My son and my Dr. teamed up and decided to give me some time off. Been setting by the window listening to music, reading a book, and watching the birds.
Observed the following this morning:
nuthatch
tufted titmouse
juncos
Cardinal
red-bellied woodpecker
bluejay
The nuthatches are my favorite-----comical to watch
What kind of birds are outside your window?
Our area has the same type you listed...and we also have golden and purple finches. I used to be an avid bird feeder until a red shouldered hawk decided to treat my backyard like his personal diner. :o
That hawk would sit on the arbor in the backyard, and when I stopped putting bird seed out, he got ornery. I was sitting at the table and my white cat was laying on the rug in front of the sliding door to the patio. That hawk tried to get that cat, and slammed into the glass so hard he smeared it. ;D
My favorite bird is the female cardinal. I think they are beautiful.
At the feeder, Purple and Gold finches, lots and lots of them, also Cardinals, Joncos, Pine Siskins and a few Blue Jays.
On the ground under the feeder, a flock of wild Turkeys.
Definitely not in the Avian category but a whole bunch of rabbits get their fill from what falls from the feeders too.
I wasn't exactly bird watching the day before yesterday, it just sort of happened. I was working in my garage when I heard something hitting the branches out near my sheds, so I looked out and down the lane to the sheds. My truck was parked in the lane and a power wire crosses it about 15 feet above the truck. In this gap between the truck and the power line comes a bald eagle, his wing tips hitting the branches of the fir trees lining the lane. He was only about 50 feet away when I first saw him and must have passed within 10 feet of the garage. AWESOME!!!
My camera was in the truck and i'd never have had time to snap a picture anyway, but it sure would have been an impressive picture to have.
A week ago I go to see a great grey owl. These are native to Canada and only move down here when food becomes scarce in their normal range.
The eagle must have been awe inspiring. I always feel priveliged to have a moment alone in the woods with a bird of prey near by.
There's nuthatches, chickadees, goldfinches (but not gold this time of year) juncoes and bluejays. And the occasional red squirrrel
Saw a Piliated woodpecker on my woodlot a couple of weeks ago.
The first bald eagle I ever saw that I could positivly ID, flew just 10' over my head while I was fishing a tournament in Florida.
AWESOME it was!!!!!!!!
A lone Great Blue Heron flies over my barn late every afternoon. He/she ??? feeds at the millpond up the road all day, and apparently nests somewhere west of here. Just like clockwork, every day about a half-hour before sunset. :)
I most always wear a baseball cap, so I wear out a bunch of'em. When they just get too grody to wear, I poke a nail in a post or a joist in the shed and hang it up. The wrens love to build their nests in them.
Common egrets! Just wind up the rubber band on yer Bush Hog and start clipping a pasture around here. By the time you've done one lap, a half dozen will be hopping along behind the mower, spearing wounded bugs. Within half an hour, you'll have a following of 100 or more. Those things do love a tractor! ;D
Heck with the birds.
::)
I wanna know why son and the Doc have you inside resting. Must be a health issue. Let us know whats goin on will ya?
I think the main reason I enjoy deer hunting so much is for the bird watching I do. Sitting real still they will come in and land on branches right next to you. Nut hatches and juncos are the most common ones I see but we have plenty of blue jays, downy woodpeckers, creepers and cardinals. In the last couple of month the bald eagles have been migrating through. They follow the creek line and sit in the old dead elms along it. I take the leftovers from butchering deer down there and always have a couple that feed on it. Wish we could get them to nest year around but so far they migrate north during that season.
Hope you get to feeling better Noble.
Norm my dad puts out a suet/seed ball by his deer stand each years so he can watch the birds while waiting for a deer to strole on by. Says it keeps him from getting bored.
Last week I had a bald eagle sitting on a dead head over looking my chicken coup!
Tuesday there was a great gray in the same dead tree, but they've both moved on now. The only reason I haven't cut the tree is there is a pair of sap suckers that have nested there the last three years and I'd hate to tear down their house.
On the suet I have chickadees, downy and hairy woodpeckers, and from time to time a paliated stops by.
Feeders have chickadees, pine grosbeaks, rose breasted grosbeaks and evening grosbeaks. I haven't seen any purple finches or juncoes this season which puzzles me. I missed the cedar waxwing migration this year also...beautiful birds.
Our bird feeder hangs from the eave on the porch and is clearly vbisible from the dining room table. We are often entertained during our meals by
Titmouses
Cardinals
Chikadees
Tohees
Black Capped somethings
Downey Woodpeckers
Cowbirds
Yellow and Purple finches
Yellow bellied Woodpecker - he throws all the seed out looking for insects
in the summer we will see an occasional fly through like waxwings and orioles
Out in the woods I often see Pileated Woodpeckers, Red Tailed Hawks, Goshawks, Sparrow Hawks, Turkey Vultures,
Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls, Screech Owls, Crows, Wrens, Turkeys and Ruffed Grouse.
Occasionally a Bald Eagle will fly over just at tree top level. I once surprised a Great Grey owl in the winter ( I think he forgot to turn somewhere ). We have had Herrons visit the pond and Egrets land in the clearings.
The most memorable sighting was a Bald Eagle swooping down out of the sky and snagging a fish just 30 yards off the stern of the sailboat one summer afternoon. Simply a beautiful sight to behold!
Noble, I trust the Doc just wanted to give the cows a break and you are OK. Right?
I had an eagle fly at eye level keeping pace with the pickup on a logging road for the best part of a mile. I am guessing he was scoping the ditch for rodents. One of my most memorable moments.
I remember been woke up by a Blue Jay when I was in Halifax. There were a family living on the tree in the house front garden and my room faced. West side, I couldnt sleep before 10 pm because the sun had been gone yet and I knew the bird would sing by 6 am next day!
Lovely any way!
I guess that is why I do support the Toronto Blue Jay!
I have some chicken in the oven. ;D
We are starting to see the pheasant population come back finally. It is great to see them back on the farm.
The bald eagles are migrating through right now, what an awesome bird! I love to watch them soar through the sky, they are truly a sight to behold.
same here with grouse and pheasant. now that ive noticed theres more of them getting eaten at the table, there is bobcat tracks increasing behind the cabin. i know they get to eat more birds than i do, so they will be the next thing i shoot. allways wanted a stuffed cat.
We watched a Bald Eagle circling the harbor right at sunset yesterday. The colors of the sun setting acted to dye his white head and tail feathers a glowing mother of pearl pink it was a truly amazing sight to behold.
If you are interested in seeing many bald eagles I suggest that you check out the Mississippi River at Cassville. Wisconsin. Also there are many in the area of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Follow the river north on Highway 35 and you can see them feeding on the ice. There is also a great Cabela`s just north of Prairie du Chien if you are interested. The birds come here every winter as they can find food easily.
Down here, the eagles winter over because of the open water heated by the power plant I work in. We have one of the last wild areas at this end of Lake Erie and the fishing is very good for them. I can see eagles year round here also. Once my wife and I counted 21 of them sitting in the trees. 8)
Mom and I saw an eagle today right by my mailbox. It was a picture perfect adult bird. An hour later it was gone and there was a raven in the same tree. I figure there's some roadkill in the ditch that they're after. At the feeders I've got chickadees, white and red breasted nuthatches, hairy and downy woodpeckers, goldfinches, doves, blue jays, black, fox, and red squirrels and after dark the flying squirrels come in along with an occasional screech owl looking to make a meal out of them. It's about time for the red polls and pine grosbeaks to show up. Evening grosbeaks also make appearances but they are infrequent visitors. A couple years ago I had a shrike that was hanging around eating whatever birds he could get. Pileated woodpeckers seldom come close to the house but evidence of them can be heard and seen in the woods out back. One year I also had a tufted titmouse and a red bellied woodpecker. We are on the far northern fringe of their range so they were pretty neat to see. In warmer months we have house and purple finches, juncos, and rose breasted grosbeaks. Last winter I went through 300 lbs of black oil sunflower seeds and I lost track of the number of suet cakes I hung out. I like watching and feeding the birds. 8) ;D :D ;) :) :)
Ruffed Grouse In Snow. This ruff grouse was "fanned out" in a proposed timber sale area after a recent new snow.
Austin timber stand; 12/04.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/grouse_in_snow.jpg)
I've heard the crazy things drum in the fall too. Their rut typically starts here in march on the crusty snow.
That's a cool picture and not that easy to obtain with the flighty birds near settlements. I see them in winter along the ditch of the road after cranberries, alder, poplar and birch seed or buds.
FLFLFLFLFLFLFLF.................->-o,
I heard a grouse yesterday . It was just practicing , I guess.
That is a great picture , Ron. I've almost stepped on them but not gotten any pictures.
This morning, six turkeys wandered through my yard ,
I could tell by the footprints ;)
and I met up with them later , a little down the road.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/jbmturkeyspe.jpg)
They seem to have found a friend in thier travels.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/ianab_tui.jpg)
While on holiday last week the beach house we stayed at was surrounded by small eucalyptus and pohutukawa trees. There were a couple of young Tui that spend much of the day hunting them for spiders and bugs. These are one native bird thats been able to adapt to the change in NZs environment. It is common in gardens and around farms as long as flowering trees are present. They eat mostly honey and insects. This young one hasn't yet developed the white tuft under it's chin that is so distinctive of the bird normally. They have a wonderfull song and are interesting playfull / quarrelsome birds.
More info
Tui (http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/001~Plants-and-Animals/001~Native-Animals/Tui.asp)
Good pic of an adult Tui
http://www.doc.govt.nz/images/national/yha/tui.jpg
Cheers
Ian
Sprucebunny,
Wish we had wild turkey up this way. That's quite a flock of'em. Great place to release a few would be around Mars Hill with all the oak trees. I suppose they'de eat beechnuts and birch catkins in winter if they had too. Then there's always the 150 acres of corn to eat the farmer never harvested. ;D There's about 5 inches of snow here in some places and less in others. Go away from the river valley, to the east and there is alot more because the elevation is higher.
gobble gobble gobble ;)
This mild spell and some bare patches have brought some robins north. Yup, my eyes weren't deceiving me, I saw a robin. It was making robin chirps and flying short distances ahead of me along the road as I walked this afternoon. It's not out of the ordinary, as I've seen them in mild winters here before. I was wishing I had my camera but it would be hard to get a discernable picture of such a small bird at 200 feet away. :-\
Here is the tenant of large bird house I make for kestrel's, owl's, woodpeckers, etc. I have this one mounted in a sugar maple in my yard. Every winter one of these little screech owls moves in. I never see them in the summer but most of the winter and spring they will be in it. They like to sit with their head sticking out of the hole in late afternoon. Just after dark they will come out and sit on a limb next to the house for a while. All of a sudden they will be gone and you won't see him again till the next afternoon when he sticks his head out again. I notice blue jay feathers on the ground once in a while. I think they like them. I have a picture to go with this post but have been unable to attach it for some reason. Help please.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10129/screech%20owl300.jpg)
Bitternut,
The picture posting is down for awhile untill the big guy gets the new improved version implemented. ;)
I got my owl's picture posted but now there is a funny looking leprechon with a red nose sitting on the roof of the birdhouse. How the heck did that happen? Well at least I was able to get a picture posted.
Bitternut,
After seeing your pic, I was wondering if you would have some plans or atleast the measurements for one of them houses?
Or does anyone know a good place for free plans?
Gonna be building a pile of bird and bat houses in a coule of weeks, and would like to build a few different kinds.
Yes I have some plans around here someplace. I will dig them out later today when I get a chance. I have another publication that I picked up some place that has the specifications for different kinds of birds. I will see what I can find. I make a house scaled down from the owl house that I put up for bluebirds. They get used by a variety of birds. I get wrens, tree swallows, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and of course bluebirds. It all depends on where you locate them. I also get deer mice, red squirrels and flying squirrels.
Bird house plans:
http://www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/news/birdhouse.asp
Well Furby I looked high and low and could not find the plans. Guess its a sign that you have too much crap when you can't find things when you want them. Well I did the next best thing and took some measurements off one of my boxes. I used green rough sawed hemlock lumber in nominal sizes. The material can be most any wood that is available in your local that will survive the weather reasonably well. Hemlock is a good choice in my area and is long lasting without any finish.
Material for one house is as follows:
one piece of 1x8x42
one piece of 1x10x36
one piece of 1x12x12
The two sides are cut 1x10x16-1/4x18
The rear is cut 1x8x18
The front is cut 1x8x15-3/4
The bottom is cut 1x8x8
The top is cut 1x12x12
The hole is 3" diameter and is placed 12" up from the bottom on center of the width. The top is placed flush with the rear of the box and overhangs the front 2" and 1" on each side. The bottom should be lined up so that the grain runs the same direction as the back piece and the front. That way the pieces will be parallel. The four corners of the bottom should be nipped off about 3/4" x 45deg's so that there is good drainage. The front should be lined up flush at the bottom with about 1/2" gap at the top for ventilation. You can nail or screw the whole assembly together to suit. Do not fasten the front though. You may have to trim the width of the front so that it will move freely in the assembled box. The front is made so that it pivots for inspection and cleaning. To do this place the front flush at the bottom and place a 2" galvanized roofing nail about 11" up from the bottom through the side pieces into the front. These are the hinges or pivots for the front. I usually clamp the front piece in position and predrill a pilot hole for the nails. I use a drill a few thousandths larger than the nails so that they won't bind in the side pieces. Drill only 1/8" or 1/4" into the front piece so that the pivot nails will be firm in the front piece. Then I take and drill a hole 1/32" larger that the roofing nails about 2" up from the bottom through the sides into the front piece. Drill this hole at a downward angle so that when the nail is in place it will not fall out. This nail is the latch that keeps the front panel closed. I usually place a couple handsfull of wood chips in the box. I also either notch the top of the side panels or drill some holes to get more ventilation. I had one of these boxes taken over by a wren a couple of years ago. Took him all summer to fill it up with sticks. Hope this is what you are looking for Furby. Good luck with your construction.
Thanks guys!!!
Bitternut, that's waaaaay above what I needed, but ya made it easy on me, Thank YOU! ;)
I'm planning to use some aspen for this first batch. Don't really care if it don't last that long. Only cost involved is my time and some gas for hauling and cutting.
Just want to get some up, as I don't have any in my yard. A purple martin house has been on my list for many years. Actually, I have a whole pile of requests for them, just got to get around to making one.
Let's see - what do I have outside my backdoor?
Ora Pendulas - weirdest call you have ever heard - Hey Jeff, can I upload sound here?
Tucans
Gaviilon Blanco - The locals call them eagles - pure white with black on the tips of the pinion feathers.
Sargent Birds
Some weird looking humming birds
Vultures
Cattle Egrets
Oh, and yesterday I saw a troup of Howler monkeys in the back moving through the trees, with a bunch of babies - I hear them all the time, but this is the first time I have seen them. According to Hector we have about 3 troups on the finca.
P.S. If anyone is confused - just look where I live.
A bird WAS here.... ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmwingbeatsinsnowO.jpg)
Saw this bird looking out over the river. It's about 30inches tall
Think it's an eagle that needs a good brushing ;D
What do you think ???
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmlargebirdbyriverOP.jpg)
Maybe his diet? We had a Bald Eagle a few years back that just sat on the ground and couldn't fly. He was brought to one of those places they take care of sick birds, but he was too far gone to save. They thought he might have been suffering/died from malnutrition. Can't quite figure that one out, unless they just get too old and feeble to catch anything.
Fairly heavy snow cover +125" so far - feeding 2 Doves, 4 Bluejays, ? Chickadees, 1 Grey Squirrrel and 1 Red Squirrel that's pretty sure that he/she is the Boss. :)
Yup, looks like an immature bald eagle, hasn't got his white feathers yet. Their first year is the harshest. They start nesting here in February also.
Lil's mission to convert her pre-school into a zoo continues ;) :D
This is Bubbles the Lorikeet
She is living here for weekends as they like company and wouldn't like weekends alone.
The Aussie members probably know them and consider them a pest, but they do make good pets.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/ianab_bubbles1.jpg)
Ian
That sure is a colorful bird! Are they related to parrots?
Reminds me just a bit of superman ice cream.
Oh man, now I'm hungry! ::)
yup Furby, they are a small type of parrot from Australia
Bubbles the Lorikeet aparantly need a perch to sit on. ;)
Had to be tall enough to keep her away from the rug rats etc.
No Problemo
A couple of Bluegum Eucalyptus boards from the shed, a plan on a bit of note paper and some gorilla glue and it's done.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/ianab_bubbles_perch.jpg)
Looks like the little guy has taken a liken to his new perch. He sure is colorful. :)
Just don't hang yer cap there or it might get a new ornament. ;D
Ian
We've got a couple of birds that look quite like that one on Lil's shoulder, I haven't got a good look at them yet, too fast, just a flash of green, also, my eyesight's not the best. We have the usual collection of
tui's
wood pigeons
fan tails
more porks
shining cuckoo's
bell birds
king fishers good for telling me where the shoals of whitebait are
Paradise ducks
mallards
pukekos
magpies seem to be chasing away the fantails
for years we had a kiwi that would poke holes in the lawn but we haven't even hear it now for a while. Too many wild cats I think they might have got him
The usual
sparrows
thrushes
blackbirds
There are probably more, I'll ask Jan when she gets home from work.
Ernie
Hi Ernie
This is probably the parrot you see around the farm, Kakariki
http://www.parrot.co.nz/Parrot.NZ.articles/article-kakariki.html
Similar size to Lils lorikeet and fairly common in some parts of the country.
Thanks Ian
I didn't even know they existed, it's good to have a Kiwi ornithologist on the forum.
Ernie
Ian,
Isnt your house guest what we would call a rosella? Aussie import, pest round my parts. Never seen one sitting still, close enough to know for sure if its like yours. They make a hua of a racket when flying.
Cheers
Charlie.
Charlie
It'S a Rainbow Lorikeet, but I think it's a close relative of the Rosellas.
It's habits sound the same anyway :D
I think both species have escaped and are breeding in some parts of the country, most likely Northland ;)
Ian
Hi Ian,
Definitely Northland! :D They are on DoC's wanted list. Or should I say, their "Unwanted Organisms" list.
Cheers
Charlie.
March 31
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmgeeseinfieldOP.jpg)
joan seeing how good was catching thut there porky. i thing all oe us would like a lesson in the art of
cactchin the there honkers, but make sure ya got the camra with you and some one to point it
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Yup they're also eating the uncut corn and the truckloads dumped back in the field in January. They're gonna bust.
Also, If I had a rifle a little moose would be in my freezer from eatin on my apple trees the other day, behind the house. Bold beast. I think he comes after dark. >:(
I don't recall ever seeing a swan this far north. It was hanging around with some Canada geese north of Berlin NH
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmswanOP.jpg)
Very impressive wing spread...sorry no pic of that :D
Thanks for the picture Sprucebunny. Looks like the whistling swan, which audubon say is the only swan species in the east. Your right on it being a bit to the north of its range, maybe it's migrating from it's wintering grounds. Apparently, they nest in the arctic away from hunting pressure which has devistated the trumpeter to a few hundred. Waterfowl identification is not something I do well. There are alot of species I have no clue on. I'm just pulling this info from a book. ;)
I've seen snow geese in with migrating canada geese. If you go up along the Cap Tourmente (QC) where the mud flats and farm fields are in fall and early spring the place is white with snow geese.
Link to snow geese (http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/sauvagine/html/snow_goose_info.html)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10517/snowgeeseopt.jpg)
snowgeese like to get moving in the morning. usually in strips about 10 miles long! it can take 15-20 miniutes for them to pass the whole flock. they love our wet cornfeilds and are sometimes seen with canadian geese, in air and on the ground.
what the heck is this thing?
aussies may know.....
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10517/kiwiopt.jpg)
Looks like a rail. Is it a baby?
It's a youn Moa! Call the ornithologists!! Asy are you checking this out? Red, don't do anything to disturb that little feller!! Whoa, nelly, Red's farm is now off limits to everything and everybody :o :o Them's sposed to be extincted and such :o :o :o :o :o
er, I could be wrong about the moa part smiley_headscratch
:D
wheres all the austrialians?:D
Where I live in western minnesota I see all the wild ducks,geese,swans,pelicans etc.. migrating every spring and fall on there way to and from northern canada . The funniest thing in the sky is watching a flock of pelicans flying in big circles around and around but yet going somewhere, anybody ever seen this or know why pelicans fly in circles?
The last 3 days we've had 2 big owls landing in one of our trees in the back yard. Last night one of em' hooted and off in the distance I heard a turkey answer him back.
Uncle Buck,
I think they fly in a circle because they are looking for food. When we were at Hacienda Barú we saw Pelicans doing this, they would fly along the tops of the breaking waves, when the wave dies, they go back and follow another one. Sort of like surfers...
And I got a picture just as they were doubling back. (This picture was taken in December, it is a hard life but someone has to do it.)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10952/PelicansCircling.jpg)
I watched a flock of white pelicans migrating north one year. About a dozen of them came flying in a line until they were above me, then all began circling. They had found an updraft and were circling to gain altitude, which they did quickly. Then, a few hundred feet higher, they reformed a line and sailed off into the north.
Here is my little pal that has been coming every morning and eats like a pig and its funny to watch , the squirrels show up earlier and eat everything on the ground that this little bird has kicked out . I think its a grossbeak . Only 2 baltimore orioles so far ??? hopefully they are running late this year because its a site to see them hanging all over the hummingbird feeder .(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10514/grossbeak.jpg)
c r I can understand that , your picture shows them really good looking for food. I have heard that a lake full of pelicans will really decrease the fish population . I see them pelicans like Mn Boy sees them . Even over a plowed field they will be up 2 or 3 hundred feet flying like that drunken stork on the bugs bunny cartoon .
Seen my first hummingbird yesterday afternoon. It came to the window where I have a red shopvac sitting. No nectar there. ;D
Unclebuck, looks like a rose breasted grosbeak, I've seen a pair of'm here earlier in the week. Week also used to have baltimore orioles, but haven't seen them for a few years. I do see scarlet tanager once in a great while.
The swan has been there a week now, that I know of. Got a shot in flight but not a good one. This is a good photo of it in the corn field
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmswanagainOP.jpg)
They have introduced several pairs of swans to our area recently up on a lake just north of us a few miles. They are very impressive birds.
The spring birds have been arriving this past couple weeks. This week two Baltimore Orioles arrived and are hopefully going to nest in one of our big burr oaks. We see them everyday when we walk back and forth to work. They are beautiful, and sure have a pretty song. We have also started to see blue birds, king birds, all sorts of swallows, buzzards, etc. It is great to see them all coming back.
I have never been up close to a swan but when they migrate overhead they are huge ! I started feeding birds a few years ago along with squirrels . Had hardly any squirrels and one day I removed the door off a corn crib and had 600 bushels of cob corn left and I thought I wonder if the squirrels would like this , well today there is about 50 bushel of cob corn left and loads and loads of sqirrels and piles of shelled out cobs by every tree around the crib . They are smart enough to leave the cob close to the crib . Little buggers ! No buzzards up here . My dad told me that a flock of crows will go through the woods and kill wood duck nests ? Anybody know about this ? I never realized that but lately I hear them crows making a big ruckus down in the woods. If they kill baby wood ducks I am going to set up a old owl decoy and get me some crows !
Where US 31 and the Muskegon River meet here in West MI, there is a swamp.
Is pretty common to see a dozen or three swans as you pass through there.
Unclebuck
Last January the local farmer hauled and dumped combined corn in the fields cause it spoiled (cut too late and disease). There where kernals of corn all over the road behind the truck and the squirrels would dig in the snow afterward to get at the kernals. Sure are smart little buggers.
It's been an exciting couple of days. Yesterday, while eating dinner on the job, what should fly over but a Swallow-Tailed Kite. I see one on occasion but not frequently. At the house I see one very 4 or 5 years as it sails the air currents over the swamp. Yesterday, this one was cruising the edge of the pastures of the Horse Farm where I'm sawing. He/she was a dominate figure for the better part of an hour. we all sat under the Sweet Gum trees and watched it as it hunted. It's a beautiful bird. I wish they were more abundant.
