BIRDS

[HemlockKing]

I'm happy to say , the nut hatches are back, yesterday the adult male returned to the nest box to check it out it guess, anyway after that the whole family started hanging around the feeders, although they still don't go to their original home beyond the adult make doing so once yesterday. I'm also having lots of mourning doves lately 12 yesterday in my yard all scattered when I walked around the corner lol they scare yas

[Chuck White]

Two birds that I have no use for are the European Starling and Mourning Doves!

[HemlockKing]

I like doves for their calls. Always had that sound in my woods. Wouldn't be the same without them weeping.

[Ianab]

I like doves for their calls. Always had that sound in my woods. Wouldn't be the same without them weeping.

Visiting family in Aussie, they have what I assume were wild Doves. We called them the Woot-woot birds. They would woot woot till about midnight, then start up again at about 3 am.   >:(
Nearly as bad as the roosters in Rarotonga. Arrive on a delayed flight around 1 am (yesterday), get to the house about 2...  Roosters start up at about 3am. Meanwhile your body clock thinks it's 7am, and you have had 1 hours sleep.  :D  Catch up after a couple of days and tune the birds out. 

[KEC]

HemlockKing, A Violetear Hummingbird is a very noteworthy find. Would you be willing to have someone over to see it to document it?

[HemlockKing]

Kec, I haven't seen it the last couple days. Although a ruby throated showed up around noon yesterday, I'm really hoping I didn't see a ruby throated those times around 6pm, I did not note any ruby colour under its neck and it was a little larger, if it returns I will try to get a picture, as to having folks come document.. I moved out in the woods to be left alone so I think I'll pass on that , although I appreciate the motivating cause behind it, I can certainly try to get some pictures to confirm it though. To be honest I don't wanna say with 100% certainty it was a violetear yet. I did look into them and they are documented to migrate to southern parts of Canada for warm months, although not common. 

[KEC]

HemlockKing, Thanks, I fully understand. A photo would be great. Male Ruby-throats have a black head and a ruby throat, but oftentimes you won't see the red throat unless the light is just right. Females are more pale green and young recently out of the nest have vertical streaks on the throat. This past winter there was a Rufous Hummingbird near Syracuse, way out of range. A couple of homeowners kept feeders out for it. After a while it was no longer seen. Was strange to see it with snow on the ground. I enjoy your posts. I have seen 2 American Bitterns near here in the past few days, they've become uncommon here.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

Carolina wren nest on the front porch on a junk shelf. Under the hard hat and behind my wife's nearly unused gloves. Last year she nested in an old flower vase on this same shelf.


Nest in a bluebird box on a gate post in the backyard. The birds have been coming and going and I thought there were eggs or young in it. I cleaned out the nest several weeks back so this in new. I think another bird had raised a brood there early this summer. We'll keep watching.


 

This is the box. I make them out of rough 1X6 lumber with about a 12"X12" top and the short stickers placed to hold the top on but easily removed for cleaning. The front is 10", the sides slope from 10" to 12" and the back is whatevever length I have that extends below with enough room to attach. They are loosely joined and I notch the corners on the bottom for extra ventilation. This makes the nest chamber about 4" X 6" and about 7" below the 1.5" diameter entrance hole.

   I make them from my scrap lumber and sell a few at flea markets. They are not fancy like many I see there but they work. A customer who had bought 4 several weeks ago saw me Sunday and said he put them up and 3 had nests before the end of the week so he was real happy. I sold 3 to a sawing customer yesterday. I tell people those fancy painted boxes draw urban birds like house sparrows and other invasives while "natural looking" rough boxes attract desirable native birds like bluebirds and such. ;D

[KEC]

To the people who think that plane Jane boxes don't look good, I tell them that the box will look just fine when there is a bluebird sitting on top of it. I have a pair with hatching eggs by my front yard, a pair across the road with 5 eggs and another pair on eggs down the road. In 1980 I put out 50 boxes and it took me 3 years to get a pair. They are doing a lot better now.

