a few more pictures and larger versions of the above ones can be found here:
Da Birds - Imgur

Also had 4 goldfinches at one feeder, with 2 more sitting on the post waiting for their turn. It's funny... initially we had the same two every day, then this past month, the same 6 show up every morning.

[PRBuzz]

Unknown ID: Mockingbird! Wait until they nest in your area, you want some all night noise....

Nice that the birds, and a good variety, finally found your feeding stations.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

Unknown ID: Mockingbird! Wait until they nest in your area, you want some all night noise....

Nice that the birds, and a good variety, finally found your feeding stations.

Thanks for the ID.

Yeah, I'm happy to finally have some variety. Getting a bunch of Chickadees, Titmice (titmouses?), nuthatches and the goldfinches.

Only saw that Mockingbird once. I can only convince the Cardinal over on rare occasion by throwing seed onto the snowy ledge (what you saw in the picture). Then, I get a dozen sparrows and finally the Cardinal will stop by for a few minutes here and there eating thistle and none of the other seeds.

I put up the feed house that I posted pictures of a few weeks ago with some quality seed, but no love over there by the Cards.

[Sweetwater]

Wow! Squirrel-Kill porn! Why didn't someone tell me about this thread earlier. I've got an idea for an "electric bird feeder" that will make ol' sparky at San Quentin look like child's play.

[Raven]

Mocking birds make nests low to the ground
and unfortunately snakes often find their babies and eat them
which has happened to me at a previous residence

unfortunately i have no mocking birds here
and i don't mind listening to them sing all night long
there's nothing finer than sitting outside listening
on a breezy summer night

As for Squirrels
i'm at war because one was sitting on my jerry jug today
chewing on the pouring tube and i am very pissed off now
AND....they all shined on the have a heart trap too

[FishermanTim]

You can buy or build the best "squirrel-proof" feeder in the world, only to have a furry little bastige render it obsolete in seconds.

They have to be one of the smartest rodents because they can be solitary or work as a group.
Damn, if they ever get REALLY organized, they'll probably pick the lock to our shed and take all the seed they want!

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by Sweetwater

Wow! Squirrel-Kill porn! Why didn't someone tell me about this thread earlier. I've got an idea for an "electric bird feeder" that will make ol' sparky at San Quentin look like child's play.

Can I be your beta test site, please. I can power the contraption with solar power!

[PRBuzz]

Squirrel-kill porn

[Raven]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

Squirrel-kill porn

i have one squirrel that has no tail at all
just a pink stub....four inches long

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by Raven

i have one squirrel that has no tail at all
just a pink stub....four inches long

Mother was a squirrel and father a RAT!

[PRBuzz]

All you bird watchers be on the lookout for a new species of hummingbird! It won't visit the standard hummingbird feeders with nectar either.

Tiny 'Hummingbird' May Someday Fly Spy Missions For The Military : The Two-Way : NPR

[justplugit]

Now THAT is kewl.

[Raven]

the model "T"

[PRBuzz]

Live from IOWA:

Decorah Eagles, Ustream.TV: First hatch 4/2/11. 24-hour collage of first egg pip and hatch Second hatch 4/3/11. First glimpse of second hatchling Third...

[FishermanTim]

The eagel-cam is cool, particularly when the parent starts ripping pieces off of the carcass and feeding the chicks.

I was fishing Saturday morning at Jamaica Pond.
I managed to catch a crayfish that was foraging amongst the leaf-litter on the bottom.
While I was casting spoons to the invisible trout, I saw a brief commotion to my left, and as I turned QUICKLY, I saw a hawk barely miss a duck at the shoreline, and watched as it flew out just as I finished the cast I was in the process of making.
I was able to adjust my cast enough so that the lure and line passed well over the bird as it took off after its failed attempt.
That's one heck of a stealthy bird, as there was no noise, either from the hawk or any of the other birds in the area, nothing to indicate it was on the attack.
Beautiful sight regardless of the circumstances!

[PRBuzz]

Feeding time: 4:35PM

Yummy muskrat!

[FishermanTim]

I showed this to some coworkers, and they thought is was cool until I pointed out the dead animal (and bird) in the foreground.
Then they thought it was gross.
Exactly how did they think the eagles fed their chicks, with take out?

I can't tell, but has they parents taken turns? I would hate to think that something would have happened to one of them, because if anything did, the chicks would never survive.
I say that because these birds were the focus of a PBS nature special a couple years back, and other birds that were included in that show didn't survive when one parent died during the filming.
As tough as it is to do, they do follow a strict "non-interefernce" policy and they let nature take its course.

[FishermanTim]

It looks like one of two things has happened to the thrid egg in the nest.
1) it's in the process of hatching, and since we can't make the bird move, we can only wait for the sitting bird to move for a chance at seeing the egg clearly.
or....
2) the chicks have taken it upon themselves to increase their share of food from the parents by committing fratricide and "offing their un-hatched sibling. (hey, it's "survival of the fittest"!)

I can't watch it all day long, and it seems that there's some new carcass in the nest each day.

[PRBuzz]

3rd chick is hatching NOW! 7:50PM

[nightfighter]

First shot is from my chair after work today. Went up to the window for the others.

[PRBuzz]

Never seen so many dead turkeys along the highways as this year! Along I295 in RI last Sat. there was a couple mile stretch with at least 4 dead birds.

My co-worker got this shot in her driveway.

[Raven]

thinking on some things -strategies

and a big ole tom turkey goes walking by the
plastic with at least an eight inch beard

[2na]

50 lbs of black sunflower at $28 at Ocean State now; wasn't it $25 just a few weeks ago and $20 around the 1st of the year?

As much as I want spring to get going it is nice to be able to see all of the migrants coming back. Without the leaves on the trees I never would have seen, nevermind ID'd, the blue grey gnatcatcher I saw yesterday. Anyone else see anything new recently?

I got a Canadian warbler about this time last year. I noticed that last weekend after that little shot of warm weather and heavy rain a lot of stuff was back - pine warblers, chipping sparrows, house sparrows and robins most conspicuously.