This morning I watched three turkey hens and two white tailed deer in the front yard. The turkey were skittish and left after about 15 minutes. The White Tails were nibbling fresh ground cover and Oak twigs along the drainage ditch on the side of the yard. They hung around for a couple of hours, twitching their tails at the deer-flies, munching the crisp new shoots that have come up after the recent rain and looking around the yard now and again for danger. I would have loved to have a movie of the scene.
I seen a wild turkey yesterday like the kind they hunt on t.v. down south . I looked farther and counted 9 little ones . Bronze colored . The local rod&gun club started stocking wild turkeys about 13 miles away 10 years ago so it must have worked . I gotta learn how to call a turkey , maybe shake a 5 gallon pail with corn in it :D Never heard of a Kite . The wild canadian geese now all got there little ones swimming behind them . Dont want to get too close or that gander will go crazy on ya !
We were checking out a finca to possible buy (and did) on Sunday. We found this little guy.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10952/YoungBirdHand.jpg)
He is a King Fisher - he had tried to fly and didn't do too well, but after a bit, he took off just fine.
It is a good thing he didn't meet up with the Boa on the snake thread... :o
I saw a flash of blue from the window this morning and saw this little guy stuffing his beak with dandilion seeds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/indigobunting.JPG)
See, now arn't you glad you didn't spray your lawn with 24d and kill all those dandelions. That Indigo Bunting would have been in sombody else's lawn.
There is a swath of open area through my land. Some of it was logged off 15? years ago and some has no stumps but plenty of rasberry bushes and a few 4 foot balsam/spruce. I was walking through it yesterday, along the moose trail and a grouse sprung up off it's nest.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmgrouseeggsOP.jpg)
Only took a quick pic...didn't want to scare off the mama. Hope the moose don't step on the nest.
mmmm breakfast ;D
Tom Turkey Struts For His Hens. Wheeler Creek wildlife opening; 4/05.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/tom_turkey_with_hens.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/wood-stork-flying.jpg)
The Wood Storks aren't around much. Lately we've seen a lot of them. With all the rain, they are feeding on snails, crawfish, etc in the roadside ditches.
Tom
Wow :o he must've almost landed in the boat. I haven't seen any blue herons this year yet. I guess I haven't been around beaver ponds or shallow lakes yet. Ever see a rookery of herons?
Great picture Tom,
Is that where little baby loggers and sawmillers and foresters come from? ;D
That's what I've heard, Br'er Noble. ........and baseball bats too. :D
Too many Looney Toons ;D :D
I was out in the back yard this evening and saw a shadow zoom past me.
Looked up and the sky was full of buzzards.
I guess I had better start moving a little faster.
:D :D :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10092/DSCF0184%20%28Custom%29%20%28Custom%29.JPG)
There must be 50 to 100 of these things every evening circling around headed for thier roost somewhere close.
The do that over the field next to the house too. I think they are playing. It looks like there is an updraft off of the field that they play in. I've seen them circle upward almost out of sight and then quickly come down to do it again. Sometimes they play follow the leader. Sit out there and watch them for awhile. You will probably enjoy it as much as I do. :D
I have a robin that took up some space in my carport ... I am waiting to see how many little ones is going to come out , I haven't yet gone to see how many eggs there is in there, maybe tonight I will climb the ladder for a peek .
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10487/isawlogs-robin.jpg)
Built its nest wight on the beam ... I call him my rigger robin . :)
Robins are on their second crop here. They've built a new nest out front in a white birch crotch. Not far from the cherry trees either. And last night I got invaded by the coons.
Robin's Nest In Bicycle. This bicycle is hanging over the bunk house door of a ranch in Fairfield, Montana. The robin has taken over ownership by placing its nest above the chain sprocket. June, 2005.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/s_nest_in_bicycle.JPG)
Talking of second crops, we have a resident blackbird who has nested in our front hedge for the last 5 years....we know it's the same one, 'cos she has a war wound under her left eye.
Unbelieveably on the 23 January 2004, when the snow was on the ground, I noticed that she had hatchlings..... unfortunately they didn't survive, because of cold and lack of food. But, between Jan. and the end of July, she had another 3 broods. Wow, what a dedicated mother!!
The success of this wise old bird, was due to her nesting adjacent to a very busy road, making it a cat free zone and having an ample food supply about 300 metres away. She was totally streetwise with traffic.
She's gone now, and I look forward to her return next year. I say this with compassion because she has become one of the family.
Since the witch wife and I are plannng to to be at the piggy roast this year we are preparing things for all of our creatures. The cows will be ok since I moved them away from the mud hole. ::) We will put out extra food for the two cats. The dog stays at the neighbors most of the time anyway. :( But we are going to have to find someone to come in everday and feed these creatures. The two containers have to be filled up every day. Looks to be about 10 of them here this year. If I can't find any one to feed them the wife will just have to stay home and feed them. ;) :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/hummingbirds_op.jpg)
Mom sent us this link today. Hummingbirds from egg to flight, 21 days. Click "next page" at the bottom of each page till you get to page 6 to see the whole event, pretty neat.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/
They've been using our feeder so hard that Michelle had one try to land on it today while she was hanging it back out. I poked the hanger wire thru a spray can lid and dripped wax in that to seal the hole, then filled that upside down lid with water to keep the ants somewhat out of it...some of the little buggers still swim the channel for a taste of the sweets. We just use clear sugar water, the hummers seem just as happy.
That's DanG cool! 8) 8) 8)
I've done that with several nests, but never had the chance to document humming birds.
That's cool Don. Great pitures with a story. Thanks for sharing. :) I have a couple pair of hummers here, but have never found their nests.
That is a cute little nest for such an aggressive little bird.
I don't think they nest around here. Maybe just pass through. It's probaby because of slowness of the society down here. We get in their way. :D
I remember a science fiction story where folks began hearing a buzzing and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It turned out that there are co-mingling universes and they run at different speeds. Ours and this one particular one had, for some reason, approached similar enough speeds that some of the sounds, and eventually, some of the sights of the two could be detected by the other side. It was an anomoly and soon cleared itsself up though.
I think it might have been a "Twighlight Zone" show. buzzzzzzz-zz buzzzz
I remember that one Tom, we've had a few laughs referring to that and wondering what the hummers think of us, we probably need orange triangles on the back of our t-shirts :D. I'm constantly thinking "slow down bud, you could put an eye out with that thing"
They remind me of seahorses when they curve their body to hover and take a sip.
I think I've got an idea for the new company T's :D
Bird report from my cornor of the world ;D
Saw a gret blue heron the other day. The Canada geese finally headed south instead of north and I had 3 cardinals at my bird feeder yesterday.... don't think I've ever seen a cardinal before. They look like they are made up for a pointy-heads-party :D
Found a humming bird nest in a tree in the yard. It was very cute. Maybe next year I will put some sugarwater out for them.
That's pretty cool Joan! The cardinals are gathering here too; they nest down in the woods along the creek. You can feed them (they like sunflower seeds) and they will stay in your yard all winter. The humming birds love the sugar water, and they also love lots of bright colored flowers. We like to plant red salvias under the windows so we can watch them up close. Our pond in front of the house attracts to blue herons, we have them stealing fish all summer. We used to shoot them on site, but now have decided to just throw a few more fish into the pond instead, and let them eat as much as they want. They are kind of neat to watch.
We have seen cardinals on very rare occasions in winter around the feeder. It's really not their normal range up here. The snow buntings have arrived, I saw a flock today and herd them in the fields a weeks ago. The geese are still milling around here. I still see robins in the woods. I saw a pileated woodpecker the other day and took a picture, but it was too blurry to see. I see the blue herons in the creek and around beaver ponds, they'll soon be gone. Although I did see one in December last year along the creek by my woodlot. I see chickadees in flocks now around the house and I've seen evening grosbeaks around the seeds on the boxelders.
Do cardinals expect a certain kind of bird feeder...say maybe a tray feeder ??? They were walking around on the deck looking for seeds and not landing on either perch type feeder.
They would cock thier heads sideways and look at shells. They look so cheerful and festive ;D
There is a small woodpecker that comes and eats seeds every day.
I use an ordinary clear plastic tube feeder that has a tray at the bottom for cardinals, and feed only safflower seed. The birds I don't want will not eat the safflower seed, and birds I do want will eat it. Squirrels don't eat safflower either.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-woodstork-I95-16a.jpg) | Cruising along I-295 this afternoon, My wife and I saw these Woodstorks standing together on the side of the road at the ditch. I dont know if this is the same flock that I saw on the road back home but it seems that the numbers are equivelant and they were within 10 miles of my last sighting.
We turned around at the next exit and went back, turning around at yet another exit to get as close as we could to them. I got the camera out and stuck it out of the window. They were way off on the Interstate right of way, next to the ditch, so I was already behind the eight ball. |
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/tom-woodstork-I95-13a.jpg)
| AS we inched along the emergency area on the side of the road, they marched, hesitatingly, away from us just like herding cattle. It wasn't long before they flew. This is all I got.
One of these days I am going to get a camera with a long lense and get real intimate with these rascals. Being as rare as they are, it makes me feel good to see them hanging around. The downside is that the pine plantations they were living in is fast becoming dense, residential housing. I can just picture some of the Urbanites taking potshots at them with a 22. [/left] |
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/big_bird_op.jpg)
Took the picture a while back of these birds. If I remember right they were about 3ft tall. I don't remember what kind of birds they were; can anyone tell me what they are. smiley_headscratch
Emu - from Aussie. They are related to an ostrich I think, but only about 1/2 the size.
Ian
Thanks Ianab, I took the picture 37 years ago just outside Sydney. No wonder I don't remember what they were. ;) When my kids saw the picture they wanted to know what kind of bird they were, now I can be knowledgeable and tell them. 8)
My neighbor, cousin's husband, was going to make his fortune raising Emus ::) Didn't work out ;) ;D
Quote from: Corley5 on January 01, 2006, 10:33:54 PM
My neighbor, cousin's husband, was going to make his fortune raising Emus ::) Didn't work out ;) ;D
Same thing was going to happen here. I don't know who talks these people into these 'adventures' ;D :D
Donna and I spent Christmas (2005) with her father and sisters in Okeechobee, Florida. He lives on the east bank of the Kissimmee River, not too far from where it empties into Lake Okeechobee. There are a pair of Sandhill Cranes that have been coming to his front door for the past 3 years for a handout of a couple of handfuls of corn. It's fun watching them. They eat about 10 feet from his front door. We can go outside and they don't spook unless we get too close. They keep an eye on us and if we get into their comfort zone, you can see them getting nervous and they'll walk off to the neighbor's yard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10038/Sandhill%20Cranes%20001.jpg)
Guess these be under 'birds' that showed up under the white oak tree this afternoon. 7 good size Toms and were so close to the window I could stand a few feet away and get their picture. (Not as cute as the one Buzz posted).
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/turkeys06a.jpg)
Then shortly after, nine jakes showed up and their reflection caught their attention, and they kept pecking at the window glass. I was afraid they would break it, so opened the window after some pics to shoo them away. They left in a hurry. The flash didn't bother them a bit. ::) ???
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/TurkeyJakesff.jpg)
I've had cardinals do that at the window in the shop, a turkey would get your attention rapping on the glass!
We and the mason's were talking at lunch the other day that none of us had seen a turkey around the jobsite. Sure enough, I rolled in Friday morning and 16 were in the yard. After hunting them I do think they are part telepathic :D.
Everybodies buddy in the north woods. Chick-a-dee a dee a dee :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_BlackCap.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_BlackCap2.jpg)
If I go to the woods without seeing these guys, there's gotta be something wrong and probably not a good sign of things to come. ::)
There has been a campaign going on here in Michigan for some time to make the chickadee the State Bird since it stays here all year long and is a friendly one and indicator species as you stated.
I live in the city and really miss those little guys. When they start singing I know it is spring 8)
What makes my head spin is that when I hear all the birds singing at night in the Spring before they settle down for the night and realise that the ones I'm hearing are only a tiny fraction of the population in this valley. No matter where I was to go,I'd hear them singing,even if I hopped in the truck and drove like a mad man for 20 miles,when I stopped and listened,I'd hear those birds.
Bless em 8)
Sure they weren't just in your head Paul ??? ::)
Yeah,and sometimes a Bird will mock me ;)
:D :D :D
People always say "a little bird told me", well I only know a handfull of little birds that can talk, so I figure we are in the same boat! ;) ;D
Like I said,bless em eh ;)
Um, yeah something like that! ;)
Anyone seeing Robins yet?
Unless we get a big dump of snow in March, I'm expecting them then. There is lotsa bare ground here. Down in Sussex my aunt has them all winter around the mountain ash berries. Last year I saw some in February up here but they were mostly in the thickets eating berries and seeds until it warmed up.
Hey Furby,it's interesting that you mentioned Robins last night because there are a whole herd of them in our yard today!
First this year 8)
I hope it's a warmer dry spring this year than it's been for the last 3 or so years. We seem to be getting late springs and our summers are running late into early fall. I want it both ways.. :-X never mind. ::) Come on robins, come bob, bob'n along. :)
Flock Paul, flock. ;)
You wanna see a herd ???
Come visit! ;D
When I hear someone say Chickadee, all I can think of is W.C. Fields and his big red nose. :D
Furby I saw hundreds of Robins this past week.
Tom, did W. C. Fields have Chickadees perching on his nose? :D :D :D
Another friend in the woods to most loggers in the north, is the Canada Jay. It's also known as the 'Wiskey Jack'. Loggers around the lumber camp would dip bread in wiskey and feed these 'gorbies' all they'd eat, sack and hide. Funny part of it was, there's often blue jays around and they'de steal the 'Wiskey Jacks' stash, sometimes a raven would get in on the deal too. :D :D
Once those 'Whiskey Jacks' learn that your friendly they'll eat the bread out of your hands. I'de never feed'm whiskey though. That's too mean.
The South don't count this time of year Jeff! ;)
Those whiskey jacks are cheeky devils and a hoot to watch. They will steal food off yer plate while your holding it :D I once watched them with an apple core. The first two inspected and left it but when the third carried it back to the tree, the fight was on.
Just a week later, the tom turkey's were back, and pecking at my shop window again. I walked up to the window to take pics of just a few feet away, and then one with the strutting tom inches away. Hoping they get over this habit of pecking at the glass, because it's 1/8" storm pane that isn't that strong.
The first pic is of the strutting tom, strutting for his 6 buddies ( no hens around ::) ) and the second after the strutter mosey'd over to the window for a portrait. They seem to come around about once a week. Interesting colors that well up into their head when strutting this time of year.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/TomTurk%20ff%20b.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/TomTurk%20ff%20a.jpg)
They don't seem to be very timid do they? They are nice looking birds. Thanks for sharing. :)
I have a couple ravens that hang around the yard for bread I toss out. If I as much as come to a window to watch them they take off. They are very wary of their surroundings.
Love this thread. My wife and I live on the outskirts of Halifax and are blessed to have a bit more of the winged kingdom than those closer to the center. There is a swamp/stream about 200 feet from our boundary line and 300 feet from our house. On the edge of that swamp a nesting pair of osprey live and several pairs of loons as well. When we first lived here it was not uncommon to have bald eagles in the area but as the suburbs push out to meet us (and soon pass us :( ) the bald eagles, deer and bears are becoming less common. By the by, I don't miss the bears :D. We are now in the process of getting ready to build a house in the Annapolis Valley, about 90 minutes to the west of where we live now. Just this morning on our way there saw a bald eagle fly over the truck, several osprey. and I think a red tailed hawk in the trees on the side of the highway. If we don't see 5 to 10 hawks/eagles on the drive it is a "slow" day. The property we are moving to is in an agricultural area and has a very healthy raptor population.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Nova smiley_turkey_dancing
I am always awed by raptors. Congratulations on your move. Will you be building your own house ???
Thanx SB! Yes my wife and I will build this house ourselves with the appropriate sub-trades. We built our current house four years ago with a contractor (I was the laborer/gopher) expecting to stay here for 10 years or so and found that the city decided it wanted to live in the country too :(. So we bought 40 acres of forest this past summer and have cleared about one and a half acres for the house. Because about 80% of our trees are hardwood - white ash, poplar, birch, cherry, beech, apple, hop hornbeam, maple and a little bit of red oak - we will purchase a few truckloads of eastern white pine for the frame and use our hardwood for the interior work. We have a 27hp 8" WPF Peterson mill somewhere in the Pacific as we speak that we will use to cut the lumber and we are jumping into the deep end because we are building a 32' x 36' two story post and beam plus a kiln, out buildings, etc. Just met with our engineer yesterday and the plans are getting close to completion ;D.
I'll say it's the deep end. I hope you can swim. ;D :D
SwampDonkey, I trained as a lifeguard many moons ago, but I don't think that will help me here ;)
I was going to finally get around to taking the wreath off the end of the house since Christmas was almost 5 months ago, but got a surprise when I walked around the end of the house to get it. Heck maybe it'll still be up there for the Pig Roast now. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/robin_wreath_1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/robin_wreath_2.jpg)
I gotta start taking the digital with me. I keep seeing an American bittern along the ditch down the road. He's in amongst the cat tails and rushes. I've walked up on those darn things a number of times and almost walk right into them before they take to flight. Scare the be-geebers out of me until I realize what creature it is. :D :D Ever see a cat tail with eyes? :D You only see one with a sharp eye if your lucky. They point their bill to the sky and they are so skinny and slick they blend right into the cat tails. Maybe I'll get lucky tommorrow. My luck I'll never see the darn thing again. ::)
Jeff, you are not fooling anyone. ;D That is an artificial bird on that wreath. You put it there last fall so you would have an excuse not have to take the wreath down. ;)
Pretty boy courting his girl. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_grackle-courtship-001.jpg)
He's really gonna impress her now. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_grackle-courtship-007.jpg)
I found out in a span of 10 minutes, he definately doesn't practice monogamy. ::)
We may have to begin to worry 'bout SD ::) ::)
Begin? :D
;)
On our way to continue hacking at our log pile yesterday saw a bald eagle swoop down to the left side of the highway and quickly double back between two lines of traffic to pick up what I assume was some road kill. The eagle timed it just right and made it without getting nailed by any of the vehicles...I am not sure how many more times that eagle will be so lucky though. The driver in front of us had the best view as the eagle banked and exposed his full wing span about four feet off the asphalt! Last week about five miles from that spot saw two bald eagles flying over the highway. What a magnificent bird.
We have alot of them here that nest along the river. Saw one adult and a juvenile today on my way home.
We had one at our place last year. It was the only bald eagle I have ever seen, in the wild. It was really unusual for this part of Pennsylvania.
We are starting to get nesting eagles back along some of our major rivers.
Some people try erecting a platform for them along the river, but they get mostly osprey.
Today when marking out some thinning in the quiet country air, I heard a couple of owls calling one another I assume. I'de say they were horned owls. Probably nesting in a narly old beech on the Crown block (public forest) next door.
Got a picture a while back of two bald eagles in one tree. If they were not mad at each other and were resting a little closer together , I could have gotten a better picture.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/baldeagle_op.jpg)
I had a bald eagle pace me along the ditch at window level as I drove a logging road. I assume it was hunting for mice. What a sight. 8)
While drinking my coffee this morning this little guy and his mate flew into the big elm next to my office window. Apparently didn't like the neighbors as they checked out the housing situation and moved on.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/wood%20duck.JPG)
Certainly must be a 'wood' duck.
I was once fishing on Hemlock Lake, south of Rochester NY and while I was fishing a bald eagle came and snatch a trout off the lake - about 20 feet away from me.
I wasn't catching anything, but it was worth the trip just to see that!
I've seen osprey pluck salmon out of the river below where we fished.
I've also seen mallard ducks perched in cedar trees beside my fish pond. I couldn't believe it because their feet are not designed for perching. The fish pond wasn't favorable to brook trout, not enough oxygen, plus alot of field run off.
Last night I spotted this blur out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough it was a ruby throated hummingbird, never seen one this early in the year. He spotted the aliums in the back flower garden and spent 5 minutes giving them a good going over. Patty and I walked out on the deck and stood a few feet away and watched him manuver in a strong wind.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/hummingbird.JPG)
When he flew away he buzzed past my nose by a couple of inches, probably never knew we were there.
Nice catch on the picture Norm!
I haven't seen any yet here, although the sap suckers are back. Everything is in full bloom and waiting for them. The wild fly honeysuckles have been in flower for at least 2 weeks, before most anything else.
Nice shot Norm. :)
8) 8) pic!!! Dad and I saw a hummingbird last week. 1st one of the season and kinda early for up here but there's lotsa stuff in bloom for em.
Hummingbirds been here for 10 days and the Orioles . Showed up during the heavy rainy week . I must have good fuel that they like . Always wonder if its the same little hummingbirds and if they made it all the way down to see Harold and cr or just how far they go south. Great pictures Norm !
Drove the lawnmower over to my sisters the other day on the backroad of the farm . 2 sets of canadian honkers with little fuzzballs running between them and looks like big hatches. A dozen woodducks off the corn stubble and 18 more honkers with feathers missing all over their wings and then one loose bull :D
We have some killdeer that have taken up makin' their home on the gravel on our loglot. A pretty hazardous place.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wskilldeernest2006.JPG)
This little hen built her nest (if you can call it a nest - it's only a cupped out place in the gravel) right beside the main drive. You can spit on her as you drive by. We pass by her a dozen times a day. When heading up the drive, she'll stay on her nest. But coming back, she'll jump and run and fake injury if you come walking up.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wskilldeereggs2006.JPG)
She's been setting on these four eggs for two weeks. They are very large compared to the size of the bird. They are about the size of a banty's egg.
We'd found a nest earlier in the spring and watched it for a week. Then one morning Mary noted the hen was on her nest and when she fled, the eggs were there. A couple of hours later, the eggs were gone. No sign of the shells left. I suspect a snake got them.
Anyway, it'll be great to see that she gets her eggs hatched. It's been a fun watching her.
Here is a Purple Gallinule. He was in our pond a few days ago feeding on minnows.
This is a Zoomed in and blown up photo, the actual size of the bird is similiar to the size of a BlueJay, maybe a tad bit larger.
The beautiful colors aren't always caught with the naked eye. (At least my eyes)
It helps to have binoculars.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Purple%20Gallinule.jpg)
We used to work around the nests of the killdeer in the fields. By the time the fields greened up with crops the babies where hatched out and about. Bug spray couldn't have been too healthy though. :-\ :'(
I moved the sawmill from the front of the house to the field, yesterday, to test some repairs and to cut some beams for a customer. Snuggled under the engine on the frame of the head of the mill was a house sparrow nest with 6 eggs in it. When I was cranking up the engine, she flew out within inches of my head. I guess she took all she could take. I removed the nest and put it in a rose bush about 10 feet away. I know she probably won't find it, but it made me feel better. I'll be checking it every day for awhile. Maybe it'll help my guilt some. :)
We got all kinds of bird nest in our sawshed and barns. I'm not any too good on my birds but some of them look like martins. They are swooping in and out of the sawshed and all around the loglot all day.
Yesterday evening I was moving some slabs and seen a black snake under the tractor. I stopped to let it make up its mind where it wanted to go. It did. Right into the sawshed.
I told Mary to watch out for our new mouse catcher. She was none too happy. I went out this morning and put a flitch on the roller table infeed to the edger and there he was – sunning himself on the first rays of the morning. He slipped under some of the floor in the corner. Later in the morning, Mary tugged on my shirt. There he was slithering across the floor. He went under some lumber where Mary had to work around. She watched real careful.
About mid-day Mary made noted that the martins were not swooping in and out of the building like they had been. By evening, they were back. I bet they knew.
I've caught a sparrow acting like it wanted to build a nest in the end of the dust blower pipe. It sure must look inviting in there. I can just see one morning turning on the blower and seeing a sparrow and nest come shooting out of the dust blower pipe like a low velocity canon ball.