[Chuck White]

I think that the Eastern Bluebirds and the Tree Swallows, along with the little House Wrens are some of the most easy-going birds in nature!

They will even nest in a small opening of a hollow log if it's up off the ground a little!

[SwampDonkey]

Adult brown thrasher in the yard, the babies just fledged this morning.

[SwampDonkey]

The nest of baby blue birds is busy and every time the adults land on the box you here the babies chirping.

[Chuck White]

Had an interesting sight here yesterday!

Had a Red Breasted Grosbeak come to the Oriole feeder that was filled with grape jelly!

The feeder was already occupied by an Oriole, the 2 birds started pecking at each other (fighting), then the Oriole flew away, leaving the Grosbeak there feeding on the jelly!

Never saw that before!

Hummingbirds regularly feed on the jelly!

[HemlockKing]

Blue jay gangs vs grackle gangs. Had 14 grackles and 10 blue jays. I must say the grackle is not a exciting bird. Very skittish, only has 2 noises, a click sound, and a alarming sound. I enjoy blue jays more, they have typical calls most make but if you're around a certain group long enough you will hear their customized calls/sounds for their own group.

[HemlockKing]

If you don’t like having crows around I’ll tells ya it’s best to have lots of grackle around then lol they HATE crows and chase crows off, they are faster than crow, big enough to inflict damage, too small for crow get at/catch

[Crusarius]

I find red wing blackbirds work well keeping crows away.

[HemlockKing]

I have a big raven that flys around here often and sometimes I put food out for them. Since the grackles have found the honey pot of bird seed they have been sticking around my yard a lot more, there were maybe 6-7 grackles on this one raven and honestly was worried he was gonna get pecked to death, buddy was tired and couldn’t catch a break, was making sounds in distress.

[HemlockKing]

 

 Hello again bud! This fella is super friendly. He will stay next to me and eat seed all day, ONLY oiled sun flower seed though lol 

[KEC]

It is usually the best to buy bags of black oil sunflower seeds instead of mixed seed. You'll attract a wide range of birds, the oil seed has the best nutmeat to hull ratio and the birds won't be rifling through all the other seed and wasting much of it. By weight, the oil seed yields the most nutrition per  total pound and per money spend. White millet is also good, especially for wintering sparrows.

[HemlockKing]

I usually do, and all the birds love it much more I find, they go nuts actually. Problem is it's much more expensive than the "generic wild bird seed", so I go with generic more often than not, but sometimes I spoil em! Now that little chickadee I can tell apart from the rest, he will usually sought me out around the yard and make a certain repetitive chirp, at this point I know I can just stick my hand out at any time and he will land, he's ISO sun flower seed! Amazingly I can move around with him a little too, I wouldn't ever try to pet him but I probably could. Super tame this one. There is a couple others that land on occasion 

[thecfarm]

Interesting!!! 

[SwampDonkey]

Gray jays are easy to feed from your hand to, but I only see them in the outback away from settlement. They would be eaten up by the cats that everyone lets roam about.

I had to stop feeding the birds here, the pigeons took over and of course you get all their deposits on your roof. :

[HemlockKing]

I have fed gray jays from my hand, we were visiting her(past gf) family in Newfoundland, a cottage a hour out of St. John’s, grays everywhere.. No gray jay sou west ns. Also have had red breasted nut hatch land. Almost a white but no luck

[Hilltop366]

There must be some in SW Nova Scotia we get grey jays around the camp in East Kemptville sometimes and yes they will eat from your hand after a while.



 

 

[HemlockKing]

There must be some in SW Nova Scotia we get grey jays around the camp in East Kemptville sometimes and yes they will eat from your hand after a while.



 

That's awesome to hear! I'll be on the lookout then! My grandfather lives up in pubnico. He's a birdwatcher, no grey jays there in 20 year