Got this link in an email... pretty kool 8)
"This is truly amazing. Be sure to click on NEXT PAGE at the bottom of each page; there are 5 pages in all. A lady found a hummingbird nest and got pictures all the way from the egg to leaving the nest. Took 24 days from birth to flight. Because you'll probably never in your lifetime see this again, enjoy; and please share."
http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/
Bibby they sound like barn swallows. Do they have brown or lighter colored bellies? A Purple Martin is bigger than a swallow and has a purple belly, and they are also colony nesters which prefer bird houses and close to your house. Barn swallows build their nest from mud and straw/grass. The cold weather here one May (96 ?) wiped them out pretty much. We used to have hundreds of them around the buildings and they would line the wires when getting ready to fly south in August. It was mind boggling, when they decided to leave for the winter they would all be gone the same day and you wouldn't see one. You could mark your calender for the 21-24 of August, it varied by a day or two each year, they would be gone without a trace. You'll find some barn swallows are very clean and the parents will take the droppings outside the barn and then there were some that were slobs that would dirty the place up under the nest.
Update on my wreath robins. Man, they sure grow quick. The first photo was taken Sunday, the second about an hour ago, just before this last fellow left the nest.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/wreath_robin.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/wreath_robin_2.jpg)
My punkin patch kildeers had a sucessful nesting season. There were two chicks with the adults last night when I plowed the ground. Last year I found the nest and worked around it when I cultivated the pumpkins. They're way ahead of me this year 8) I also saw a pair of bluebirds in the house at the corner of the patch 8) For decades we've had problems with starlings in the sawdust elevator at the mill. They build on the bottom so if you start it without running it backwards to clean out the mess you really get a mess when it winds and jams at the bottom sprocket. Barn swallows can really make a mess but they are great for insect control especially mosquitos 8)
Some people here confuse the blue bird for the northern parula which are found in thickets and hardwoods on their flight to there nesting sites in softwood. They are very vocal and migrate in flocks or small groups. I first took notice of them a couple of years ago in a hardwood forest in early May. They were everywhere a cherp'n and a go'n it. I've read that they use spanish moss and old man's beard to build their nest which grows in our mature fir and spruce forests. I've never seen any blue birds here, but that doesn't mean there isn't any.
Here is a not so great pic of a water bird called Anhinga.
They have a long and slim neck an swim submerged to the neck.
Their sharp pointed bill is used to spear fish.
This guy loves hanging out on the branches above the pond spreading his wings to dry.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Anhinga%20004.jpg)
A couple of the more acceptable names for Anhinga around here are Water Turkey and Snake Bird.
Have you ever seen films of them swimming and hunting under water? They are a wonder. While they can really hurt the population of bream in a small fresh water pond, they don't seem to kill indiscriminately like Herons and generally eat what they catch before hunting another. :)
It is mistaken for a Cormorant by some people. But Cormorants hang around salt water, have shorter, stockier necks and swim higher in the water. Anhingas swim with their body submerged.
Did you know a Cormorant can dive 200 feet looking for fish?
It's fun to watch an Anhinga throw his catch up in the air and swallow it head first.
I wish someone would have told me that was a Water Turkey long ago because it took me a couple of years to learn how to pronounce Anhinga correctly. ;D
That name would have STUCK. :D
We have cormorants here in our rivers. They sometimes sit on old bridge peirs with wings wide spread drying out ofter a dive. Merganzers are hard on salmon parr here. But, I don't blame the birds for the decline of the salmon, we all know whose shoulders that rests on. ::) They swim in formation and catch small fish, including parr, like a big wide net. I can remember the smallest tributaries had parr as common as brook trout when I was young. You really had to watch what you hooked to be careful to release the parr back to the water. I know of some idiots that would keep them for trout, it was illegal. ::)
Here is another bird that is common on the South's shoreline, a Skimmer. I know that Mooseherder must have seen them too. It flies and glides at a high rate of speed, close to the water with its lower bill extended into the water. When it finds a fish or shrimp or whatever, it catches it and either eats it in flight or carries it to shore, depending on the size. I've watched them do this in the middle of the night as I fished for Snook off of the old South bridge in Ft. Pierce. It always seemed to me that they risked getting their neck broken.
A written page on Skimmers (http://www.audubon.org/bird/BoA/F42_G1a.html)
Here is Audubon's Birds of America (http://www.audubon.org/bird/BoA/BOA_index.html) from the beginning if you care to read some of it. I find it fascinating. :P :)
We heard a thump against the glass on the job last week. Kinda sad. This hummer was beautiful. The ruby throat and feathers were irridescent, flashing in the light as you turned him.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/hummer1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/hummer2.jpg)
I wonder what a hummingbird mount would cost?
I have had many woodpeckers fly into the glass doors and make a good thump noise , if I can get to it before my 2 dogs I will lay the bird in a safe place while its bloody nose stops and after about 15 minutes of trying to get its legs it eventually takes off . Many I thought were dead but most take a little time and off they go . Good bird pics everybody , now I am going to look at pappy's hummingbird link .
We've got a Ruffed Grouse hangin' out right behind the house... How can you tell you ask??? just listen to this... He's been doin' it for about 3 or 4 weeks now... He must be one heck of a stud or there ain't no ladies around... ;D
http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/Sounds/drumming.wav
More info about em...
http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/ruffed_facts.asp
Buck,, we do the same thing when one of the little ones hits the glass... we've gotten alot fewer glass slams since we moved the bird feeder away from the house ::)
I was using some really bright orange ribbon the other day marking the perimeter of my thinning and a hummer was going nuts over that orange flagging. Once in awhile he'd almost clip me by the ears as he zoomed by. :D :D :D :D Getting dangerous out there in the bushes. :D :D
Those 'ruffies' don't seem to get scared of the brush saws like they do if you just walk by one. I've heard quite a few this spring in my thinning blocks beating it up. ;D Alot of woodcock to, you can almost step on them. Also, seen quite a few tiny bird nests, some I think are warblers by the design and size of their nests. I've seen quite a few that were almost 100 % made of yellow birch bark, some just hang down like a tiny basket. You never see that stuff if you carry a camera around all day. :-\
Some of you that came to last years pig roast may remember Carolyn. She was here today with her mum and she and I found this bird in our pool. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/carolyn_dragonfly.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/dragonfly_bird.jpg)
We decided they taste like chicken. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/carolyn_dragonfly_2.jpg)
Those birds just hatched here too Jeff , they are everywhere :)
I left the door open in the woodshop last few weeks and got me a fresh barn swallow nest almost done on the cieling so I decided to close the door before they set eggs , sure felt bad closing the door after they went to all that work hauling mud and straw .
We have a bunch of really angry barn swallows here today. Norm destroyed their happy home yesterday. ::)
I can remember them when we had them in great numbers they would swoop and almost nip you on the ears. We had a cat that was always a target for the swallows in the yard. I always thought of their attack chirp as the sound of a pare of scissors as they swoop down on you as if to cut a lock of hair. :D
I've caught them in fish nets and the biggest part of them are their wings. Such a tiny body.
Dragon flies or Mosquito Hawks were quick and easy pets when I was little. If you stood still, one might light on you. We would, sometimes, tie a piece of thread around his body and walk around with him flying circles around our head. When fishing, no cane pole was complete without one or two resting in the tip. In the evening, the air would be full of them. They are a really neat insect. One would never guess that the immature stage was a super bad, aggressive, vicious and voracious nymph that feeds on beetles, small fish and worms on the bottom of a pond.
Actually they dont change much, the adult dragon flies are carnivorus insects that feed on mossies and moths. While they dont live long as adults (3 or 4 weeks) compared to several years as a nymph, I guess they need the occasional snack to keep them going... every topic comes back to food ;) :D
Cheers
Ian
They are realy active in grain fields hunting beetles too. I see all kinds during harvest season (August-Sept).
Here is a young kestrel I found sitting on my woodpile yesterday. I have a nest box located a few feet away that is usually occupied by a pair and this year was no exception. They always seem to come out of the box before they can really fly. I was really tempted to keep this little guy as a pet but decided that the best thing was to leave it where I found it. Always wanted to keep one for a pet. Had a red tailed hawk when I was kid but he was pretty wild and tough to handle. This little guy let me pick him up and would just sit on your hand. Always find chipmunk tails around the box and under a dead elm where they sit.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10129/MVC-010S%20%28Custom%29.JPG)
What a great picture!
If the boss hears about the chipmunk capability, he'll be wanting one! :D
We have alot of them here that sit on the hydro wires adjacent to grassy fields.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hawk%20Fly%20By.jpg)
This Hawk was stirring up the neighborhood this evening trying to get at some Baby Bluejays. He got run off by 3 little birds. Got lucky to get this one on his flight to a perch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hawk%20Perch%20%282%29.jpg)
I know we have night hawks in the NW, but don't see them often, haven't seen any for a couple of years. They seem to come in for a hatch of particuar bug or something. Earlier this week I was down at the neighbors, sitting out on the patio for that last hour before dusk. Swallows working up high and then an occasional night hawk. Pretty soon there was another and within ten minutes there were 6 of them working directly overhead, no more they 30 or 40 feet up. Beautiful birds to watch!
We have night hawks here too. Hear their wings as they dive for bugs. When we used to go camping and fishing you'de here them all night. Vrooooooom ;D
American Bald Eagle in moon light
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10691/Paul%20Cyr%20P.I.%20Eagle%20photo1.jpg)
This picture was taken by a friend of a friend in Presque Isle Maine... They called it "Timing" ... How true!! and how many times ya see something super like this and ya ain't got a camera!!
I'll second that. That's a really nice snap pappy. Thanks for sharing. 8) :)
Amazing photo!
Funny thing about birds, (and especially hawks for me,) no matter how many I've seen I will still find myself slowing down to look or pulling off to watch. Never tire of them.
Had a young sharp shinned hawk playing with a couple of flickers down in our meadow earlier this week. Tree to tree and scolding each other but not trying to hurt anyone. Just learning the neighbors I think.
is it possible to get a copy of that bald eagle picture in a higher resolution? it's amazing
If that is an original photo, unretouched, it seems like your friend should copywrite it and see if it is marketable.
I agree that it is a fantastic photo.
Dan,
I'll check w/ the friend that sent it to me and see if he has a better res of it... The one I have here is only 73.7 KB... If every thing is OK with them I'll get ya a copy..
pap
Dan,
Here's a link to the photographers web site...
http://www.crownofmaine.com/paulcyr/main.php?g2_page=5
he's got lots of great shots over there!!! ::) The guy is GOOD !!!
pap
Wow, that guy is good. And a CYR!
WOW :o He has some fantastic shots. I'm jealous :D :D :D
This fellow is really hard to see, visable in profile but almost disappears when you look at him against the tree trunk. A barred owl, in the trees just over my cats. Believe they just ended up hunting the same territory but not certain. Sat in the tree long enough for me to walk up the hill for my camera and back. And in the middle of the day!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12858/September%20Owl%20cropped.jpg)
My Mother was always afraid that an owl would get our cat.
One did get my uncle's white barn cat. He had seen it hanging around the barn (owl) and soon the kitty was not to be found. ::)
Noticed today that there is a squirrel working the big leaf maples in that same area so have a feeling that is what he was looking for. He's about the same size as the cats so think he might have a real fight on his hands if he tries. Beautiful birds though.
I stuffed and mounted birds when I was a kid. Had a great horned owl mounted in my bedroom over the bed. We had a big storm one night and something banging on the porch knocked the owl loose. I woke up in the morning, eyeball to eyeball with the bird!
Reported by CBC:
Between 12 and 20 heron nests were destroyed when a forest company built a wide track through its property this summer. The nests were part of a large colony, and the incident has sparked an investigation by the Canadian Wildlife Service.
The birds, and their nests, are protected under federal legislation.
CBC News has obtained copies of the search warrants and supporting documents executed as part of the CWS investigation.
A judge granted the Wildlife Service warrants to search two company offices in Sussex. Investigators seized approximately 70 documents, computer files, and maps from the offices.
No accompanying photos.
The crows are gathering for another trip south toward warmer climate. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Crows2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Crows1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Blueheron1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Blueheron2.jpg)
Photos taken 20 minutes ago today after he scared the daylights out of me. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Geese1.jpg)
These guys landed in the plowed field behind the house an hour ago.
This Red Tail Hawk was on the prowl for field mice.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hawk%20in%20Flight.jpg)
Finally caught this Pileated Woodpecker on camera. We've had a pair in our woods for the 38 years we've been here, and most times can hear them, and on occasion see them. This old white oak 10 yards from the house has caught one's attention this past week, and I've been trying to get a pic. Finally did it. Took several, but this one is the best profile pic.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Pileated%20Woodpecker_ff.jpg)
Went out after he flew away, to get a tape in the pic where he was feasting. Looks to be about 12-14" high on the tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Pileated%20WP%20holes_ff.jpg)
Beenthere, I chased one along an old logging road last fall and every time I brought the camera up for a snap he with flicker off or go on the back side of a tree. All I got was blurred images. :-\ I see one in my yard sometimes around an old maple yard tree that has a rotten branch. I chase him off because I don't want it full of holes and have it come down faster than need be. ::)
Couple of summers ago I had a pair of young ones hanging around the yard one day. Just like gawky teenagers, kind of tumbling over each other as they chased around the yard. Still didn't have that flying stuff down pat yet.
I had one that was working an oak tree not 10 feet from my deer stand back in 1972. He was dismanteling that tree as efficiently as a wrecking crew takes down a house.
He was so interesting that now I look for them when I hear them in the swamp. They will take down a pine tree with whacks that send 6"shards of wood flying. There is no "rat-a-tat-tat" but rather a "Whack-whack-whack".
For many years I duck hunted in the backwaters of the Mississippi River at a place called Reno. Too, me 20 minutes of walking and some slogging through bogs to get to my hunting spot. On slow days I'd enjoy watching Pileated woodpeckers (they have a terrible squawk) and downy woodpeckers and many other birds of the forests. One Fall, I was fishing with my Uncle and cousin in Park Falls, Wisconsin and I saw more red headed woodpeckers than I'd ever seen in one place in my life. They must've been migrating or something because there were lots and lots of them. A beautiful sight. :)
I'm seeing more and more piliated woodpeckers lately. Nice to see in the woods and an indicator species of old growth forests. I had one working around my deer blind the first day of season last week until it started working on the tree right at the door into the blind.
I had to open the door and scare it away for some quite again.
I see them in mature aspen, kind of tipping toward over mature. I found a nest site (I think) the other day in a big old aspen along the road. Maybe I can take a shot tomorrow. It was about half way up the tree and the top of the aspen is dead I think, bud has some live laterals lower down. I'de say the diameter of the cavity hole is a good 5 inches.
Here is the shot of a nesting cavity. I can't be 100 % certain it's a pileated cavity, but I see them around the area hammering at old snags. I also see hairy wood peckers as well, but the cavity is quite big for a small woodpecker. Usually the pileated make a square hole when searching for bugs, not sure about nesting cavity holes.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_CavityTree.jpg)
Not much fun when ya fire one shot and get your limit...plus a limit for all your neighbors. ;D ;D At one time I think the geese were covering about 80 acres and not more than 6" away from each other.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/2006_12080032.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/2006_12080044.JPG)
Going back tomorrow with slingshots...just to make it interesting. ;D
Corn field in the Missouri River bottoms.
That is a lot of T-day and Christmas dinners. :D
I meant to take a picture of the 12 foot tall pink flamingos in Houghton Lake today but got distracted. :)
Your pink flamingos wouldn't even be knee high on our goose. I've heard everything is much smaller in the far north due to the short growing season. :D :D
Worlds Largest Goose (http://www.wlra.us/wl/wlgoose.htm)
See...ya learned something new today...you can tell all your friends where the worlds biggest goose lives. ;D
Quote from: Larry on December 10, 2006, 07:37:50 PM
I've heard everything is much smaller in the far north due to the short growing season. :D :D
Not to ruin your joke ;) and to change the subject just a moment and also to give my best Cliff from cheers imitation, Actually, thats not correct. Did you know that some of the worlds largest veggies are grown in none other then Alaska? They have a short growing season yes, but its an intense growing season as there are many more hours of day light then we have. I think the same goes for the critters. Even in the U.P. we notice how things grow like crazy during the short growing season.
This is Annie, our friends Pacific Blue Parrotlet. The Christmas dress was actually off a Wine Bottle. smiley_alcoholic_01
She loved it and posed in front of her little Christmas Tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Annie2.jpg)
This owl is in my warehouse
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12480/Pic131a.jpg)
Gary, he's a docile feller isn't he? If i tried to take a pic of him I bet he would come at me with beak wide open and talons outreached and screeching like the world's on fire. :D :D
Nice picture btw. ;D
Quote from: Jeff B on December 10, 2006, 08:03:17 PM
They have a short growing season yes, but its an intense growing season as there are many more hours of day light then we have.
Doesn't belong in here, but to elaborate on Jeff's response with some info from the Geophysical Institute in Alaska. ;D
Life of a White Spruce (http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF7/707.html)
Swampdonkey we chased him all over the warehouse until i could get a good picture. I was about 3 feet from him when I took that picture.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Egrets.jpg)
These little fellers are scouring the yard for feed right now. I hope they eat Grubs, Ants and Weeds. :D
They're welcome to come and feed daily. ;)
Not sure what these little fellas eat.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/flamingo.jpg)
der dey are.
Santa's little helpers. ;D
A couple of pictures my Sister sent today. Snow geese in the Skagit Valley, about 70 miles North of Seattle.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12858/Snow%20Geese%2001.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12858/Snow%20Geese.jpg)
Thats more then a couple... :)
Did you see the guys from the midwest that raised some whooping cranes and used an ultralight and a crane voice box, that sounded like a parent crane, to fly with the birds in migration to Florida??? It was neat to watch the birds from the ultralight mounted camera. At times they were barely flapping their wings as they used the air foil off the ultralight fan to glide right along behind. One bird got killed when it ran into a hydro line at dusk.
Apparently there is a season on cranes. Maybe they attack crops, I didn't catch that part. But, I think it's the sand hill crane they can shoot. What I'de like to know is how many inexperienced fellas shoot any old crane and find out it's a whooper and just leave it because of risk of fines.
I seen a re-run of the Nature show last evening.
As far as I know, all cranes are protected in the states. Even the ones da yoopers call sand turkey. :D
Quote from: Jeff B on January 03, 2007, 02:37:28 PM
Thats more then a couple... :)
They are starting to cause problems due to overpopulation
SD
I too saw that special on the ultra-light flight for the Whoopers this past fall. Very interesting. True to form, they sprinkled in a good dose of the "tear jerkers" like shooting the Sandhill cranes. I also didn't think there was a season, but they showed plenty of film of blasting them out of the air (close-ups of gun muzzles etc.) and the dead ones landing in the water, then grabbing one leg and dragging them off. Guess they were trying to show that the Whoopers were shot off in big numbers years ago. Maybe Sandhill Cranes have a season in the South, but none up here in the rookeries that I am aware of. Not too many years ago the Sandhill cranes were in very small numbers in WI, but now we see lots of them.
Very interesting program to train the Whooping cranes to migrate to FL. Should just send 'em down with the snow birds each winter....... :)
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 03, 2007, 03:50:01 PM
Did you see the guys from the midwest that raised some whooping cranes and used an ultralight and a crane voice box, that sounded like a parent crane, to fly with the birds in migration to Florida??? .....
Apparently there is a season on cranes.
Here's a URL for Operation Migration, leading the Whooping cranes from WI to FL. It's very interesting to follow each year. It's a pretty large operation. This year's project took about 75 days from WI to FL. They're really dedicated folks.
http://www.operationmigration.org/index.html
I've been following it for several years. The web site is an excellent source of information on Whoopers and the Daily Journals are great to follow.
There are Sandhill crane hunting seasons in 9 out of 10 states in the Central Flyway and also in selected states in the Pacific Flyway.
Norm
Thanks for the info Norm.
Why is it when ever something negative about hunting gets aired someone gets down trodden? I think a lot of people remember things about hunting in the past which was not well regulated and some folks get real touchy on both sides at times. I do not see 200+ bird flocks of geese anymore, but I see lots of 25-30 sized flocks. On the farm we had an area about 10 acres in size that would turn into a shallow lake in spring and fall and that used to be alive with ducks and geese on migration. ;) It since has been drained, but is marginal for growing crops because it's a low spot where water flows into from the gentle sloping hillsides. Once we wield our influence over things we sometimes regret it later. ;)
Operation Migration takes the whooping cranes only about 20 miles from my house. For the last two years I have planed to go watch them fly over. They get stuck in southern Indiana for a few days because of poor flying weather, I forget to check the web site and when they finally fly, I miss them. :( Maybe I can catch them next fall.
Bob
Just send the wife witch up to keep an eye open for thm Bob. ;)
Had a redtail hawk walking around in my backyard yesterday while I was eating breakfast. I think he has his eye on all of the starlings that like to congregate in my bushes. I've seen him many times, usually alighting on the top of my pine trees in the back, but this is the first time I've seen him walking on the ground.
I hope he sticks around! ;D
You have starlings this time of year? Even with a warm year, they've been long gone.
Ron, we have starlings here every winter, even in a real winter. I see them here every day, they group up like pigeons in barns and sheds and stuff. I see them on the road side wires in bunches. Remember they are not native, and thus aren't driven to migrate. Although, I'm sure a few seek warmer weather during winter. They were always at grandfather's bird feeders all winter and usually the native birds had to keep their distance. ;)
There's a huge swarm of them that live downtown near our central interchange of two interstates. At dusk every day, fall, winter, spring or summer, they're swooping and whirling around the viaducts. Quite a sight...and I wish they were all dead. Doggone pests. I hope that hawk gets 'em! ;D
Saw an osprey for the first time here about a week ago. I had no idea what this huge bird was since the only ones around that size we see around here normally are herons, and once or twice a year a bald eagle. After searching google pics for a while I found the only thing close to what I saw. So for now it was an osprey, unless it was some bird that got blown in from a foreign nation.
You might if you have some open water Jon. Remember they are a fish hawk and they normally winter on the Gulf Coast, Coast of California, South and Central America and Europe/Asia and Africa believe it or not. They are not far from large bodies of water. We have a lot of nesting platforms here along the upper river valley, including power line poles.
There are a few lakes, one a couple miles away that is about a mile wide at its widest point, and roughly 6 miles long. We live next to a 'creek' that could be considered a river by some standards, but not much still water on it now that a bird could hunt for fish. Last winter 4 bald eagles were eating a deer carcass on the ice across the street. I saw a juvenile bald eagle at the state park thats on the lake I mentioned. My guess is the osprey was passing through to one of the great lakes from the coast, or confused by the warm weather.
My Sister just emailed this to me. She works for North Cascade Institute, an educational organization in the North Cascade Park. These are counts on the Skagit River. I fish up there a lot, knew there were a lot of eagles this year but had no idea how many!
Here is the eagle count from the past four weeks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newhalem to Marblemount 17
12/13/2006 Marblemount to Rockport 263 Total = 389
Rockport to Sedro-Woolley 109
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newhalem to Marblemount 51
12/20/2006 Marblemount to Rockport 397 Total = 627
Rockport to Sedro-Woolley 179
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newhalem to Marblemount 28
12/27/2006 Marblemount to Rockport 385 Total = 589
Rockport to Sedro-Woolley 176
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newhalem to Marblemount 57
1/03/2007 Marblemount to Rockport 580 Total = 859
Rockport to Sedro-Woolley 222
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On the 1996 Prince Rupert Telephone book there was a picture of about 30 eagles sitting in one big old sitka spruce. 8) 8)
Standing in the river fishing yesterday, 34° and pouring down rain when a small hawk came sailing by. In discussions with my nephew, who is an ornatholigist, determined that it was either a merlin or a peregrine. Looking at where they winter, think it must be a peregrine. Pretty cool.
I've seen a few merlin out on the coast, specifically on the 'Charlottes'. Peregrine are known to be there as well. The fishing lodge was named for them, thus Peregrine Lodge. One guy I was cruising with saw a pair of hawks on one of our blocks. I saw them also as they were over our heads in the branches of a hemlock screeching like crazy. We never saw a nest, and at time we didn't know the species. As it turns out raptors are protected out there, so we have to watch for nests, and Peregrine is high on the list. Well, my cruising partner claimed we found a nesting pair of Peregrines and that he saw baby birds in the nests. He told the company supervisor and I didn't even know until one of their wildlife guys asked me about it.
Wait a minute, what nest, what baby birds? So he and I went out to the cruising plot for an inspection. There was no sign of birds or any nest. I described what we saw as far as size and plumage and he thought that it was likely a pair of merlin. I've since looked it up and that fits what I saw and we have a lot of them here in the summer that roost on the hydro wires in open fields.
I was going to mention further about the eagles. In both Prince Rupert and Queen Charlotte City, if you want to see eagles with little effort, just go to the dumps. They are as thick as ravens and sea gulls. :D
Charges will be filed February 5, 2007 concerning the damages caused to the blue heron nesting colony by a provincial forest company based in Saint John. A fine up to $1M and/or 6 months jail time is the maximum sentence for the offense. Not looking good for the forest operations supervisor.
We have a tavern here in the NW with a blue heron rookery in the cottonwoods next door. Environmentalists enjoyed sitting out on the deck with a cold brew and watching the herons return in the evening. Until the local bald eagles began to clean them out. Great consternation!
This feller was waking up the whole neighborhood this morning with his quacking.
Looked in the North American Bird book for the identity but couldn't find his flavor.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Mallard.jpg)
Could that be the proverbial "odd duck"?
Turns out we think this is an Egyptian Goose. From the research we found the female does the Honking. This is far from it's range. I Think it is lost.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Mallard1.jpg)
Gonna name this goose "Roxie" ? ::) ;D ;D
Neighbor just sent me this pic he took of the bluebirds today at his bird waterer (heated, but air temp at -5° F).
Pretty amazing. There are four of them been around the last few days, 'cording to his wife.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Bluebirds_ff.jpg)
Wondrin what they are eating?
You know, that looks a lot like the Northern Parula, but neither bird inhabits this far north in the winter. The parula winters in the tropics, and the blue bird winters in the southern US and Mexico. I do know that a few people confuse the two birds. The parula has some white markings around it's eye and darker wings, with yellow-green saddle. And it's plumage is more of a blue-gray, compared to indigo-blue of the blue bird. Parula nests almost exclusively in old growth softwood stands with Spanish moss (south) or old man's beard lichen (north)
I'll try not to do this every year, but a while ago I thought there was some thunder, then upon checking the thumping, found ol Tom waltzing with he's reflection in the window. Took several flash pics, and this is but one. Notice how the red shirt has shrunk up around the upper neck.............. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Tom_03_1.jpg)
Is that Baker Blue face? :D
Invite him in for Thanksgiving dinner. ;D
Yessiree! Tha's Ol' Tom Turkey.
Tha's what happens when you're born on the 25th of November. The sun and moon get just right and your reflection changes. It must be the Lunar eclipse causing it this time. :D
Reminds me of the episode of Cheers where the bar regulars and Sam were going off to be men at a remote mountain cabin. They got there and realized there are no modern conveniences including refrigeration, so the food was going to spoil. They had no phone to call the camp owner to come get them and they were on there own. A turkey walked by the cabin as one of them are outside gathering wood. Well, you can pretty much guess what happened to Tom. ;D
This old curmudgeon would be a handful. ....and probably tought too. :D
Today we had a real experience in Tom's swamp. We had an owl let us get up close and personal. I started taking pictures from afar, and before it was over, Mr. Owl was letting me stand right under him with my camera on a stick! I was able to take all kinds of photos and a few shaky videos. I almost hit him with my stick once in accident and he flew to the next tree but even a lower branch. He spent the whole afternoon allowing jtmccallum and I to observe him. I got him with some super resolution so have some real good photos to print if I wish. When many of the photos were taken the camera was with 6 or 8 feet. Tom sat across the pond with his field glasses observing us observing the owl. The owl would blink and twist his head, and even fall asleep after a bit. He was a bit shy to begin with but seemed to have zero fear of us after a short time. (the owl, not Tom)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/owl_3.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/owl_2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/owl_1.jpg)
I do belive it's a Barred Owl.
How'd it taste ???
It is, and I imagine they taste a lot like spotted owl. :)
My nephew has worked all over the world on bird projects. Many time netting and banding or just base counts on projects. He tells about being able to walk right up to owls and pick them up, many have virtually no fear of humans.
There's an old owl around here to. But, he's too shy to get any more than a 1/4 mile to him. I here him in the mornings once in awhile, but he's 1/2 mile or more away when I here him in the woods. I have not idea what species he is and would likely have to look it up unless it was a horned owl or a snowy.
SD, I can identify two kinds of owls a half mile away ;D If it's a barred owl, it will always hoot five times and then wait a little while before hooting again. The other one I can identify is a screech owl :D :D
http://pelotes.jea.com/Barrowls.htm
http://pelotes.jea.com/owlbard.wav
Some good info on this owl.
I had to take the wood ashes bucket out to be dumped behind the house... I see some feathers barely showing through the snow.. Whats this a Partridge ?, stick my foot under and flip what ever it was to the surface and loe and be hoe up pops this Great Horned Owl on it's back froze as froze can be...
I'm guessing that it dived into the snow to strike a ruffed grouse or other critter and broke its neck...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10691/Great%20Horned%20Owl%20FF%201.jpg)
I've looked into trying to keep it and have it mounted but that ain't gonna happen!!! I first spoke with the local Game Warden and he says they send them to a depository for testing to try and find out the cause of death... I suppose with bird flu and all we must be carfull... Then a friend of mine knows the Fish and Game commissioner and other higher ups. He spoke with the second in charge anyway and told him it's a federal offense to have one in your possession!!! We were also told the only places that can have them is Fish and Wildlife facilities and schools...
The local Game Warden hasn't picked it up yet (been about 6 weeks now) and I'm trying to find people at either the High School or the college in town that might want it... I was told it would run around $500 bucks to have it mounted!!!
Too bad about the bird and even more sad that they won't let you mount it for keeps. They couldn't be too concerned if they never showed since 6 weeks ago, reporting it dead. ::)
We did some studying when we were being entertained by the one here and found that we couldn't even be in possession of a feather of an owl or an eagle without running afoul of the law.
This Red-Bellied Woodpecker was making a racket on the gutter downspout this morning. Went to snag a picture. He left for a moment and came back to the peak.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Red-bellied%20WoodPecker.jpg)
We've got a pair of woodpeckers or sap suckers that play on our rooster weather vane on top of the garage each spring. Always scares me half to death the first couple of times they start banging on it, makes a real racket.
Noticed today that we have a dead tree visable from the kitchen window, broken off about 20 feet from the ground. Two fresh nesting holes within about 4 feet of the top so we may get to see them nest this year.
We had a couple Hawks here this morning making alot of racket. One of them was in a tree eating another bird. I figured out how to program the Zoom after taking these pics. The quality isn't great cause I enlarged with Xat, then cropped and resized. I could see this guy great with binoculars and not at all with the Digital Camera because the zoom hadn't been programmed yet.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hawk.jpg)
Here is a pic of a smaller hawk by the pond.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hawk1.jpg)
Next pics should get better. ;)
I saw a couple crows dive bombing a hawk yesterday. Too far away for pictures. The hawk was brown with a lot of white under his wings and tail. I'm thinking a marsh hawk.
There is a couple hundred acres just north of us 1 block that we thought was a protected wetland. Turns out it is part of a development that was on it's eastern border. They have been clearing and grinding the trees in the new development which was just loaded with an invasive tree species called maleluca. There has been alot of Bird activity because of the disruption. We usually hear the Hawks everyday, so their nests must not be in the affected area.
Swallows showed up for the first time today, band tailed pigeons over the weekend and a pair of red winged blackbirds yesterday. Realized that I need to get the hummingbird feeders out, have had them back this early a couple of years in the past.
Probably won't see robins and grackles here for 3 weeks, although there is lots of bare ground on the fields.
Swamp , I saw my first robin here this morning , I dont know what he is thinking, I might have to go to the store and get him some worms and throw them on the ten square feet of lawn that is showing ..... :-\
Yup I saw one robin yesterday in Lakeville and a flock of grackles around a feeder in town. Spring has sprung.
(https://forestryforum.com/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.klondikekonsulting.com%2Fimages%2Fsnoopy1.gif&hash=4cbc3d95646baa956e2dc8c5030d6005fcf6874b)
Walking down to the garden area after dinner tonight. Stopped just short of the meadow and was watching about 20 robins working the lawns. All the sudden a bird went by me about 40 miles an hour, swept around a clump of birch and out into the meadow, after the robins. Missed them all and sat down in a tree and watched me for a bit and then flew on up the hill. Small gray hawk, maybe 10 inches tall. Believe it was an immature sharp shinned hawk. Beautiful bird!
My father thought he'd found a dead Sparrow Hawk laying on it's back in the driveway this morning...
At least it seemed pretty dead until he picked it up by the tail feathers, fortunately that little beak only makes tiny little holes in fingers.
Here is is hitching a ride in dad's S10.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12870/SparrowHawk01c_2.jpg)
And playing hard to get in the barn.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12870/SparrowHawk02-sm_2.jpg)
He's down at the local Audubon Society Center recovering from being stunned. No idea what hit him but there is a small abrasion on his head above his right eye. When and if he fully recovers we'll be bringing him back here to release.
Looks like our first hatch of bluebirds (4 birds) are almost ready to fly, got lots of real feathers. We had about 50 hatch last year in 6 houses.
I suppose you have the western bluebird?They have more blue that goes down the throat.I have the eastern bluebirds.Ours have just came back and looking for a place to raise thier young.We useally get 6-8 that will look at all of the houses but lucky if 2 pair stay.The sparrows will drive them off.I call the bluebirds a polite bird.They don't want no trouble,they will leave.They won't fight.The sparrows will keep pestering them until they leave.
Great pictures, Rapheal !!!!
How big is that bird? It's not in my bird books ! Can you tell us more about it ???
Last fall I saw a similar bird near some deer guts. Didn't see as much brown. Couldn't find it in any books ?
Rapheal, I think they are the prettiest hawk out there! I grew up with them in Montana but never saw them in Western Washington until just the last 5 or 6 years. Always thought it was too wet for them. But they now winter over here and we see them all the time. Great to see such good close-ups of him!
Looks like a Kestrel to me. They are pretty busy setting up house keeping right now in my area. I might be mistaken but I believe they are our smallest hawk. I have a nest box close by my bird feeder and their presence doesn't seem to bother the small birds using the feeder.
Yes, bitternut, I found it in the book as a kestrel but it shows a browner chest/belly.
It says they can hover like a kingfisher. That must be what I saw.
Great !! I'm always happy to see a new to me bird ;D
You're correct bitternut, the "American Sparrowhawk" (Sparrow-Hawk or Sparrow Hawk) is the American Kestral (Falco sparverius) and not a true Accipitor like the Eurasian varieties... Old naming habits die hard. They are supposed to be a good bird for learning falconry.
This little guy isn't much over 8" or 9" tops.
They are very common here where you have pastures and power lines along the roads where they perch. They seem to love hey fields and stubble ground. We also get northern shrieks passing by in spring and fall as they come and go from the north country. I don't know if they are a raptor or not, but they hunt mice and small birds. The mice are almost as big as the bird. ;D
A Little Blue Heron came for a visit this morning. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/LittleBlueHeron.jpg)
These two geese came walking through my yard last week. They were heading due south to escape the cold weather we had last week. It has warmed up today, so I expect to see them on their way back north soon.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/geese_op.jpg)
CFARM, Get the bluebird houses with the hole on the bottom of the box problem solved no more house sparrows.
Caz...
Ya got pics or drawings of those bluebird houses , I got me the sparow haunting da beuebird here ... That sounds like a winner house to me . :P
Diameter of the hole makes a difference to and I don't remember the proper diameter.
I visited our property this weekend and took a few pictures. I discovered this timberdoodle (woodcock) doing his dance in the cabin driveway when I returned from putting up an automatic feeder on our property.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/timberdoodle.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/timberdoodle_2.jpg)
He looks cold. :D
I think hes a star....
Here is his video. ;D
Doin da timberdoodle! (https://forestryforum.com/media/timberdoodle.wmv)
Tom
He'll warm up if'n he gets back ta doodlin...... ;D ;D
Great Video :D
8) 8) Thanks for the Timber Doodle dance! :D
Swamp
Hole dimentions for bluebird house
- 1 1/8 " horizontal slot at the top
- 1 3/8 " X 2 1/4 " Oval hole
- 1 1/2 "
- Holes should be 6 1/2 " from bottom of box
- floor 4 " X 4 "
I have yet to see a bird house plan for Blue bird that have a hole in the bottom ... I have seen plans for a house to discourage Sparrows from entering witht the
slot openning , That is my plan for this morning ... :P
That's funny....Michael Jackson's got nothing on that little guy. :D
Yes, I've been seeing the woodcock this past week in the woods. It's funny, there could be a small patch of bare ground and those things will be sitting in it with a cover of hardwoods or alders. Darn near step on them. They make the weirdest mating calls I ever heard when flying straight up in the sky and making almost 90 degree turns. Been seeing a lot of snipe to. Today, the plantation I was marking out had 3 or 4 pairs, seemed to always be in pairs. Seen a moose, a grouse and a deer as well. Yesterday seen where a bear was rolling in the snow with the cubs and looked like they was wrestling and pulling out hair in little chunks. I got one guy petrified of bears, I'll put him in that block. :D :D :D
Cfarm, We have the eastern down here as well. I have a batch about ready to fly too. I will try to get a picture today of them im the box. Maybe catch the male on top. I am seeing a increase in the amount of bluebirds. I guess all us boys with bb guns being threatened with bodily harm when I was young sure helped the population. The law still applies for my stepson and nephews and cousins. :D
Hope dis Stork is fer someone else. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Stork.jpg)
I got a picture of the baby bluebirds today, but did not have time to get mom and dad to trust me enough to get a good pic of them. It won't be long and they will fly and we can start all over (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_birds1_jpg.jpg)
I might try to get the parents use to getting meal worms out of a feeder and then they will be ok with me being close enough for pics.
Don
Funny how the babies fit so tight in the tiny nest. :) Never seen blue birds here, other than blue jays and northern perulas.
There are four babies in there. That is the usual number of eggs they lay. I look for these to be gone by the end of next week. I'll clean out the box and they will probably nest two more times this summer.
They sure was trying to keep a low profile when I was snapping that picture. :D
Don
Great pictures guys, I've never seen a stork before but we have bluebirds here. Yesterday I saw the first ones this year, seems we have some that are migrating through and then later we get the ones that stay and nest all year. While raising their young they are great for keeping the bugs down. They'll sit on the overhead service waiting for something to show up on the gravel road underneath and then swoop down to get it. One of my favorite birds.
Mid morning yesterday, sitting on the tractor and tilling the garden, looked out across my lawn/pasture and here is a little mallard hen with a dozen ducklings behind her, struggling through the needs-to-be-mowed grass. At that point she is nearly 100 yards from any water but must have been moving them from one creek to another.
Quote from: Jeff B on April 22, 2007, 10:15:42 PM
I visited our property this weekend and took a few pictures. I discovered this timberdoodle (woodcock) doing his dance in the cabin driveway when I returned from putting up an automatic feeder on our property.
Found a nest of 4 eggs on Friday, almost stepped on the new family.
As predicted my baby bluebirds flew the coop this week. I cleaned out the old nest Fri. and I noticed this morning as I sat on the front porch enjoying a cup of coffee that they are busy building a new nest. I will try to get pics as the family progresses from start to finish.
Don
There is a porch overhanging my entrance and the swallows have nested behind a loose ceiling panel. The little ones really kicked up a fuss when I walked under it a few minutes ago, ;D must have thought the parents were returning with dinner.
Alot of activity here this morning with this egyptian goose quacking a 5 alarm alert. Dare is Trouble in da pond. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/CallOutTheAlarm.jpg)
Here comes Backup. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/HeronFlyover.jpg)
These 4 River Otters came fishing without a permit. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Otters.jpg)
Great Blue Herons aren't Afraid of Otters. They like to harass them and steal the otters fish. This Heron was waiting for the fresh fish. And then in hot pursuit when otter ran to neighbors pond.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/ImpationatelyWaiting.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/HotPursuit.jpg)
And the last Pic. An otter having enough of the Goose yacking and chasing off.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/ChineseGooseChase.jpg)
Them blue herons are funny looking flying.Thier wing go up and down so slow.I saw one taking off from a tree while driving down the road.I almost went off the road watching it.This one had to crunch way down and than leap off the branch.First it was 4 feet tall,than it was a foot tall.Looked real odd,but it worked for him.Saw one fly right up the road here once.Was about 6 feet off the ground.Good thing it's a dead end dirt road.Nice pictures.
The bluebirds have rebuilt the nest I removed from the box last week and have laid a new batch of eggs. This will be the second hatching this year. I will post pics of the babies when they hatch. I hope for three broods this year from this pair. :)
Don
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_birdeggs1_jpg.jpg)
Here's a neat wetland bird. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_bittern1.jpg)
American bittern in some wetland near my woodlot. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_bittern2.jpg)
Bye bye buddy. ;D
Sounds (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Bittern_dtl.html#sound)
Hoot
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/2007_05180033.JPG)
Hoot Hoot
Quote from: pigman on April 21, 2007, 11:07:50 PM
These two geese came walking through my yard last week. They were heading due south to escape the cold weather we had last week. It has warmed up today, so I expect to see them on their way back north soon.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/geese_op.jpg)
Well the geese couldn't make up their mind whether to head south or north, so they just stayed around and started a family.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/baby_geese_op.jpg)
I went and checked on my bluebirds when I got home from Sawlex today. There are now 5 eggs instead of the 3 in my photo. I don't know how they will fit in there if all them hatch. :o
I REALLY wish I had a picture !!! I finally saw a bird that I always wanted to see. An Indigo Bunting ! The books say they are around the Eastern US in the summer but I'd never seen one. They are a beautiful dark blue 8) I was so excited that I bought a lottery ticket :D but seeing the bird was more fun ;D
We occasionally see Indigos around our place. They certainly are beautiful and a treat to see.
Check off another bird on your lifetime list!
I looked out the window this morning and there was an Indigo Bunting fighting with his reflection on my truck mirror. :D
They are quite common on our farm but I always stop to appreciate their beautiful color.
Well, maybe y'all could answer a question for me. We put up a blue bird house this spring. The bird that is inside is brilliant blue, but is darker than I remember bluebirds, and this bird has more white on it's chest. Is that an Indigo bunting? Will they use a bluebird house?
Inquiring minds need to know. :)
To the best of my knowledge (which is always suspect) the male indigo shows no white. It is a deep blue with small black bands on the wing. The female is a rather plain brown bird.
The eastern bluebird has some white low on the belly but the breast is more orange to brown.
You may have seen a mountain bluebird which has more white and no brown.
The males Indigo Buntings I've seen have no white on their breast and the females are as Robert said. I think you have a bluebird Roxie, they can have some light patches on their breast around here but not white. You are quite a ways east of me so the local ones may be different than ours.
I keep my eye out for the scarlet tanager. I usually only see one nesting pair, and some summers none at all.
I have not seen the Baltimore oriel in 10 years up here, and the barn swallow was nearly wiped out here in 1996 from a very cold May. Used to be hundreds here on the wires and now maybe 2 or 3 pair.
I wish I had a telephoto lens, it would make things so much easier. I just got the binoculars out and what I assume is he, is sitting on the top of the birdhouse. The color of this bird is Lapis Blue or an electric Royal Blue. He has a completely white breast and abdomen all the way up to his throat and cheeks. Their is a black mask around the eyes and the rest of the bird is this atonishing color of deep blue. I've seen blue birds, but this doesn't look like any blue bird that is common around here. There isn't a speck of orange or red or brown on this fella. There is a female inside sitting the nest and I can see her poke her head outside. She also has a white throat and cheeks, but the rest of her coloring is difficult to discern.
The only bluebird I'm familiar with is the Eastern Bluebird. This is not an Eastern Bluebird. I've never seen a Mountain Bluebird, Onewithwood. Does this description fit? This birds only colors are blue, white and some black.
Roxie, are you sure it's not a tree swallow?
Roxie I think Donkey has pegged your nesting bird. I get lots of tree swallows in my blue bird boxes. Thats why I always place two boxes within about ten feet of each other. I get tree swallows in one of them and a pair of blue birds in the other. The swallows will not allow another pair of swallows near their nest box but will allow the blue birds.
Check the box to see if the nest has feathers in it and white eggs. If it does its a tree swallow for sure. Nice birds to have around as well as the blue birds.
I have indigo buntings at my feeder. They will take black oil sunflower seeds and niger seeds. They don't stay long like some of the other birds.
I also get orioles at my hummingbird feeders. I get baltimores and orchard orioles. I have a couple of larger feeders that I remove the bee guards to make it easier for them to feed. Orioles also go quite readily to suet.
SwampDonkey wins the prize! 8) It is indeed a Tree Swallow, and I've never seen one before. How cool is that? :)
Tom sent me a link that lets ya look these critters up by color and I found a picture and sure nuff, it's a Tree Swallow.
Bitternut, you sure know your birds!
I've only seen a Indigo Bunting once in my area.Not all that common around here.I had to get the bird book out to find out what it was.The Baltimore Orioles are back.But they won't stay long here,maybe a couple weeks.We put out the oranges for them.We bought a special feeder for them.That was a waste of money.Where my wife use to live they stay down there all summer long and so does the Cardinals.She only lived about ½ an hour from here.That's the only thing she misses when I bought her out in the country.
Our first Western Tanagers are back this week. Little bit early. They usually return about the time the salmon berries start to ripen. Probably the most colorful bird we have here in the NW.
DonK
Have those bluebird eggs hatched yet?
I took this picture of the hatchlings in my bluebird house. I don't think they are bluebirds, but will keep a close eye out as they grow. Not much 'mother' activity that I have noticed. Usually the bluebird parents are very active when there are young in their nest box. Another clue I don't think they are bluebirds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/BirdsYoung.JPG)
Beenthere, Me and Stew peeked in there yesterday and one of the five eggs had hatched probably just that morning. Little bitty pink naked thang. I imagine the rest will be hatched by this afternoon. I will check and get a pic if I can remember this evening when I get home from work. I kinda feel like a granddaddy :D :D ;D
Don
Ok, here is what I found when I peeked in the box.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_birds2_jpg.jpg)
4 out of 5 eggs have hatched . I am hoping for 100%. I whistled lightly and they popped up like a jack-in-the-box. :D
I'll add pics as they grow. Don
DonK,
That is how my dogs look about 6:00 p.m. every day :D. Those are cool little birds.
What's funny is about 25 yds away are two big brushpiles for burning(if we ever get any rain) and the last four birds that hatched out are staying close to home perched up there. If I can get some more boxes up for next year I might have a population explosion. ;D
Linda had a high speed, close encounter with a large bird the other night. She was on the way to work about 10:30pm when a large, light colored bird swooped down over the highway and collided with the windshield. It left a large crack in the glass and mangled the radio antenna pretty badly. We think it was probably an owl, since it was at night. Gotta call the insurance company tomorrow. :-\
Our little humming birds are back in full force. They are enjoying the nectar from our south flower garden. It is cool because we can see this flowerbed from inside the house. The little guys are there every morning and evening. We noticed more out on the clover patches near the dam. I think we may ahave a few nesting in the area this year. 8)
Glad she wasn't hurt, DanG. If you have comprehensive, Florida's insurance law allows replacement without a deductible.
I've never seen a hummingbird nest before. It always amazed me that they migrated to South America. Which, brings to mind the eco-argument that everyone should replace their SUV with a Mini. That's what the hummingbirds do. Drive to South America on a 50cc engine on a bicycle. :D
Cerulean Warbler
This small blue songbird is threatened by the fragmentation of the forests here, where they breed, and in the Andes Mountains where they winter.
I found out about them while looking for a particular birdcall that I hear alot, both where I live and at my woodlot. Turns out that this bird is the one making all the noise I hope to actually see one, someday !
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/CEWAP/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerulean_Warbler
http://www.abcbirds.org/international/cerw.htm
There are so many warbler species I can't begin to keep half of them straight in my mind. There was a flock of yellow rumped warbler here for a few days, then they migrated onward to the north to nest in softwood forest. Don't see a one now. I know they do a number on the insects, they were feeding like crazy here for a few days.
I've changed my mind about the identity of the bird. The recording I found first sounded JUST like what I hear but this website > http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/305/_/Black-throated_Blue_Warbler.aspx
Has a different voice for the Cerulean Warbler.
The voice they have for the Black throated blue Warbler seems more like what I hear and it's more correct range-wise also. The big difference is that the birds I hear have 5 notes in thier song like the Cerulean, where that link plays a six note song ???
Ya. SD There sure is alot of different kinds of warblers !!!!
Joan, you mentioned that you saw an indigo bunting. Try to listen to their song, it is beautiful. Indigo buntings like to nest in tall weeds. When we first moved to the country we had tall weeds everywhere ::) . Those little guys would just sing and sing in the mornings. It was a pleasant way to wake up every morning, listening to their songs.
I enjoy hearing birds in the morning, also, Patty .
The websites I've found with bird songs haven't been entirely right, so far. ( or my hearing/memory is bad ... a possibility :D ) I'll try again to find the indigo bunting song ;D
I grew up in Montana and my favorite then was the meadow lark, they use to sit on the fence posts around the farm and sing. The last two years I've had red wing blackbirds at the feeder, (surprised since we're up the hillside and in the trees,) and their my current favorite.
We spent last weekend out in Eastern Washington and NE Oregon. Sunday morning on the highway watched a red tailed hawk climb up out of the sagebrush, (up a couple of hundred feet and climbing when I first saw him,) with a pretty good sized snake dangling below him. Is it true they can take rattlesnakes without being hurt?
Nice to live by a little cat tail marsh and here the black birds and many other vocal birds, but when your up on a ridge surrounded by yard trees you have a lot of other birds equally as pleasant to listen to. ;) Oh and no biting bugs, until after dark. ;D
This little guy got trapped inside the garage today. He couldn't seem to figure out how to get back out.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/hummingbird%7E0.JPG)
We finally had to put a flat of salvia starts on the floor in front of the door to lure him out.
Looks like he/she was holding out for food :).
speaking of food.. Look at the drumsticks on our sand turkeys. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/sand_turkeys.jpg)
Those are some beautiful cranes. Were they on your property in the UP?
These two were on my sisters, but I have had as many as three pair at one time on mine this past weekend. When I didnt have the camera handy :-\ We have large populations up there. You can hear them all the time.
Just an update on the baby birds in the bluebird nesting box. Better evidence they are bluebirds, and not something else (per my earlier suspicions).
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/BlueBird_ff.JPG)
I count 4 for sure, and maybe a 5th one hidden in the feathers.
We had a congregation of 4 different birds in the pond at the same time. ;)
The little Blue Heron didn't want his picture taken with the others. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/YoungBlueHeron.jpg)
These Fellers were on the other side of the pond. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/WaterTurkeyLimpkins%2CEgret.jpg)
Water Turkey, Snake Bird (Anhinga) 2 Limpkins and White Egret.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Birds%20Congregating.jpg)
There are 5 in that pic Beenthere. 8)
I always wondered what my wife would do with my remains when my time on earth was over. I suppose I know the answer to that question after looking out of the window today.She did say that there were cheaper ways than burial or creamation. :o
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/buzzard_op.jpg)
I hope she called in the buzzards early, I am not ready to go just yet.
Bob
Hang in there, Bob. We are pulling for you 8).
Ive seen buzzards doing that on roof tops and fence poles. I always wondered if they were drying their wings, or cooling down.
Mute Swan Family. The yearly mute swan family of Greenfield-Ford Lake.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/swan_family.JPG)
The hawks that nest in the back yard usaly make one but they made two chicks this year. The chicks are flying around and working there parents to theads. They hollar from can to cant and when the parents bring some food the fight is on. The wife is afraid to let the little dog out, im just glad to see them clearing the snakes.
As I got ready to go on vacation last week I checked on the second hatching of bluebirds and noticed they were about ready to leave the nest. Well monday morning when I got back I checked the box and there were 5 blue eggs just like the previous pic from the second batch. That was one busy bird last week. She laid in the same nest that was just vacated. That proves that they will lay in the same nest. Most books say to clean out the nest between hatchings. She was probably glad I was gone so she didn't have to rebuild. :D
I can just hear her last time when she saw a perfectly good nest laying on the ground. I know my ears were burning. :D :D
Any way I will not post pics until the new babies arrive. I bet daddy is ready for a break. :o
Don
Mom said she saw a couple blue birds eying a birdhouse already occupied by tree swallows. Not very common bird here.
Somebody was a knockin' on my door.
I went to the door to see who it was and noticed that it was a bird pecking on the glass. I don't know what kind it was. Gael has applied purple decals to the window to help with privacy. It is flowery looking without having any definition. I guess it looked like a flower to the bird. The bird was about the size of my hand and had a long thin bill. It was semi-hovering at the window, but you could tell that hovering wasn't it's expertise. I couldn't get much of a picture of it because of the decals. Sure would like to know what it was.
It was probably just reading the decals ;D.
Tom,
The bird could have been reading the decals. It had a bird's eye view of them...
:D
Theo
What's on them decals Tom? ;)
Are y'all telling me Gael put bumper stickers on my double wide?
I'll have to go out there and look.
Nope, just purple designs. I can see that there might have been a bit of a reflection. Maybe he/she was falling in love with himeself. :D
I took a couple of photos of birds near our property this week. THe Sandhill cranes are colored about the same as the deer right now. They have chicks but I did not get a photo of any although I tried. We are starting to get a pretty good population of Turleys as well and maybe some day we will have a season. We counted 11 gobblers all together in this group through the trees.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/sandhill_cranes.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/turkeys.jpg)
Them Sandhills is pretty tasty also..... ;D ;D ;D
Thats what the old timers say up north. They call em "Sand Turkeys" they say the big difference is that those drumsticks stick clear out of the roasting pan. :D
(Not to mention they are protected here :o)
Here is another picture I took coming home. I was sitting there trying to tell that Seagull it was an easy choice. The people in that vehicle had no idea that seagull was hitching a ride. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/mackinac_seagull.jpg)
That seagull looks as confused as I would be :D.
Its easy. DONT GO TO SAGINAW!
So I turn left at Saginaw, not right ??? :P :D.
I saw a turkey the other day along the ditch of the road. It wasn't those white ones people farm now, but it had the colors of a wild one. I'm sure it was from someones hobby farm, but it wasn't penned in. It could be fox bate by now. ::)
SD,
I heard last fall the wild turkeys are moving north, up around the Ashland area ... Ya might'a seen a wild one 8) 8)
Ring necked pheasants winter here. Could it be possible for the turkeys? We don't have many oaks this far up river, but they are seeding in on the cut overs. Do turkey require oaks? I thought they did. I suppose they could eat ironwood, beech and hazel nuts. It's pretty harsh up here in winter though. fire_smiley
I dont know why they cant live there. There aint an oak within 20 miles of us in the U.P, but lots and lots of beech. I think our winters there are online with yours as well on the severity level.
They really like the farmers that spread manure.....it tides them over when there is a bad acorn crop...
Wouldn't surprise me if it was a wild turkey.
I wouldn't rule it out, but I ain't ready to stick my neck out to announce it to anyone local, or I might be the local turkey. ;)
My great grand mother raised turkeys and we have pictures some place of her tending them. They even had about the same color plumage as wild ones. She was getting along in years when that picture was taken, but still tended her turkeys.
We did not have any wild turkeys here until about 6 years ago.I use to see them where my FIL lives,about ½ an hour from here all the time.Use to see 20-30 at a time.I've never seen more than 10 at a time here but they are moving up towards your way.We have 2 hanging down at the lower end of the field with about 6 chicks.Keeps the dog on the attack mode all day.I always seen them walking.I went to take a picture of them in our field and it took off and flew into the woods.I was shocked to see that. :o :o
Wild turkeys have also moved into southeastern B.C. from Idaho which seems to be well north of their normal range.
Clear case of Global flocking.
A proper dressed bird for Independence day here in the USA. The post is about three inches for scale. The picture is out of focus causing the blue not to show as bright as it should.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/patriotic_bird_op.jpg)
Bob
Are you into bird carving now? Nice work.. beautiful bird
Happy Independence Day to all.
Great shot Bob, I have many of those on the farm here and really enjoy seeing them.
Happy birthday to a great Country! :)
I don't have any red heads here, but I have a some pileated that inhabit some of the old aspen that are becoming decadent.
Playing with the new camera again ;D
This bird is a Fantail, a fairly comon native bird around here. Quite small, feeds by catching small insects on the wing. Very active and agile bird, it's large tail lets it fly in pretty much any direction it wants, in fact they dont seem able to fly in a straight line or keep still for more than 2 seconds :D They come out of the forest more in the winter when food is scarce and hang around the cattle, chasing insects that they stir up. They get very quiet and will fly within a few feet of you hoping you stir up some bugs I guess.
This one was sitting in a tree about 70 ft from where we were standing, I was showing off me new camera to a friend. "see that fantail over in the pine tree?" .. "What fantail?"
click
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/fantail.jpg)
"That fantail ! " ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/fantail2.jpg)
Considering this is a bird smaller than a sparrow and 70 ft away I think they are pretty good pictures. And I have to order a new camera for my friend ;)
Cheers
Ian
Yeah, those fly catcher type birds are neat to watch. I have a couple pair around the yard. They can have all they want. The ones I see twirl their tail in a circular motion when perched. ;D
Golden Eagle. Sits on a perch above the Yellowstone River near Livingston, Montana; 7/4/07.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/golden_eagle.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/shag1.jpg)
Local type of cormorant (Shag), at the river mouth where I often eat lunch. They usually appear totally black, but playing with the camera exposure level you can actually see some details.
Ian
We've noticed a pair of golden eagles here the last couple years. They are not as common as the bald eagles here.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/kereru.jpg)
NZ wood pigeon or kereru.
It's one native bird that has adapted fairly well to European settlement in NZ. They are common around urban parks and gardens where they feed on berries and leaves of various trees. This one is sitting in a kowhai tree next door to my Mum's house. Winter time and food is scarce, they will just eat the leaves and flower buds off these trees.
Cheers
Ian
From my little Sister in Ketchikan:
http://www.sitnews.us/0807news/080107/080107_wayward_pigeon.html
That made for an interesting read. Reminder of some good days in Ketchikan, AK
You guys never been to Hyder? ;D
When I was in Prince Rupert they always talked about Ketchikan on the radio. I think the Ferry and float plains went up there from PR.
I was only there once, we had to drive out from Meziadin Junction in BC. We were only at the junction one shift because the camp down on the Nass R. was full I guess. Seen a big glacier on the way over (Bear Glacier), even had a big avalanche that was still not melted out in September. The river melted through it.
A lot of days we worked on Sommerville Island, we could look across Porcher Canal to Alaska when they gave us a lift by chopper to the top of the mountain. We had to slide down on snow and ice about a KM to the work area and about 2 more down to the shore for pickup in the late afternoon when tide was out (hopefully). Had a few trips by tippy toe on the chopper skids. :D :D :D
I was there for business in the old days when the airliner would land out on an island and you would get on a seaplane, (that took off from the runway,) and then land on the water just in front of downtown. Now there's a ferry that runs from the new airport to town and lots of news about eventually a bridge to the airport.
Lots of loggers in the NW have cut on Prince of Wales Island, out across open water from Ketchikan.
This was a lovely scene snapped by my sister Lynda on the back waters of the lake where she lives.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/swan_lake_of_the_hills.jpg)
That is quite a scene, in many ways. Water that you can see the bottom too.
I actually cropped it from a larger scene just as impressive. but in the format for the forum it loses a lot.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/lyndas_swan.jpg)
Talking about clear water, wish I had a submersible camera to take pictures of spawning gravel that shines like gold in the bright sun. Taking a picture above water just gives a big glare from the sun. They were always cool trout fishing spots on the tributaries of the Mirimachi. 8) Most tributaries came from bogs and swamp with water dark like coffee.
Use a ziploc bag if its only a stream.
Ah, well, um.............
That was my FIRST underwater housing many, many years ago!
Even installed a water proof glass port for perfectly clear shots. :)
Did indeed soot some great video, but did lose a $1k video camera when the ziplock failed. :'( :-\ :'(
Now I use better material! ;D
Might be ok to use over the lens, but I wouldn't trust it to submerge my camera. I used to make a custom storage bag for my calculator. Cut a zip lock to the proper dimensions, then seal with a lighter. Worked pretty good for a day or two in heavy rain. But, I've found zip lock not to be water tight. If meet juice can get through, so can't water. Can't blame it on condensation from a thawed piece of hamburg when you see blood under the bag on the fridge shelf. ::)
I have some hostas blooming outside my office windows at home and this little guy showed up tonight. I have not seen one this color before and wondered if anyone knew what kind he was.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/hummingbird2opt.JPG)
I'll have to show my ignorance on Jeff's pic, is it a trumpeter swan?
Dats a purty Hummingbird Norm. ;)
There are two species that apparently frequent Iowa, the ruby throated and the rufous. According to this site:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/237016/hummingbirds_in_iowa.html
It is probably a Rufous. :)
Tom is correct, either Ruby or Rufus. I say it's a Ruby female.
The other Norm
Forgot all about it Donk, but they have a heavy poly or PVC waterproof bag designed for cameras and camcorders at a local store.
About$12 on sale right now.
They are clear so you can shoot right through them and have a very large plastic locking thing to seal them up tight.
Could send ya one if ya wanted. :)
Thanks Furb. I'd take one. Would $29 cover it? ;D Just shoot me an IM with an address. ;)
It's getting late in the summer to be wading it the ice cold water of the North Pole stream, but might give'r a try. ;)
cheerio
I would say a mama ruby throat myself.
Don
My grandfather's cousin has about 6 feeders up for the hummer. She has about 4 pair at them and now the hornets have learned the feeders are a source of nourishment. The hummers will often attack them.
On another note I saw about 8 nighthawks swarming around the yard at her place the other day. They might be flocking up to head south, don't know. You can tell by the white band on the underside of their wings. They look tern-like in flight, but are related to Whip-Poor-Wills. You'll here them dive for bugs as their wings make a hum during their dive.
I went online and looked at different pictures of both varieties and think it's is a female ruby throated hummingbird. Guess I've been seeing mostly males up until now and have not seen the female up close to tell the difference.
Last night just at dusk we had a feeding frenzy of big dragonfly's and swallows in our back yard. This went on for about a half an hour and then they almost all were gone. Quite a sight to see.
This Pileated came by for a visit this morning. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Pileated%20Woodpecker.jpg)
We have a couple hummingbirds feeders that the wife keeps full of sugar water.Most of the time the male will stay by the feeder and won't let the males eat.He'll drive them away.But when one of the ladies come by to eat,he'll watch them eat.
The Sandhill cranes are starting to come together up by the cabin for their journey south. Always a cool time to see these big birds in large numbers. I cropped this from a photo I took yesterday that had a few dozen birds in it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/sandhill_cranes_2.jpg)
I know exactly where that barn is, Jeff ! I took pictures of cranes there in August but they didn't come out as good.
I see hawks almost every day. Always amazes me to see such a big bird rush thru the trees.
This one is hunting in a field.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/sbhawk1007OP.jpg)
It has been a good bird week. ;)
The zoom on this digital ain't enough git up and go though.
Here is a Red-Shouldered Hawk. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Red-Shouldered_Hawk.JPG)
An Osprey.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Osprey.JPG)
The Osprey leaving because we had to get to close for a picture. :(
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Osprey_Flyaway.JPG)
Some Sandhill Cranes hanging around.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Sandhill_Crane.JPG)
One day while I was left alone in da U.P. without wheels during black powder season, I decided to step outside and play with the chickadees. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/chickadee_2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/chickadee.jpg)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=24_lhewZYDI
one more. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/chickadee_3.jpg)
REAL nice shots! 8)
I always used to watch the Osprey catch salmon in the river when we were salmon fishing. There are several nesting platforms for them in my area including power line poles. They said they were endangered, but I have always seen eagles and osprey as long as I can remember. Probably more common now, but not sure. Some times an eagle would steal a salmon from the osprey when it was beached. I've seen them (osprey) snatch trout from the creek on rare occasion when traveling on the school bus, especially when it was parked by the store waiting for school kids coming from the high school. The creek is over 100 feet wide, so it's a good sized one. Always see heron wading the same creek in cold fall mornings stalking their prey.
I always see the chickadee in my spruce woods. They must be about the friendliest little feathered buggers around. :)
Hopefully my goshawk is still around. Haven't trekked up to the lot in weeks. I usually see where he catches the odd grouse.
I wonder if their are any deer tracks? I haven't seen any sign since the first snow. Wonder where they went? Keeping my eye out (or two) for the bobcat that was around last winter. :o
Man, were the blue jays some thick around one of the corn fields we were working near. Those and the squirrels and bear must have been about nuts sacking and eating and hiding like it was the last food source. ;D
Saw a barred owl today along the road, sitting in a maple with an over hanging branch. He never got spooked, wish I had the camera. ::)
Haven't seen an owl in a long time, but I here them in the distance quite often.
A friend called to say there was an owl in his yard. This tree has a house 15 feet away on both sides. The crows were chasing and harassing the owl but after awhile the crows gave up.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/sbOwlOP.jpg)
N ice chickadee photos, Jeff. They are a cute bird :)
On the Androscoggin River, Berlin, NH
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/sbeaglesFeb08OP.jpg)
Nice photo. What they chow'n on. ;D
Thanks :)
I don't know. Muskrat ? Groundhog ???
They are standing on the ice of the Androscoggin River within sight of the truck route bridge, Route 16 and one of several power station outfalls.
On the Kennbec River in Richmond,Maine the game wardens threw road kill on to the ice for the eagles or opreys.
I feed the birds 40 feet down the hill in front of our porch. 18 inches of snow so I just throw a few pounds of feed on the snow. I have about 30 to 40 varied thrushes hanging around this Winter, a lot more then we usually get in this area. We got about 4 inches of fresh snow last night and then we were gone for most of the day. When I got home I found a pile of thrush feathers off in the snow 6 feet from the end of the porch. No tracks, (i.e. kitty type,) anywhere near and not a speck of flesh. Has to have been a hawk, probably sharp shinned, that got him and ate him right next to the house.
Some hawks are keen on the pickings around bird feeders. ;D
I've had some really cool wild life encounters this past year and today had another.
This little male Pine Grosbeak flew into our front window. We went out and picked him up and put him where it was warm on the hood of one of our cars. An hour later he was still there, but seemed better so I tried to put him on a branch, which went well. I watched him from the house for an hour and noticed he had turned around to face the other way. I went out and touched his foot and he moved, i tried to touch him again and away he flew to a tree across the road. He sat there for a few minutes and then proceeded on. The female sat in the crab tree by our house while all this was going on, then followed the male as he took off. I'm glad to see that he might just make it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/pine_grosbeak_3.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/pine_grosbeak_4.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/pine_grosbeak_6.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/pine_grosbeak_7.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/pine_grosbeak_8.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/pine_grosbeak_9.jpg)
Heres a short youtube clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPzkH8oeWoM
Wow. Hope the lil' feller is okay.
Have you got snow or what? :D
Great pictures!
We've been getting it a foot at a time lately. Its settled a lot, but I bet were over 15 foot total for the year. Thats just a guess, but I bet its close. All these 12's and 8's and 10's and the 4's and 6 inchers all add up. I'm ready for da thaw and da mud! ;D
I feel sorry for the bird, and for you too, for the snow.
It's a special aura that lets you approach animals. You seem to have it. I've noticed that I must have it too. When most people have problems with dogs, they come to me. I've had chickens and the like stand next to me and let me pick them up. It's a good feeling.
What happened to your little deer?
Yeah I get a lot of pine grosbeaks to. They are not real shy like other birds, friendly like chickadees. Even young cedar wax wings can be approached, I fed them cherries from my hand before. You know what they say though, 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' ;D
Great pictures Jeff. I too have noticed you have a way with animals. Hope your little deer buddy is doing ok.
I've been concerned about Dizzy. I hope she found a place for the winter that is taking care of her. We were prepared to do it, but there are areas just to the north that would have better winter thermal cover for her. I hope she found a place that appreciated her visits as much as we did and I will be thrilled if come spring, we see a young doe in the neighborhood.
SD
Notice that Jeff gets pics ...
just to let us know it really happened... ;D ;D
Yeah but he stuns them first. ;D
I noticed something today, and them chickadees is some smart for a ball of feathers.
They were picking through the dry cat tail heads and I thought they were eating seeds. Well on close inspection, it was little brown grubs living in the cat tails they were feasting on.
I remember as a kid bringing in old cat tail heads that over wintered, and placing them on the kitchen counter. Then left them unattended, later returned to see those grubs crawling everywhere on the counter. ::)
SD
Now you know where the icefishermen get some of their bait... :) :)
I was going to town today and seen a trail of birds that was around 50 feet wide by 3 miles long.
It had to be longest ive ever seen. The birds are migrateing thats for sure. any one else seen any?
I dont know what type. Small black birds is what they were.
Please tell us they were going North... ;D ;D
NORTH WEST.
I won't see any black birds or grackles until late April here. They seem to arrive at the same time here and the red wings are mixed into the grackles and cow birds. Then once they get their wits about them and feed their bellies they go pair off and do there thing. I know when spring arrives when the timber doodles and snipe make their calls and fly in circles around my woodlot along with the sounds of the frogs emerging.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_grackle-courtship-001.jpg)
I thought things were getting a little quieter around here. There will shortly be a lot fewer Robins, blackbirds, ducks, geese, yankees, hummingbirds, swallows.. stuff like that. :)
These two were sunning in the oak tree back of our house. Not one bit afraid of us but the fat horse sure kept an eye on them....and vice versa. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/eagles.jpg)
Nice one Norm. There are a bunch around here on current river. I love watching them. I heard somewere the was coming off the endanged list. Anyone else heard this?
When I lived in Prince Rupert, the phone book had a picture of a big sitka spruce with about 30 eagles perched on it. The dumps out there were full of bald eagles and seagulls. Live of course. ;D
Quote from: semologger on February 23, 2008, 09:35:51 AM
I heard somewere the was coming off the endanged list. Anyone else heard this?
From NPCA.org (http://www.npca.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/baldeagle.html)
QuoteStatus:On July 12, 1995, the bald eagle was reclassified from endangered to threatened in the lower 48 states. It remains unlisted in Alaska.
From Eagles.org (http://www.eagles.org/status.html)
QuoteThe bald eagle was delisted from its Threatened status on June 28, 2007 in the lower 48 states. Its primary legal protection was transferred from the Endangered Species Act to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), which also applies to Alaska. "Disturbance" of bald and golden eagles had already been prohibited under the BGEPA. However, since "disturb" had never been defined in this Act, it is being defined to protect both eagle species and their habitats.
This Egyptian Goose hangs around here and does this several times a day. He had been quacking for 15 minutes before I decided to video. He hangs around with a different crowd. :D
Q the duck please. ;D
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fo8QxwGfsLo">
This Barred Owl has been hanging around the bird feeders at camp Outback for a couple weeks now... We had a get together Saturday with 10 or so ole class mates for chili and dogs... 4 or 5 of us were able to get in close for some pics... The weird thing was it would have it's right eye closed or partially opened most of the time,,, it would dive and hit the snow every once in awhile after what we thought was a red squirrel burrowing in the snow....
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10691/Barred_Owl_opti.jpg)
I hope it catches the squirrel and many more, add some mice in there to. :D Owls seems to do that a lot with the eyes. He was winking at ya's. ;D
Quote from: Mooseherder on March 16, 2008, 08:52:44 PM
This Egyptian Goose hangs around here and does this several times a day. He had been quacking for 15 minutes before I decided to video. He hangs around with a different crowd. :D
Q the duck please. ;D
Glenn.....
That goose would not make as much noise and would look a lot juicer if he was in a dutch oven with some onions and potatoes :D :D :D
Steve..
The fire pit ain't that far away neither. :D
My daughter adopted a two year old cockatiel this morning...I came home from work, and the bird took one look at me and latched on....uh-oh...i think i have been co-opted by a couple ounces of fowl...
little snot is sitting next to me chattering at me and demolishing a cookie...funny..
Some of those parrot like birds do bond with you, especially if they are acquired when they are young. I seen one that got adopted, it was still a baby growing in it's feathers, and it wouldn't leave it's new owner's side. Be prepared. :D
We were down by the fire pit and grill tonight when whip-poor-will wouldn't stop whippin' so I went to get the camera so y'all could hear him. ;D
I've never seen one in person, just in a book but we do hear them alot.
He shut up about 25 seconds into video. :D
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lh4Vxz9Z6qo">
This timber doodle (American woodcock) has been hanging about my cedar tree in the back yard for a couple days. I scared him this morning, and me, as I walked out there and he flushed. He has returned to the same spot. Took the picture out the window. Seems content.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_timberdoodle.jpg)
He seems to come out from the cedar and feed for awhile, then retreat back in under when his belly is full. It's funny to watch him do his jitter dance. Wish I had a video camera. ;)
Mooseherder,
thanks for the video,I hear that lonesome whip-poor-will,he sounds to blue to fly..
Thanks Paul,
I have not heard him for some time. He must of found a mate.
We were down there all night and didn't hear a peep. One gift I bought my wife for her birthday was a wildlife camera she has been wanting. :D (she got udder stuff) I have been testing the camera in hopes of capturing a picture of a whip-poor-will.
MH...Did ya cook that goose, or has he just gone away ??? ??? ???
The goose comes and goes quite frequently. We definitely know when he's around cause he don't shut up. :D
Know what ya saying dere MH cause the goosies are aheadin' north by the bunchs and Soldier Pond has it's fair share :o
We were kayaking up at the lake yesterday and foated up on this.
Can anyone I.D. them?
My first though was geese, but then I realized they seemed a bit bigger than the geese eggs I've seen before.
I'm thinking swans as there are several in that area, but I've never seen a swan's nest up close before.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10577/100_4766.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10577/100_4807.jpg)
Yeah, too big for bittern (brown egg) or heron (green egg). They nest out on reeds as well.
Can't tell the size from the pic....anything hanging around the nest honkin at ya? ;D ;D (that'd be a clue, if'n there was...) :)
Looks like goose eggs to me. Tomorrow I will risk life and limb and try to get a picture of the eggs under this goose. The goose's nest is only about 20 ft from my sawmill and the sawing does not make her leave the nest.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/goose_op.jpg)
Yeah, I wasn't going to get close enough to put anything in for scale. :-\
I do have one pic with a paddle end showing, but it's a ways away from the nest.
I'd say they were 6" long, maybe more.
When we first came out onto the lake from the stream, there were tons of ducks, a handfull of geese and a few white swans over in the direction of the nest.
I was following the shoreline looking for goose nests and this nest jumped out at me.
Nothing was sitting on it and all the birds that were in the area before had moved down the lake as we moved across.
I called the kids over to have a look and then we got out of there.
A little while latter when we were heading back to the stream, I swung over to the nest to try and get a zoomed in close up as you see above as I hadn't taken any before.
Nothing was in the area or on the nest. :-\
It is on a South facing point though, so it was getting lots of sun.
Bob,
At one of my customers has a Live Wall display that my boss and I put plants in Fall before last.
I was there two weeks ago and noticed a goose sitting at the top and another further down the drive.
As I was coming out the drive, they were both walking around the island in the middle of the drive and as I went past, one of them let into the truck. Honking and flapping it's wings trying to scare the truck away, that's when I saw the nest right at the top of the 2' tall Live Wall. :D :D :o
It was raining or I would have gotten a pic.
Thing is, there isn't any water anyplace around, not sure why they picked the middle of a stores entrance drive.
If it's still there next time I go, I'll get a pic. ;) ;)
six inches long! :o I don't thint they are goose eggs. The goose eggs I have seen are only about 2.5 to 3" long. But I suppose everything is bigger in Michigan, execept the mountains. :D
Are they ostrich eggs? I heard they are big. :D
That was the second thought I had after I ruled out goose eggs......... man those look like ostrich eggs!!! :o :D :D :D
But no, they aren't that big, but one would be a decent meal for most folks. ;D
Well that rules out any type of heron. :D
I have a lot of those heron and bittern around here in summer, it would be neat to find their nest on the ground. Blue heron do not always nest in trees.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13795/100_0674.jpg)
These guys might look sweet but there realy sizeing you up for lunch.
Not realy but they are working there folks hard right now.
Of all the days not to have my camera with me :-\ !!
Yesterday while out spraying invasives I kicked up a bird I have never seen before. It was on the ground and jumped up into a snag when I almost stepped on it. The bird was the perfect green to blend in to the early spring foilage. About the size of a cardinal, it was all green except for a yellow patch above and below the eyes. I did not get a good look at the beak unfortunately. the closest thing I found in my field guide was a carolina parkeet. :P But those birds are thought to be extinct. I supose it is possible it is a type of tanager but the brillance of the yellow markings, the green of the body and the general shape of the head indicated parakeet. Maybe a neighbor lost their pet bird ::)
Linnea and I went back to the area this morning with the camera but no bird was sighted.
I thought woody the wood pecker had retired. I was wrong here he is.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15209/bird.jpg)
I also got a picture of this road kill cleaner upper bird.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15209/bird2.jpg)
I got a new camera and i love it. i take it everywhere i go. If i could take a pichure of it i would.Its a Canon powershot SX100IS It has 10 times optical zoom. It zooms in digital at 40. Its a 8 mega pixels.
I wish i had it about an month ago i would of took a picture of a bald eagle that was perched in a tree. He was about 20 yards off the road as i drove by.
Good pictures!
We didn't have any buzzards here until about five years ago when a pair showed up in the valley. The next year there were a couple more and then this last week, driving down the valley, I counted 8 of them circling together over the highway plus a second pair about 10 miles farther down. Surprised there is enough to support them all.
What about a female painted bunting? Looks like it may be out of range though. I saw those in Florida once and thought I was looking at green robins. :D
Or a smaller bird is a solitary vero or Philadelphia vero in migration to Canada (out of range down your way). Or maybe a female and migrant male scarlet tanager.
I thought about all those, SB. Just did not look entirely right.
One thing is certain, this bird was either out of its range or just passing through.
Everyone seemed to like the Eagle cam, so here is the Egg CAM (http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/Embryology/eggcamera.shtml)
There is one hatching right now. :)
Quote from: Furby on April 20, 2008, 08:51:04 PM
At one of my customers has a Live Wall display that my boss and I put plants in Fall before last.
I was there two weeks ago and noticed a goose sitting at the top and another further down the drive.
As I was coming out the drive, they were both walking around the island in the middle of the drive and as I went past, one of them let into the truck. Honking and flapping it's wings trying to scare the truck away, that's when I saw the nest right at the top of the 2' tall Live Wall. :D :D :o
It was raining or I would have gotten a pic.
Thing is, there isn't any water anyplace around, not sure why they picked the middle of a stores entrance drive.
If it's still there next time I go, I'll get a pic. ;) ;)
Made it out there the other day.
One of the geese were missing, I assume the male.
I'm guessing it was er um, escorted from the property in an orderly manner. ;)
Got this pic though, still not sure why they'd pick that spot to begin with. smiley_headscratch
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10577/100_4841.jpg)
Quote from: Furby on April 20, 2008, 02:11:23 PM
We were kayaking up at the lake yesterday and foated up on this.
Can anyone I.D. them?
My first though was geese, but then I realized they seemed a bit bigger than the geese eggs I've seen before.
I'm thinking swans as there are several in that area, but I've never seen a swan's nest up close before.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10577/100_4766.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10577/100_4807.jpg)
Two weeks later and I had the chance to get out and check the nest.
It was empty and looked like something had dug through it. :-\
Did you try and get some Goose egg pics Bob, or did the Goose win ???
I floated up on a Goose sitting on a nest, but there was no way I was going to try and get a pic of the eggs while trapped in a little kayak.
I would have been a sitting Furby! ;D
No Furby, I did not get a picture of the goose eggs. I kept forgetting my camera. A week later the goose was gone and the eggs were broken open. I am not sure, but I think some animal got the little gooses. I see the two big geese, but no little gooses following them. :(
Probably a coon or a fox. I see a fox sometimes terrorizing snipe and woodcock nests in the field. One fox was barking at me the other day and really did not run away as I walked past, just to the brushed in line fence. Then I looked back and she was on her way up along the ditch toward the neighbor's chicken house. ::)
I don't have the story on this Sandhill Crane, but Jeff sent it to me in an email off of his phone a little while ago.
The reflection in the upper left seems to be the roofline of the cabin's porch. That means he is out in the yard and presumably in the truck. That might account for some of the curving in the image. If this bird is looking into the truck, its a big bird. Perhaps Jeff should remain where he is. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/jeff-crane.jpg)
I was walking up the road today and met the neighbor in the opposite direction. I asked her if some chickens have been disappearing and she said she has 3 left out of 12. I said it's that dang fox. I knew the thing would be into the coup. :D
I came across this nesting swan while out scouting for turkey recently. The female is on the nest and the male is guarding it. He gave me the "evil eye" and was getting ready to run me off. I didn't hang around very long. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/swan_nest.JPG)
Found a woodcock nest with 3 eggs yesterday in some hardwood thinning. Saw two grouse also, that were probably setting, but I didn't search for nests. Was busy measuring land with my GPS.
My FIL was telling me just the other day that he was looking out the window of the cockhouse when he spotted a jake walking down the fence line. He just happened to have a stag in a fly pen close by so he grabbed it up and opened the back door of the cockhouse just as the jake was rounding the corner of the fence. He tossed that stag down right close to the jake and the fight was on! Both birds broke about 3 feet into the air and commenced to whacking each other, he slipped around behind and grabbed the jake and tossed him into the fly pen. The next day his neighbor came by and told him....DanG, I been trying to shoot a turkey for the last month and you catch one with a rooster! :D
Saw a nest with 10-12 (never counted) ruffed grouse eggs, flushed the hen off the nest. Was beside a skid trail. Why is it that birds like to nest on the edge and not back into the woods more. Darn near stepped on her, I was 1 foot away. ::)
A couple of weeks ago I was on a trout fishing trip in the mountains. Driving along a Forest Service road, I disturbed a grouse hen that was apparently nesting right alongside the road. She did not take kindly to my alacritous passing, and she tried to attack the vehicle. She could have chosen a less contentious nest site, but she chose the edge effect created by the road.
Quote from: WDH on May 16, 2008, 08:19:50 AM
A couple of weeks ago I was on a trout fishing trip in the mountains. .
Up here we go fishing on da lakes not up in da mountains ... you southern boys sure do things differently ::) :D :D
Down here, you have to go to the mountain streams to catch trout because the ponds and lakes get too warm in the summer for the trout to survive. I envy all the good fishing up your way, Marcel. I want to try it one day.
No ice fishing down here until the next ice age come along :).
I have a nesting pair of brown thrashers here this year in the back yard. They seem to like the spruce trees. I have not seen much sign of the grackles that nest in the spruce though. Are they dying off to, like the barn swallow? Brown thrashers are at the edge of their range here, according to Audubon this is out of range. But Peterson's says they nest in western NB. I've seen them in the deep woods to where stands of red spruce grow around Nashwaak Lake. They are robin-like with a longer tail, too big for thrushes.
Last evening, heading down the hill in a heavy rain, saw something hunkered down along the driveway. Stopped beside it and turned out to be a hen grouse with little ones tucked under her wings, more to protect them from me then the rain I think.
Early afternoon today she had them out in the brush hogged grass along the tree line, 100 feet above the house. She crouched and watched carefully as they ran around leaning how to catch bugs it looked like. Appear to be several weeks old, getting real feathers. Maybe 5 to 6 of them.
I needed to make a foundation for an air drying stack for some cherry lumber that I am sawing. The beams for the bottom of the stack foundation were leaning against the wall of my barn under the drying shed. I noticed a bird nest on the top of the beams, so I gently took it down and there were three or four newly hatched chicks. There was no good place to put the nest (I have five hunting cats), so I put it on the top of some other boards standing against the barn. I went about the business of building the stack foundation, but soon I noticed that the nest had fallen to the ground. I gently picked the nest up and found a more secure location about 8 feet away from the original nest. I was not sure that the mother would reclaim her babies after so much disturbance. This was several days ago.
Well, today I was messing around in the general vicinity, and I checked on the little birds. They were still there and hungry! I am sure that Momma took care of the problem because in this 100° F heat, if she had not, the little babies would not have survived. Way to go Mom!!
I have not heard any bitterns in the woods this year. Is anyone hearing them? They are heron-like.
Sorry, SD... no bitterns around here but they always were a 'rare bird' :D
I always wondered why we had the expression about getting your "ducks in a row" ??? The only time i'd ever seen them in a row was at the shooting gallery at the fayuh. ( fair, to you non-Mainers ;D )
So when I found some ducks in a row, I had to have a picture ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBducksinarowOP.jpg)
We can see why these ducks are in a row but does anyone know where the expression comes from ???
I'm sure they are here, but I think I'm too late to here them much as they have mostly likely settled down with their mates by now. I went out this afternoon on purpose to go listen for them. All I heard were mosquitoes. :D
I'm not sure of the origin of 'having my ducks in a row'. I suppose it relates more to their flying formation than their resting on the beach under the shade of a pole. ;)
From Chuck Moreland's Phrases with Origings page
Baby ducklings swim in a straight line behind the mother duck. If the ducklings stray to far, the mother duck will get them back in line, that is get her ducks in a row.
http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#DucksInARow
Thanks, Ron :)
Joan,
I am pleased to see that you have your ducks in a row ;D.
Sprucebunny, that's a cute picture! And, now we know the rest of the story.....
A short clip while I was cooking some Beef Stew on the Fire Pit and my wife was videoing a HummingBird. :)
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ygF0dt0NBfI&hl=en">
Hey...What was in that bottle ??? ??? :D :D
Quote from: Burlkraft on June 24, 2008, 06:19:17 PM
Hey...What was in that bottle ??? ??? :D :D
Colored Sugar Water. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/2008_06190001.JPG)
This is a roadrunner...not just any common roadrunner...he is my neighbor, as we share the same piece of dirt in beautiful Nob Hill Arkansas. :)
Spooked this guy yesterday, who knows their owls?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/owl.jpg)
Looks like the rare yellow poplar owl :D.
My Wife says it looks like a Barred Owl, especially because it looks like it has a yellow beak.
These joined us on the 5th of June. They are growing fast.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/chicks.jpg)
Darn near cut the head off a black duck this morning when cutting brush. Darn buzzard was in a hardwood forest nesting. :D :D
Thanks for the owl ID MH, our homeowner had it as a spotted owl... I figured it might be worth a double check ;D.
Edit; Well how about that, barred owls have made the hop to the west and are displacing and interbreeding with spotted owls.
http://www.wflc.org/inthenews/nso/art6.15.05eurekatimes
I picked up a really nice National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of NA yesterday in Marden's. They had large hardcover versions to. Mine was the fifth edition (2006) with tabs on the edge to quickly locate groups of birds. It's a $32 (CDN) book and I got it for $3.99. 8) They had about 30 of'm and most were 4th edition. I was surprised to see they printed it in China, but it's a nice book. It has the drawings, which I like a lot better than photos.
There is bird I discovered in there that I never hear tell of before and it's the rusty blackbird. It nests mostly in Canada, rare in the west, and winters in the eastern half of the US. Do any of you folks see these in winter? They turn kind of brownish in winter and have yellow eyes. They are similar to grackles in summer, but not a long tail
We have the same one 2nd edition we got in 1997. It is a great book. My wife is real good at identifying Birds.
thought i'd show a couple of pics of some of the birds we get around the house, i will post others when I get a chance to photograph them, our camera is fairly limited in its zoom capabilities. We like the birds and are fortunate to have a wide variety call our farm home.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13885/Galahs_and_King_Parrot.jpg)
2 Galahs and an Australian King Parrot in the pine tree that overhangs our house.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13885/King_Parrot_and_Crimson_Rosellas.jpg)
Crimson Rosellas sometimes called Mountain Louries and a male King Parrot in a Cherry tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13885/King_Parrots.jpg)
Pair of King Parrots in a Fig Tree bellow the big old pine.
The old Pine is a haven for the birds when its about to rain the pine cones open up and we get a pair of Black Cockatoos and there young come in. Unfortunately the tree has to go it is 1 foot of the side of the house and has a 6 ft butt, so for safety it is coming down, the power company is doing the job and I get to slab it ;D
Cool birds. I bet they love those cherries. Oh wait, it's winter. ;D
Triple header at the pond tonight.
A Wood Stork, a Great Egret and a Water Turkey, aka Snake bird, aka Anhinga. :D
He was showing off for the Stork and Egret. :D
Somehow the video quality doesn't post as well on utube.
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rzCxGH1f-Hg">
WildDog,
Those are beautiful birds. I am sure that they will miss the old pine tree :).
Mooseherder,
The three stooges ;D.
Found this pair of young Phoebe's on the ground this afternoon. Guess the 89° F heat may have encouraged them to seek more comfortable surroundings. Hope they get up in a tree before dark. It is the second hatch this year. Glad to see some survivors, as the 5 bluebird young were found dead in their nesting house last week.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Phoebe_young.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Phoebe_young_ff.JPG)
I see them here to beenthere. I have never seen a nest, but I see a couple pairs each year. They sure are busy for flies and you can tell them from other little birds from their tail movements. They pump it downward on their perch. They can have all the bugs they can eat. ;D :)
I can remember when I first took a liking to them and noticed them around the barn doors of the potato sheds eating at swarms of potato flies as the crops were being stored for winter.
SD
They have maintained a nest above an outdoor light on my shed under the eaves. They've been back in that nest every year for about three broods a summer for at least 25 years. Seem to be a nice bird to have around.
I was just out, and the two younguns have found someplace else to sit. Hope they are safe from the neighbors feral cats that they feed. They are part of the program where feral cats are caught and neutered, then let go free again. >:( >:( >:(
Yeah I know about the cats, they come visit every day, at least twice. I know whose they are, they are my aunts and she often has not been home to tend them with my uncle being in and out of hospital.
Quote from: Mooseherder on July 10, 2008, 06:08:20 PM
Triple header at the pond tonight.
A Wood Stork, a Great Egret and a Water Turkey, aka Snake bird, aka Anhinga. :D
He was showing off for the Stork and Egret. :D
Somehow the video quality doesn't post as well on utube.
<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rzCxGH1f-Hg">
Moose - The bird I miss seeing most from South Florida is the Blue Heron... we used to have a Great Blue living near our house and we saw it almost every day. They are truly a magnificent bird and so much fun to watch in the wild. The Wood Storks showed up in our neighborhood right after hurricane Wilma and about a week before we found out my wife was pregnant....they are still there (we aren't)
Cedar Waxwings
I'll bet that some of you who are trying to grow berries are mad at these birds :D
There is a bumper crop of cherries in my yard this year and I saw a pair of these this morning. Sorry no picture ....
They are an interesting and social bird. I don't recall seeing them here, before.
http://www.wordwiz72.com/waxwing.html
Yes, cedar waxwings are a pretty bird. I have them here year round. I see them mainly in summer around the wild cherries. In winter they are common in small flocks. I have fed juveniles pin cherries by hand in summer. As you say, they are not too shy. I have heard some folks here name them bohemian wax wing, but that is a western bird. Although they do find them in winters here rarely. They may even breed in the north (boreal regions) in Eastern Canada but not in abundance. That's from info in National Geographic's Field Guide.
With all the cutover land around here, the waxwings must be having a feast on cherries but I wonder what fruit they find the rest of the time ??? That page says that fruit is 85-90% of thier diet.
Todays bird adventure.... found a little bird on the ground in front of the house. No nest nearby. I put him in a box on the upstairs porch because there is a cat that comes around looking for snacks ::)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBlittlebirdOP.jpg)
I hope he makes it.
Black-and-white warbler Mniotilta varia
I think he is an adult, maybe he had a window collision. But, if not he is almost there in maturity. ;D
Cedar wax wings eat High bush cranberry, winter apples, rose hips, staghorn sumac, crab apples, round wood berries, tree sap. They also eat insects in summer. I imagine they eat seeds as well. Although, I have never seen them at the feeder at years past.
Thanks for the warbler ID, SD ;D Another interesting species ! ... The only member of the family Mniotilta and the only bird, besides nuthatches , that walks in any direction on the trunk of a tree in search of insects.
He is gone from the box, now. Hope he's OK
Juncos on the back lawn today. Friendly little buddies. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_junco-001.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_junco-002.jpg)
This is a Heron from a couple weeks back after we got a bunch of Rain. He was pickin' off the minnows big time. :)
The coconut Palms around the pond where under water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFX3JwhGkkg
We have a lot of heron up here to, beautiful birds. The creek usually has 3 or 4 early in the mornings wading and fishing before fall migration. I have a couple that hang out near my woodlot, hopping from beaver pond to beaver pond. :) I have been keen on sighting bitterns the last couple of years. Talked to one fellow hunting and he was perplexed at the noise those bitterns make. He had to look it up and the sound on an Encyclopedia of birds.
Recently, a forestry company was convicted of destroying heron nests while building road. The fine wasn't all that stiff, $50,000 and a donation to a conservation group. That's pretty much an annual wage of a company forester.
We having been trying to identify this feller who was hanging out for a few hours last week.
Appears to come from the Pigeon family but not in any of our book pages. Any ideas? ???
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/What_is_it_.jpg)
white crowned pigeon , patagioenas leucocephala ?
Found it in National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of NA.
I'm thinking he may have been someones pet allthough there wasn't a band on his leg.
My wife got within 2 feet of it and thinks she may have been able to pet it. (she didn't) He was on this gate with the dog barking at his feet and the cat pushing and stretching himself at the bottom of the gate. :D
I've read over in the food section of this delicious meal that Jeff fixed with grouse. I figured I would like to try a grouse and yesterday I spotted one.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/roadrunner_grouse.jpg)
I'm going back today with my grouse gun to bag me one. I called Arkansas Game and Fish to purchase a grouse tag but they told me I don't need one cause Arkansas don't have any....whata they know. ??? Stuffed grouse on the way. :)
:D :D
That's one of them road runner "grouse" ain't it Larry? ;)
Whatsa roadrunner taste like? ;D Are you sure thats not an Arkansas grouse? :D
Not unless grouse started taken a liken to snakes. ;D
While fishing this morning I found a place where the stripers had penned up a huge school of shad in the back end of a hollar. The stripers would rip through the shad school at there pleasure...and shad parts would float to the top. The eagles had also learned of this feeding orgy...they were standing by to clean up the pieces. Don't want good shad parts going to waste. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/eagle1a.jpg)
Just a side note...bout three years ago there were a pair of eagles that nested here. They found they really like southern hospitality and are now official, full time Arkansas residents. :) :)
I try to tell some people that although bald eagles eat fish, they don't catch them live. They pick up the carrion and rob the osprey. I fished on a salmon river here years ago and I watched the osprey do all the hard work and those white headed buzzards would come and steal their salmon catch from them. An eagle isn't build for fishing. I've seen osprey that could barely lift their catch and some would have to drop the fish. On the river there was a shallow place, a bar, we would see the fish moving over this shallow place and there is where the osprey fished. The water was always going down in the evening and up in the morning because of the dam during low demand in the evenings. Even out west they only eat those dead fish after they spawn, the bears catch live fish and won't touch a dead one.
SD
Guess you've not seen the vids of the bald eagle catching live fish, still kicking as it flys away with it.
Here's a video of a bald eagle fishing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R6E62hHLpM
I can't see it on dial-up Roxy, but is the bird wading or did he actually dive into deep water for a catch? Not snatch a sick one off the surface that was dying? No, we have lots of bald eagles here and I've never seen an eagle dive for a fish, not even on TV. I will see them wade in shallows and catch weak or dead fish and steal others on shore or take dead beached fish. I guess there is a fine line in fishing terms, pun intended. ;D
Evening Grosbecks, and the Red Finches are my favorite.
The eagle in the video is fishing in a pond, and it hoovers and then dives into the water for the fish. It then sits in the water (just like a duck would) and takes off to a tree with the fish.
Curiosity got the better of me. I took the hour it takes to download those videos on dial-up. The eagle surely was fishing, but in shallow water on a muddy shole. The guy on the video said he was "sitting in water on the mud". That would be the only way he could take off from water. They usually have to swim if caught in deep water and sometimes drown. But, non-the-less he was fishing. The other guy's voice said "the fish have to be pretty small in there". Great video Rox. :)
Eagles catch mullet from deeper water here. They have more luck in the salt water because of the schooling habits of the fish. Mullet will form rafts of thousands of individuals and run in the current close to the surface. Eagles will swoop down and grab one by sinking the talons of one, or sometimes both, feet through the fish. The problems occur when the fish is too big and the bird can't get his talons unlocked. The fish will drag the bird into the water and some eagles lose their lives there. Usually the fish is lifted from the water or dragged along the surface to the shore, where the Eagle dispatches it post haste. :)
It's "hard" fishing up here in winter when the rivers and lakes freeze solid, yet the Eagles stay here. I see them all winter along the river. They eat hare, road kill, cats, dead deer what ever to keep from starving I guess. I can see skimming being a means of fishing like you say Tom. I suspect the older adults with more experience get good at it.
Hawk with his lunch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/P1010015.JPG)
As I was driving up to my house one afternoon before Christmas, I saw a big bird fluttering in the driveway. Then this hawk flew away with a dead bird in his talons. He flew to the roof of the kid's playfort. I grabbed my camera and got a few poor shots as I walked toward the playfort snapping pictures trying not to spook him before he flew away.
Interesting that you posted that today. Same happened here, with a Coopers hawk feasting on a flicker..picked most of the feathers off first. Interesting.
I have a screen porch under my upper deck. There are a couple of bird feeders on the upper deck.
In the winter, the screen porch is full of firewood and odds and ends.
When I went to feed the woodstove yesterday morning there was a bluejay in a corner of the screen porch banging against the screens. There is a door at each end about 12 feet apart but he was stuck in a corner... He got all excited when I showed up and dug himself into a space between the screening and a half sheet of foam insulation.
Thru the screen he looked kind of flat :D I let him out with a utility knife. Don't use the screen porch for much but firewood ....
Was nice to see a jay close up !!!
A link my Sister sent me today:
http://skagiteaglewatchers.wordpress.com/
The Skagit River is about 18 miles north of me. I fish up in that area a lot.
We have 2 large cranes that frequent our waterhole at the house. I got home today and Nicky said, "one Crane was flying and then the tinniest little Hawk hit it in mid air and the cranes wings just crumpled up and he fell straight down fortunately hitting the water.
Nicky said he rested on the rocks for a long while and then disappeared, hopefully not to a fox, as I type this I can can see one crane on a log in the middle of the creek but only the one.
I'd mentioned before about watching a live cam set up on Pete's Pond in Botswana, Africa and sponsored by National Geographic. There are some interesting birds and wild animals that frequent the pond, and the pond is complete with a Nile croc.
Have been watching the croc kill a terrapin (turtle) and work on consuming it for several days. The croc also killed a large catfish and left the head on the bank. A fish eagle stole the head and dragged it off to eat it. Someone made a video of that bit of thievery if interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-FVpZeXzo
Nice story sprucebunny. That was fun to read.
Last year I planted a plot of New England asters, and this is the first winter I've been able to keep goldfinches into January. I doubt that's a coincidence, and would appreciate any feedback!
Also I stopped using millet this year, and all the sparrows have left.
Got lots of birds here without even feeding them. Blue jays, pine grosbeaks, chickadee, ravens, red polls, flocks of snow bunting, juncos. If I did start feeding, the blue jays would take over, sometimes 30 at a time. They sack continuously. I see gold finch to, feeding on weeds and burdock bushes mostly.
Noticed a bunch of at least twenty goldfinch today as luck would have it, on my walk from the shop to the house. Hard to tell them from snow bunting from a distance, sound almost the same to. They were feeding on seeds on some tall lamb's quarters stalks.
This little guy has been hunting the brush pile in my yard. We put the Christmas tree in the snow out by it and Jill has been putting suet and popcorn and old bread out there for the birds. He has made this his breakfast hunting ground ;D ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12905/1070/2009_01_19_001.jpg)
We are maddly spraying Balck Berry's at the moment over about 300 acres that I only run cattle on and not the goats. I am worried where all the Finches that nest in these bushes are going to go next season.
The Blue Wrens and Double Bar finches call them home. One neighbour has a 500 acre paddock alongside mine that he hasn't sprayed for many a year but through another neighbour I hear he's going to hit it soon so effectively a lot of habit will be lost for these little guys.
Looks like a merlin. We don't have them here in winter. Kestrel are similar and they were some thick here this summer. They perch on the power lines in fields. I think a nesting pair took refuge in a small stand of woods just up the road last spring. Sure was a noisey bunch and chased the robins a lot this fall in the orchard up there. They circled the place constantly.
My lunch time had a visitor drop in for a bit. Musta smelled my sammich. :D
Video is 1:08 long of an Immature Egret on the Hood of my car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNw-dm2o6nM
He seems to be enjoying the breeze and the view ;D.
You sure have a candid camera there mooseherder. :D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 21, 2009, 05:40:32 AM
You sure have a candid camera there mooseherder. :D
My kids bought me this camera that fits in my front shirt pocket. I'll carry it with me ready for impending action. :D It is called Flip Mino. Really an incredible camera with great sound.
Anybody looking for a camera needs to consider one of these.
http://www.theflip.com/
We've had quite a few birds come in to our bird feeder to get sunflower seeds but one day last week we were really surprised when the light coming in the window was almost blocked.
We had a Wild Turkey actually land on the window-box bird feeder, only for a minute though.
He didn't like the chicken wire screen we had put over it, so, he left.
Chuck
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wsbaldegale20090130.JPG)
I looked out our living room window this morning to see a bald eagle and two crows setting in a walnut tree about 50 yards from the house and about eye level. I got out my camera and snapped a few pictures. When I zoomed in, I could no longer see the bird in the view screen so I got the picture off center.
Brooke got a better quality 8mp camera for Christmas but it was set on video mode and by the time I got it back on picture mode, the eagle flew off.
A flock of waxwings descended upon my crab apple tree for last season's dried up apples. I never thought of the camera, could have taken one easily.
We have been getting some visites from these guys for the past couple of days , I hope they stick around there where three of them , one was off to the side and would not be tolerated around the other two while they ate ... So yesterday I went and put some corn where he was eating ... ;D Today he went back there and had a good snack , the other two had sun flower seeds that fall off the bird feeder .
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10487/1833/hiver_2008_784.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10487/1833/hiver_2008_785.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10487/1833/hiver_2008_786.jpg)
So , I have a question for those who have knowledge of turkeys ... How long do there beards get , and how long does it take ....
Inquiring mind would like to know , but to lazy to google it ;D
They look tastie. ;D
I have a theory that the beards will get as long as their legs will allow.... ;D meaning they wear off the beard when feeding so the longer their legs (or taller the turkey), the longer the beard. Around here, a 10" beard is considered a large bird. Spurs are another, and 1 1/2" spurs are considered to be a good size bird. Weight of 28#'s another indication.
This time of year, the Tom's seem to run together, and the jakes (young tom's) are still with the hens. Appears to be a jake with that hen there.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on February 05, 2009, 10:03:33 AM
They look tastie. ;D
Thats what i was thinking. Dont know if i could take shotting them with a camera. Well maybe after the first shot goes bang.
Marcel,
Those are beautiful birds, and it is special to be able to see them.
Danny they are a pleasure to have around there where four today . I was not able to take a pickchure as the pictaker was in my shop and so was the camera :D
Gotta admit they do look tasty . ;D :D
beenthere wrote: I have a theory that the beards will get as long as their legs will allow.... meaning they wear off the beard when feeding so the longer their legs (or taller the turkey), the longer the beard.
I'm in full agreement with his reasoning.
I think that by the time a gobler (or tom) reaches 4 years old, his beard is as long as it will ever be and that will usually be between 9 and 12 inches.
We have turkeys at our house every day. They clean up whatever we throw out of the bird feeders each morning and of course we usually throw a little extra sunflower seeds out for them too! The flock that comes here has 10 turkeys in it.
Turkeys don't seem to be overly smart, but they don't miss anything either. Any movement and they are gone. Pretty soon, they'll be back. If they could only realize where all of that seed comes from, they'd save a lot of energy!
We have a group of about a dozen that comes out to feed in our far bottom corn field. Even though I chisled it they find plenty to eat scratching through the snow for corn. It's funny though, I used to hunt turkey, pheasant and most other upland birds. Now when I see them I almost feel like they're my pets as I've gone to so much trouble to improve the habitat for them. This winter and last has been real hard on them, hopefully with a little help they'll recover to huntable numbers.
We don't have many turkeys here but the ones we do have are really big...or think they are big.
Kathy feeds the deer cracked corn...last spring I saw a turkey in a Mexican stand off with a deer on who was gonna get that corn. :D The turkey won. :)
We have turkeys here from time to time. They are kind or rare in our valley, but there is a population. I like to see them. Last year in spring or early summer I scared a hen with some pullets about the size of quail right down by the creek. I didn't go down there again for a while, hoping not to disturb them more. I didn't see them again though.
Quote from: Larry on February 07, 2009, 04:45:04 PM
We don't have many turkeys here but the ones we do have are really big...or think they are big.
Kathy feeds the deer cracked corn...last spring I saw a turkey in a Mexican stand off with a deer on who was gonna get that corn. :D The turkey won. :)
Here in NY it is against the law to feed the deer. You will be ticketed if you are caught by a D.E.C. official.
But, I suppose if you were to put out cracked corn for the turkeys and the deer came in to feed, it might buy you a warning or two instead of a ticket.
I have heard that one place (local) has actually posted a sign stating "this feed is for turkey's, deer stay out" true or not, I can't say. As if the deer can read!
With all the winter snow, compounded by alders leaning over some sections of our back roads there is bound to be bird casualties with snow removal equipment. This is not a bash on the snow plow operators. Just hate to see a good partridge go to waste. I know some of you folks might think it's getting rough around here when a guy has to go out and pick up road kill. ;D :D
This bird was struck by a plow, as the plow passed by the alders and flushed him out. He was laying there most of the afternoon untouched.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_partridge-001.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_partridge-003.jpg)
I noticed this morning that the neighborhood fox made a nice meal of him in the night. ;D
This poor little thing ! It is all fluffy and confused. Had to go check each corner of the milkcrate and squeeze between the bars. I can get within about 2 feet of it before it notices.
I've seen other chickadees that had this "pigpen" look. I don't know if it's old age or they just have something slightly wrong with them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBchirkadeOPr.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBchirkader2OP.jpg)
I'm thinking disease, could be anything, west nile, avian, eye disease. I think I'd deliver the bird to your local vet for testing. Wear latex. ::)
Sometimes things like that happen when the bird accidently fly's into a window!
They are just dazed for a while and will usually recover.
Could be, but if it's quite common you might have a bad glare on your window that the birds get confused about and fly into it. Seems you had a warbler last year that smacked into the window as well. When a bird hits window he doesn't usually slump like that unless his neck is broken, at which point he wouldn't be hanging onto cage wire. Don't seem right.
What usually causes birds to fly into a window is when they can see straight through a house or part of it.
In other words, they see in one window and out another. Looks clear to them and they don't know what glass is!
I don't know. I've been in a building before and couldn't even see a pain of glass petitioning two rooms and walked, smuck, right into it. :D
Near as I can tell it's a Northern Shrike. It has a long tail, black on top, white underneath it. Has a black beak, a black eye mask, white breast, gray head and back, black wings. Seen him twice in last couple days. I rarely see them. They nest in the far north. Scope on the camera isn't really strong enough.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_northern_shrike.jpg)
Also seen a grouse today down by the brook walking under the alder bushes on the snow. I see them there all the time. There is a good grouse hunting road I try to get folks to hunt on in the fall, no one likes to walk much. Too much "Hollywood" hunting these days from pickup cabs. ::)
Caught one not looking today. 8)
Nice bird at 20#
While it hung in the tree, three other Tom's came up to check it out. One wouldn't let go of the neck, I imagine trying to get it down out of the tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/Tom.JPG)
Ten inch beard and 1" spurs,
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/Tom_1.JPG)
Around these parts most people shoot turkeys with a shotgun. I see you caught that one with a foot snare.
Quote from: pigman on April 16, 2009, 05:20:25 PM
Around these parts most people shoot turkeys with a shotgun. I see you caught that one with a foot snare.
:D :D :D :D :D
I shot a tom out of a group of 6 once and 2 of the others attacked him when he hit the ground :o :o :o
Quote from: beenthere on April 16, 2009, 05:07:03 PM
Caught one not looking today. 8)
Nice bird at 20#
While it hung in the tree, three other Tom's came up to check it out. One wouldn't let go of the neck, I imagine trying to get it down out of the tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/Tom.JPG)
Ten inch beard and 1" spurs,
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/Tom_1.JPG)
Nice bird Kent 8) 8) 8)
Quote from: pigman on April 16, 2009, 05:20:25 PM
Around these parts most people shoot turkeys with a shotgun. I see you caught that one with a foot snare.
:D :D :D
Quieter that way.. :) :)
Actually was with .410 double barrel with one #4 shot
The state of Maine is introducing them into Aroostook county, which is in NE Maine and next to where I live. There is lots of Red Oak on Mars Hill. I might have wild turkey in my freezer yard some day. ;D
I managed to download a short video onto YouTube of the Tom turkey attack (hope that doesn't put my name on the HSA list).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMIRg_8FGA
Didn't realize uploading to YouTube was so easy.
BT, how did you get this bird in, call, decoy? Want to hear how you do it up north.
This one was a surprise. I was out to set up a blind. Had the .410 double, a camo cloth and some stakes, and a decoy.
Just had set the stuff on the ground, gun against the tree, and clearing some brush to put up the camo. Getting ready to go out there the first thing this morning.
As I broke some brush, I saw two Tom's coming out of the woods and they almost raced to me, and I just had time to drop two #4's in the double, aim and wait a few seconds for one to get within 20 yards. Bam! All done.
Never had a chance to make a call, or to sit still for an hour or three, or to fall asleep waiting for some action. I was back home in less than 25 minutes.
Sorry, can't come up with a good "called-em-in" or "he-tried-to-jump-my-decoy" story this time.
8)
Blind luck makes just as good a story as any. ;) ;D ;D ;D Nice looking bird.
Sure wish I had a video camera today to show ya the action. I was sitting along side a road talking to a couple folks that were on their way to Montreal in an 18 wheeler. There was a morning dove being chased by a little Kestrel hawk. She had the dove by the tail so to speak. Feathers where flying. Wasn't one bit scared of us and they both nearly got run over as the truck was rolling along slow before he stopped. The hawk unhooked and went up into a tree, then as the truck rolled off again the dove emerged and flew off. One lucky dove. ;D :D
Oh, and seen a turkey vulture, not far from home, sitting at the mouth of a drive way. Them things were never here when I was a kid. I'll take a raven over them ugly things. ;D
The turkey vultures are moving farther north every year. Not sure if it's because there are more of them or adjusting to climate changes. Ugly up close, pretty when they soar.
Caught this wild thing on camera, and he shows up near every day now. Maybe lookin for his buddy. ::) ::)
Near the end you can see the "shakes" that he gets, which also makes a pretty audible hum. I could try to translate that a little better, but won't here. ;D ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmKPVrRj6yo&feature=channel_page
Another clip at the same routine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDfXWYgZfmw&feature=channel_page
Wow. I've never seen a wild turkey that got that big.
Looks like good table fare to me!!! digin_2 food2 musteat_1
Quote from: Roxie on April 24, 2009, 01:14:09 PM
Wow. I've never seen a wild turkey that got that big.
Them would be babies here. ;)
Looks like the Wreath is going to stay up for a while longer again this year. :)
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2/DSC00643.JPG)
Eastern bluebirds?
Michigan State Bird. :)
These are just as tasty, they just don't go as far.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10007/hummer.jpg)
smiley_turkey_dancing smiley_turkey_dancing
Veery, robins and wood thrush have blue eggs to. 8)
Spring gobbler opens on monday 8) Just secured another 70 acres to hunt 8) 8)
This blue, would be Robin egg blue. She won't stay still to get a photo in the nest asthe cabin is right straight out the back door and she scoots as soon as it opens. She then sits in a nearby oak and scolds you for interrupting her work.
I have not seen my brown thrashers yet. I'm am right on the edge of the range. I had a pair last year for the first time that I ever knew of.
Yesterday, on my bus route, I spotted a pair of Tree Swallows. They're a little early this year.
SwampDonkey; I haven't seen Brown Thrashers here yet either! There are normally a couple of pairs of them that frequent our back yard!
Today was a first for me (maybe because I've not been paying attention ;D ), and I had a flock of from 25-75 white throated sparrows in the yard. I noticed their high numbers at first, and then noticed the white top head stripe, alternating on the sides with black, then the white throat. Not a sparrow fan, but these were more likable than the ordinary barn sparrows.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/White-throated-Sparrow-gr-bkgr-_H2D8290-McLeansville%2C-NC.jpg)
Yeah, I like the song of the white-throated sparrow. They've been here for a couple weeks now. It's one of those birds folks record a lot on those easy listening tapes along with the loon. Usually hear a fellow canoeing along a lake in the foreground.
Quote from: beenthere on April 25, 2009, 09:35:45 PM
Today was a first for me (maybe because I've not been paying attention ;D ), and I had a flock of from 25-75 white throated sparrows in the yard. I noticed their high numbers at first, and then noticed the white top head stripe, alternating on the sides with black, then the white throat. Not a sparrow fan, but these were more likable than the ordinary barn sparrows.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/White-throated-Sparrow-gr-bkgr-_H2D8290-McLeansville%2C-NC.jpg)
I believe this bird is a Crowned Sparrow.
We have lots of them here throughout the summer, but they haven't arrived yet.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 25, 2009, 10:46:28 AM
I have not seen my brown thrashers yet. I'm am right on the edge of the range. I had a pair last year for the first time that I ever knew of.
What is the state bird of Georgia doing way up there?
Eat'n bugs. ;D
White crowned sparrow doesn't have yellow eyebrows.
As I understand, the crowned also doesn't have the white throat.
But suspect there are variations of each.
About the brown thrasher, it says in my book it's rare up here and sometimes seen in Newfoundland. The map shows it here in western NB during the breeding season.
Quote from: beenthere on April 26, 2009, 12:27:23 PM
As I understand, the crowned also doesn't have the white throat.
But suspect there are variations of each.
Yeah, my book shows a light gray throat on the white crowned sparrow.
Yup, you're right, Pictured is the White Throated Sparrow!
The Crowned Sparrow doesn't have the yellow.
I saw a couple brown thrashers today. One in my back yard and another 5 miles away in a neighbors back yard. They sound kinda like a weird robin, but out of key. :D
I saw a pair of Brown Thrashers in our back yard yesterday.
I also saw some Barn Swallows and a couple of Ruby Throated Humming Birds yesterday.
Winter Pheasant. Saw this bird last December on my way out hunting during the deer muzzel loading season.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/pheasant_winter1.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/pheasant_winter2.JPG)
We have a lot of pheasant along the river valley, once in a great while (quite rare) I see one near the house. Down to dad's they run all through town like chickens. No lie. They love peas and strawberries. :D
A Downy WoodPecker took up a Quaking Aspen behind our Camp as residence. She had a few holes in it with a few Babies crying for food most of the day. The holes were a little too high to view the babies but you sure could hear them. Mama was working hard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Downy_Woodpecker.JPG)
This Eagle picture was taken by our Cousin Mike who was up visiting with us.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Eagle.JPG)
Nice shot of the eagle!
Been getting this hawk hunting around the yard lately managed to get a couple of pic of it, it might be hard to see but it has a small rodent in its beak. I'm thinking it's a northern harrier aka marsh hawk ?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/IMG_6647.JPG)
lots of pheasants around here I got some video clips of them fighting in my front yard I'll have to find it and put it on youtube so it can be seen.
Quote from: Mooseherder on July 19, 2009, 05:00:07 PM
A Downy WoodPecker took up a Quaking Aspen behind our Camp as residence. She had a few holes in it with a few Babies crying for food most of the day. The holes were a little too high to view the babies but you sure could hear them. Mama was working hard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Downy_Woodpecker.JPG)
The size of the beak in relation to the head and the more forward position of the red patch makes me think this may be a hairy instead of a downy. I see them occasionally on my suet block here, but I have mostly downy and red bellied.
Nice picture.
EDIT:
I went back and checked my field guide, and I am wrong. That is a female yellow-bellied sapsucker.
There's been a hawk harassing the robins here to in the yard. They sure put up a big fuss. Went out one evening just before dark and the hawk flew off my lead in wire to the house, things quieted down.
Unfortunately I have no pictures, but it has been an interesting year so far observing the activity on my suet block. Once I figured out that I had to take it down every night to keep a stupid coon from getting it I have been much less frustrated. All efforts to defeat him ultimately failed. But, I have it rigged where it is easy to put up and take down so no worries.
Anyway, here is the list of what I have seen on it this year:
The Usual Suspects feeding on suet
--------------------------------------
downy woodpecker
hairy woodpecker
red bellied woodpecker
tufted titmouse
white breasted nuthatch
Carolina chickadee (they nested in my bluebird house)
unknown vireo
The UN-Usual Suspects feeding on suet
------------------------------------------
blue jay
Carolina wren
cardinal
cowbird (I think)
The blue jays and the cardinals are funny to watch when feeding on suet. My suet block is hanging from a dogwood limb so the only way they can get to it is to land directly on it. Blue jays and cardinals are not creepers and climbers like the other birds, so they struggle a bit. I know they would get frustrated watching the almost constant stream of downy woodpeckers coming in and eating very efficiently. Finally the cardinals figured out they could land on top of the suet cage and just reach over the side and get it, but their short beaks make it difficult if there is not a full size suet cake inside. The blue jays would mostly fly up from underneath and hover long enough to jam their large bills into the cake and either get a chunk or knock a chunk off down onto the deck where they would then go get it.
The most amazing thing I saw was a mother cardinal with her two juvenile young. She parked them on a nearby limb where they waited, and for 5 minutes she would fly over to the suet, grab a chunk, then take it over and give it to one of them. That was when I needed a video camera.
Blue jays, like crows are pretty smart at figuring a way. When we used to feed birds here the blue jays were as thick as flies. I still have a lot of them and several hung out around the house all summer. This time of year I hear nuthatches all through the woods. Always a chickadee around. There are whisky jacks to, but usually around camp sites. They are like pack rats.
I was out loading a load of firewood awhile ago and spotted a bald eagle soaring high in the bright blue sky. He was heading south. This is as early in the season as I can ever remember seeing them around here. I guess he came in with the cold snap.
I saw one today out over the river. They stay here all year. Scavenging buzzards. ;D
Out on the river fishing yesterday and had three of them go over about 100 feet up, rolling, chasing and fake fighting. Bright, cold, sunny day and think they were just out playing.
Quote from: Bibbyman on January 31, 2009, 10:07:02 AM
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I looked out our living room window this morning to see a bald eagle and two crows setting in a walnut tree about 50 yards from the house and about eye level. I got out my camera and snapped a few pictures. When I zoomed in, I could no longer see the bird in the view screen so I got the picture off center.
Brooke got a better quality 8mp camera for Christmas but it was set on video mode and by the time I got it back on picture mode, the eagle flew off.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wseagle200912.JPG)
He's BACK!
Big ole eagle came and landed in the same walnut tree just outside our front yard. Set there for half an hour and then took off to run some hawk off.
Saw one out on the edge of the strip pits. He looked like he was interested in a road kill coon. Amazing to see them in places I have never before.
Turkey vultures are becoming familiar here as they seem to be moving north. Never here in NB before to anyone's knowledge.
I seen one fly over at least a month ago. I pointed it out to a customer and we both agreed it was as early as we'd ever seen one in Missouri.
Bluejay and female Cardinal sharing some bird feed.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Bluejay_and_Female_Cardinal_at_the_Bird_Feeder.jpg)
Excelent picture Glenn. 8) On first glance I thought the Bluejay was holding a blue worm, but on futher inspection I think the blue worm is just a hook on the bird feeder.
Here's a couple pictures of the handle/hook. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Cardinal.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Bluejays.jpg)
Looks like up in Maine. ;)
Nice pictures indeed. A blue jay and a cardinal. We don't see many cardinals here and to get the two together at a feeder would be a real treat. ;D Now if you could get the evening grosbeak, you'd have your yellow. ;D
They are from my BIL's front deck in Mountain City, Tennessee.
Oh. Looked like a fall pic up this way with leaves off the maples and a few softwood mixed in the maples. Pretty nice just the same. :)
Female Cardinals are my favorite! Thanks! Great picture
Great observations from all over....we get the nuthatch/wren/titmouse crowd..all the woodpeckers...and at night, this is the best, the flying squirrels..they love peanut suet..
One of the best aspects of all birds are the songs....someone mentioned the thrasher...they are bold...love those night whipporwills in spring/summer....but the BEST has to be the wood thrush....his various songs fill the forest...makes one smile
My wife had a place about ½ hour from here.She had a pair of cardinals that would come to the feeder.Would hang around all summer and winter.He would go up in the tree right by the house and call for his mate at dusk.Have only seen a few here.That's just about the only thing she don't like here,no Cardinals.
Ditto! to the cardinals being a favorite. Nice pictures.
Here is another Cardinal. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Cardinal2.jpg)
At our feeder, we have mostly Chickadee's, a few White Breasted Nuthatches, a few Red Breasted Nuthatches and a bunch of Gold Finches!
We used to get a lot of Evening Grossbeaks and Blue Jays. I put chicken wire over the feeder about 3 years ago and that has pretty-much eliminated the Blue Jays. Everything else can get through the chicken wire but those Blue Jays have a hard time of it!
An Osprey showed up this morning making a kyew, kyew, kyew racket.
He is perched on a Australian Pine branch that sweeps over the pond area.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Osprey1.JPG)
Here is a short video of the Osprey leaving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhdj6WgCQik
On Friday I was inspecting some new area I am taking over at work in the north of the state and while I was walking along a creek I heard some deep thumping noises when I got up from the creek I found this pair. Its rough hilly country which isn't normally indicative of emu habitat, I am used to coming across them out west on the flat country.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13885/1852/004_%282%29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13885/1852/013_%282%29.JPG)
Nice looking birds.
Not to color your post in a negative tone. But, they also remind me of a fellow who was going to get rich growing emu for meat. :D Kinda like one of them deals you get emails about. The guy selling the emu's to the fellow that got sucked in, is the guy making the profits. ;D Anyway, his emu's got away into the woods and never seen again. :D
We had a neightbor about a mile away that did the "emu" thing and got stuck the same way. He got tired of feeding them and turned them loose. A few of them made it over to our neck of the woods. At first they were a novelty to see until they started chasing the kids. We don't have any emu problems any more.
My wife set up the Feeder with some sugar water for da HummingBirds.
They were around before the feeder went up. :)
I love HummingBirds.
There was quite a few of them coming to it everyday.
She caught me sharpening da saw in da Bird video. ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3juTqM2T6Qo
It seems waay too peaceful there :D :D
The other day I heard this bird and others of it's kind around me making chatter. Turns out they are brown thrashers as I got a good look at one singing. I'm going to call them northern parrots from now on with all the weird noises they make. :D Then this morning one of those alien sounding bitterns down in the wetlands, they don't even sound like a bird. :D
Wood thrushes back...best singers bar none........had a rare Louisiana Water Thrush on deck....pink legs....bobs tail constantly...fudge ripple breast like the wood...2nd summer he's showed up
I remember my dad had a pair of Emu's in a big pen. He got a call from work one day from the elementary school behind our property through the woods saying his Emu's were at the school chasing the kids around the playground. :D. And guess who got to corral them back to the pen? Watch out for those big toe nails!!! >:(
I had forgotten about that until this post. Now I can hear the never ending drumming sound again. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11566/57/Amish_insecticide.jpg)
Amish insecticide.
The three swallow houses have a hinged side with a latch. They are on pulleys so they can be lowered to the ground and cleaned out after the nesting is finished. Each box will hold 14 nesting pairs. These swallows were very active even though a storm had just passed.
The line you see is clothesline which runs from the porch on the house to the roof of the barn. Pulleys are used there as well.
What kind of swallows? Tree swallows here will not nest in colonies they get very upset. And barn swallows probably would, but they are scarce here since the freeze up in May 1996 that about wiped them out around here. The hydro wires where always lined with them in migration periods, hundreds. Also, there are not as many barns around for them to nest in, but just the same they would also nest in eves of old houses and build over window sills. Had one once in awhile nest over a light by the door, it was like going and checking for the mail when they were nesting, watching them hatch. :D
There are a lot of bugs them swallows down eat as well. As far as pest flies, bats eat way more.
I've never seen a bank swallow in years, they would nest in the sandy loam on a farm along the Nashwaak River where we used to fish salmon. They were swarming like mosquitoes. When the mayflies were out it was feast time.
They are Purple Martins and they're a lot prettier (and a lot less messy) than bats. They really don't compete for the same insects that a bat will eat (such as mosquito's) because they are daylight hunters.
I just smiles at something that I love to hear. :)
Every morning and evening I get to smile at something fairly unique to the north. Our house is right under the flyway for loons going from their nesting lake to a feeding lake, and they announce their trip to us each time they go over head.
We just put up a new board & post fence along the South side of our yard.
I made some new birdhouses (for tree swallows & bluebirds) and mounted one on every third post in the line.
Ten birdhouses in all on the fence. Then we put some around other places in the yard.
The new fence is along a flowing ditch and on the other side of the ditch is my brothers hay fields (80 acres), so, lots of bugs.
We can sit outside most nights and not be bothered with bugs.
Yesterday I timed a mom & dad Tree Swallow, and they would come in to feed the little ones every 3-4 minutes, all day long.
Makes one wonder just how many bugs they catch in a days time.
Roxie we don't get many martins here. If you put a nest box up the tree swallows will take over and drive anything else off. We've tried here for 30 years.
We don't hear loons handy to where I live. Our county only has one lake of significant size on the map, Williamstown Lake 10 miles to the south, the rest are ponds. It's about 5 miles long and 2 miles wide. Three or 4 small lakes are on the county line, with York County.
The family of Tree Swallows that had been using the birdhouse on the back porch flew away early yesterday or late the day before.
Shoulda had the camera today. Was driving into work on a good grouse road and found a hen in the road in a particular spot. Returned home and saw the babies and just down the road a small step was daddy grouse with his neck hackles all out and his tail all fanned out. The grouse are not so "wild" out there and they don't fly, but run like turkeys when spooked.
For the past month we've have a pair of adult Bald Eagles fishing in our lake. They sit in an old snag, waiting on a fish to surface then sail down and catch the fish, either they go off to their nest as they did earlier this month or they alight back up on the snag and begin eating. This last week they seem to sit at the lake feeding and loitering more each day. We're beginning to worry that their flegling didn't make it or, hopfully, just havn't left the nest just yet.
One of the eagles is much larger than its mate, both have white heads. I'm thinking my book says females are larger. They do not fear a tractor as I've driven by their snag within 30 yds or so. But p/u trucks or ATVs or walking...they're outta there!
Finally got around to putting up bird feeders at the house. Put it where my wife can watch it from bed as she is on bed rest for 4 more weeks. Seen house finches, house sparrows, mourning and inca doves, and some hummingbirds I have not identified yet at their feeder. We have a bumper crop of grasshoppers this year and it has been fun watching the mockingbirds hunt them in the grass, hopping around with their wings half spread to spook the grasshoppers out of their hiding spots.
We've started getting visits to our feeder box by the Evening Grossbeaks.
Haven't seen many of those around here in a long time. Used to be here by the dozens, 50-60 at a time.
Good to see them back.
We've had a couple Hawks here all day preying on smaller birds.
They have been making a lot of noise. I went out earlier with a dead camera battery and missed some good footage of a smaller bird antagonizing a Hawk. Finally went back out a couple hours later as they were still yacking. It was over a hundred degrees earlier today with the heat index. ::)
I'm not sure what kind of Hawk it is but am leaning towards a Sharp-Shinned or a Cooper's Hawk.
The video starts off with it in a tree, then flys to another tree, then onto our grass and back on a tree branch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRosX7F9iDI
Hi, just thought I would share this with you all - last spring my wife and I were traveling North up the Strath river road , a narrow winding road even by Scotish standards , . There are places along this road - used for passing - where it widens for a short distance , anyway , I was towing along trailer behind the Landrover full of old Elm , it was heavy and slow progress was being made , my concentration was on the road , when , just to our left flying very low and slow ,my wife spotted what she thought was an Osprey . I pulled into the next passing place which fortunatly was very close to the river , we both got out and stood right up to the Landrover and never moved . Sure enough the magnificent Osprey was totaly concentrating on the river and his dinner (Osprey are fish eating large birds of prey) He slowly , very slowly followed the river with eyes only for fish, which brought him closer and closer to us - when I could see every feather , when I could almost see my own reflection in his eye, he closed both wings and fell with total control down into the river where he dissapeard in an almighty turmoil of water , seconds later he emerged , strugling , realy strugling to lift out of the water with a huge Brown Trout in his tallons.We were both transfixed by this very awesome sight. He climed with dificulty to around 40 ft. and then did the clasic thing - he turned the still strugling trout , in his tallons to reduce the wind drag , and flew of into the far woods .I have read about them doing this but to see it so close - We were privelaged indeed . As for my camra which I always carry , it was safely locked in the boot.
Latest Maritime Breeding Bird Atlas Newsletter. (http://www.mba-aom.ca)
Also, in the French language. ;)
We had a visit from a couple Sandhill Cranes this past weekend.
They came in close. Someone in the neighborhood is probably feeding them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Sandhill_Crane1.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Sandhill_Crane2.JPG)
According to the Newsletter in previous post they found a nesting pair of sandhills in Chipman, NB. First time a pair have ever been found nesting here since record keeping of breeding birds have been kept.
Someone we know has reported seeing them in Northern Maine this year.
Moose, apparently they have been in Maine and Northern New England for some time now. That's what the newsletter said anyway.
We've had a barred owl hanging around the house the last couple of weeks, I see him every day or two. This morning my wife spotted him on the ground, on a grassy spot up behind the house, had a mouse I think. Then back up into a maple to watch the lawn again.
Had a Kingfisher land on the kids trampoline. We have one with the safety net around it. The bird tried to take off toward the inside of the trampoline and hit the net on the other side. It then panicked and dropped the 2" sunfish it had in its beak, leaving it on the trampoline. I wonder what we would have thought of the fish if we had not seen the bird ??? ??? :D
Nick
I'm having Hummers showing up. I guess that they are this year's hatchlings.
Quote from: nas on July 27, 2010, 10:38:07 AM
Had a Kingfisher land on the kids trampoline. We have one with the safety net around it. The bird tried to take off toward the inside of the trampoline and hit the net on the other side. It then panicked and dropped the 2" sunfish it had in its beak, leaving it on the trampoline. I wonder what we would have thought of the fish if we had not seen the bird ??? ??? :D
Nick
Good there's no size limit on those you'd have trouble with that explanation.
The Great Egret, takes off from the State owned marsh lands of Proud Lake in southeastern Lower Michigan.This white heron holds its neck in a more open "S" than do other white herons.
This photo shows the ecosystem transition from the lake, to its adjoining marshland, to the adjoining lowland riparian area, to the white and red oak, cottonwood, and aspen woodlands on the adjoing higher ground.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/148/100_2154.JPG)
Warblers of all types moving through now. Just here in my yard and farm I've i.D'd the Swainson's, Yellow-throated, Eastern Yellow, Black & White Warblers; not confirmed yet but fairly confident were the Orange-crowned, and Kentucky Warblers.
Warblers Part II..they left!
Noticed one day last week all birds were excited as flying back and forth along the hedge row, some warblers chasing each other, lots of chirping and carrying on, we even had at least a hundred collared doves shading in the cypress but sometime that very evening, they all cleared out to parts south!
The experts say warblers and other species mostly migrate at night especially if there's a northerly breeze to help them along. Hedge rows are favorites to rest and roost; they know hedge rows have cover, insects, and other foods.
Most of these brushy old fence lines that were allowed to grow up, the plants were seeded likely from bird droppings. We have autumn olive, honeysuckle, privet, mulberry, sugarberry, sumac, possum grape, poison ivy, roughed-leafed dogwood, some grass, and Virginia pine that I planted, and actually idenified a pine warbler bugging in it last week!
Well, I knew it wouldn't be long before I seen this scene. As sure is there will be another winter. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_grouse-001.jpg)
Ruffed grouse feeding on overwintering white birch male pollen catkins. Nice plump bird to. :)
I saw the first bald eagle of the season yesterday. I went back out after our dinner brake and the sky was clear and bright. There to the north was a good size bald eagle making small, lazy circles. I stood and watched about 5 minutes as he drifted on north. Cool!
It seems a bit early as we've not had any real cold weather yet.
DARK TALES OF DARK TIMES IN DARKNESS ALONG THE DARK RIVER
It was a dark and stormy evening, just before dark. I was late coming out of the dark woods. Exhausted and chilled, I descended into a steep, damp, dark hollow thinking that my dark truck would be waiting just over the top of the next dark ridge. Being along the Dark River, it was getting foggy and darn dark as evening gave way to dark. Quickly I was disoriented. I began walking down the hollow hoping to come out along the riverbank. I knew it'd be a tough climb up through the thick dark wet underbrush on the steep slippery dark bank along the Dark River, but at this point I saw no other way. As I stumbled down the darkening hollow, slipping over dark rocks wet from the dark fog, I approached a grove of old decadent, dark hemlocks, half dead from the dark wooly adelgid and even darker than the dark woods I had been trudging through darkly. My dark footsteps became almost silent as I walked along the thick dark carpet of hemlock needles, ducking and threading my way under and through patches of wet dark greenbriars and honeysuckle vines. A stifling, dark silence surrounded me. Dark moisture dripping from the dark low hanging tree branches seeped into my dark clothes until they were wet and heavy, chilling my exhausted body to my dark bones.
Suddenly I sensed there was movement in a huge towering dark hemlock with upward sweeping branches as thick as whiskey barrels that loomed up ahead of me, where, of course, it was darker still. Almost dark now, I approached the movement with dark feelings of trepidation, the dark hair on the back of my neck standing up in dark fear. A strange foul smell filled my nostrils and threatened to suffocate me. Barely moving, I suddenly made out this huge, dark bird nestling down on one of the lower branches just a few feet off the dark ground. Slowly and carefully I pulled out my camera and got off several dark pictures. Terrified that I would be seen by this strange, huge, and dark bird and have my torn and broken body join the pile of rotten dark flesh at the base of his tree, I carefully and slowly backed out the dark way I had come. Finding my truck about midnight two dark nights later, I drove with wild abandon on the dark roads, once terrifying a group of dark nuns from a nearby dark monastery dressed darkly and out for a midnight stroll, who had wild, dark, beady glowing eyes and smelled strangely like the bird in the hemlock grove, until home. Most of the pictures were dark (imagine that), but I was able to lighten this one a little. Amazing, simply and darkly amazing, what you find in the dark Virginia woods on a dark night in a dark hollow surrounded by dark, dark hemlock trees along the Dark River...........
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/pterodactyl.jpg)
If this picture is a little dark, remember that it was a dark and stormy evening.
That bottle of Old Phorester must be empty :D. After the first few lines, I turned out the lights and read your post in the dark . ;D.
So that's what happens when a vampire bat has its way with a fish eating bird. :)
Site of it might leave a DARK spot in the britches of most folks. :)
I cleaned out my Wren boxes this moring and one of them had a bunch of yellow jackets in it, they were alive but moved real slow.
Here in London Ontario Canada,I'm seeing no birds.Normally I will have the usual winter suspects like cardinals and chickadees but no birds this year.
Based on what I'm reading,they have flown the coop.To be more exact,they have headed south to find food.These birds will normally over winter in my area but if there's not enough food they will migrate.They have no clear destination in mind.They will just head south until they find food.If it runs out,further south they will go.
It's been a quiet winter without them.
Welcome to the forum scottyblue. In your profile you asked this question "I know one end of a chainsaw from the other but what is that cord thing you pull out of it?"
That is the electrical cord you plug into the electrical outlet. :D If you have any other questions feel free to ask. ;)
Hello Scotty, I have a lot of chickadees here most anytime of the year. Lots this year to, buntings and goldfinch by the flock. Also blue jays are thick around here. Ravens are always around. We rarely get a cardinal up here, very seldom. Usually a juvenile is all I ever seen, not bright red. I don't feed the birds except bread scraps, they don't sit on the ground long. :D A chicken carcass will be picked over pretty good between the birds, skunks and foxes. Woodpeckers usually pass through, but them sapsuckers in the spring are a nuisance picking the yard trees. >:(
Data collection for the Maritime Breeding Bird atlas has been completed. Here is a preliminary report.
http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/index.html
Take note of the top ten birds in this study versus the last one in the late 80's.
Here is the Fall 2010 news letter
http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/Newsletter_Fall_2010_English.pdf
Swamp- that's interesting stuff to me. Notice how the new top ten species have a much higher percentage of squares than the list from a decade ago ( All birds on the top ten list are in 90% or greater of the squares now as opposed to the old list where no bird was documented in 90% of the squares. A higher percentage of available squares was surveyed this time versus last ). So birds on that older list have not necessarily declined, but may have been overtaken ( and thus knocked off the list ) by birds whose populations increased at greater rates. Note that both swallow species dropped off the list. Do you take part in the count? Doctorb
Doc, I signed up and got the kit. This was at a time when I ran my own brushing crew and figured since I'm out there every day in bird habitat, why not. But I shifted gears and do the same thing, but more on the brushing side to, so work got in the way. But believe you me if you ever wanted to find birds and I mean hundreds of warbler and chickadee sized birds as well as lots of grouse, just work on a thinning block (clearing saw work). You would think the saws would drive every bird out of the woods. When you stop and fill up the saw and file, the birds sing even louder. I guess the gene to breed is stronger than fear. ;D I darn near cut the head off a grouse last spring. They'll sit right there on the nest until you step on'm. :D
Just after the last study, in May 1996 we had a cold snow that killed off the returning barn swallows. They can lay blame where ever they want, but when you see dead swallows on the frozen ground because the insects can't fly in cold, what would you conclude? ;) The wires the year before where black with barn swallows for several yards long. They were also that spring until the cold wiped them out. Been hardly a barn swallow here for 15 years. I did see a few last summer, they will work their numbers back up eventually. I mean those darn things were even in the deep woods around camps and bridges. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Barn_Swallow.jpg)
Quote from: Bibbyman on November 16, 2010, 08:24:36 AM
I saw the first bald eagle of the season yesterday. I went back out after our dinner brake and the sky was clear and bright. There to the north was a good size bald eagle making small, lazy circles. I stood and watched about 5 minutes as he drifted on north. Cool!
It seems a bit early as we've not had any real cold weather yet.
Speaking of eagles, we've been treated all winter to our resident pair and and their fledgling feeding on fish on our lake. There's a healthy number of river otter using the boat dock for a dining table also. The young eagle is very curious of the otter and sits over the dock in a tall willow snag oggling the goings on.
Couple weeks ago the young eagle had just fed on a fish and sailed directly toward our house when, he pulled up and dropped down in a field wash for a few minutes before taking flight again out toward the river. Don't know if eagles have to have sand in their gizzards as many other birds do or not.
Then, last week about dusk we were coming home and driving down our long drive slow, as we were watching a hawk or owl glide over, we spied even a larger bird sitting in one of our yard trees; it was an adult bald eagle Obviously, wanting to roost but not liking our company, he flew out directly on to the river also. Very unusal but interesting nonetheless!
Always interesting how some weather variatioin can have a huge and lasting effect on a species. It's probably multifactorial, in the case of those swallows. They may have already been overpopualted and thus competing harder for available food. Swamp, are you at the northern extent of their range? If so, this "line" often waxes and wanes back and forth over time, again, dependent upon many factors.
Nice pic. Have them every year in our boathouse in Ontario. When they are rearing in the nest, they will fly directly at you from over the water, straight at your eyes, before veering off at the last second. They often seem to put their nests in the DanGest of spots!
Had a very strange experience three days ago with a rough legged hawk. I was watching out my kitchen window, when I saw this raptor in full glide, about 18 inches off the ground, headed toward me. Beautiful to see. He kept sliding along the driveway, and disappeared through my open garage door into the garage! I went immediately to the door from the house to the garage, only to see him perched on one of my trash cans. He startled and I spooked him. He burst up and flew into the closed window pane on the side of the garage, and then wheeled out the door. He landed on the lawn right next to the garage, and stood there for a time. Wish I had my camera. I assume he saw some rodent and was hungry! We have 2 cats, both of whom were outside at the time, but they were on a porch on the other side of the house and were not tempting him. It was cool.
The barn swallow is near the edge here yes but extends up along the north shore of the St Lawrence and southern end of the island of Newfoundland. The others, the bank and the tree swallow go way north of here up into Labrador. Barn swallows were always thick here doc, no one remembered a die off like that. The cats around here were always targets for harassment by the swallows. I never saw one ever catch a swallow. But they would swoop in real close and make a chirp that sounded like they were clipping their ears as they passed. :D The only time I saw a barn swallow on the ground was at mud puddles gathering mud for the nest and grass as well to weave the lining with. We always left big potato sheds open for the swallows to nest in, most were clean. They would take the baby poop sacks outside to drop. One once in awhile kept a dirty nest, not often.
My uncle had a white cat, it's fir was fine like a rabbit and short tail. One morning on the way to the barn to milk cows, an owl appeared around the corner of the barn and took the cat for lunch. I think it was a great horned owl.
Your hawk could have very well seen those cats while soaring and couldn't figure out how to make the attack plan work around the corner of the garage. I've also seen robins taken this way. Robin is there this moment, next blink of the eye no robin, just feathers floating in the air. ;D I've seen goshawks (chicken hawk) take grouse on my woodlot. Plantation rows are like hunting corridors for goshawks. You will often drive up on a goshawk cruising a narrow wooded road. Up here the woods roads have hares and grouse for the picking. ;D
Every year during the winter we see more bald eagles. Just a bit earlier in the week I counted 14 of them feeding on a deer carcass south of the house. There's a small creek east of our place with tall trees they roost in. After feeding they perch in these trees digesting the deer meat.
I wish we'd get them to nest there though. Seems they are just wintering over and not staying through the summer. Hopefully with their numbers on such an upswing they'll start doing so.
We have them here year around like ravens. When the river freezes, that's the end of the fish'n. They scavenge like a raven. Many folks have nesting platforms for them along the river. Many times the Osprey get the platforms though. I see them down at mom's all the time near the river. They start nesting in late March. Their year round range is concentrated on the coast and major rivers/lakes. Take Maine for instance, they don't have a major river like the St John (head waters only) or Miramichi and the eagles are only year round on their coast. We have some large rivers, but also the Bay of Chaleur and Bay of Fundy.
I am sure that this has must have been mentioned before, but are you bird guys aware that Ben Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be our national bird? The Indians called the bald eagle the "white-headed crow" because of it's scavaging behavior. They believed the golden eagle was much more regal and held it in much higher regard than the bald eagle.
The west coast Indians held the raven in higher regard. ;) And there were a lot more Eagles around Prince Rupert than here. They had a phone book cover with a big old spruce with 30 odd eagles perched on it. :D The garbage dumps in Rupert and Charlotte city had bald eagles, ravens and seagulls by the hundred. :D
Does Prince Rupert collect Odd Eagles? You best tell the king to watch that fellow.
Odd that prince, the King kicked him out of the country for a spell. But then, gave him half the New continent by charter. :D
We have one of the local TV stations down here that has a webcam link on their site: "Eagle Cam". This shows a nesting pair for the past several years at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. The female just laid the first egg of the season a couple of days ago.
WVEC.COM
I wouldn't have wanted an Odd Prince having a Spell in my country either, even if he was kin to me. ::)
A Hawk stopped by for a visit yesterday. I can't tell what flavor he is but I'm guessing Sharp-shinned or a Cooper's Hawk ??? ::)
There was another Hawk in the distance probably a mate and you can also hear a Kingfisher in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiohjIQhgMI
Song of the Bobolink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKmgkz7lQhk
My faves are woodpeckers and ducks. This week I watched downy, hairy, red-bellied, pileated, northern flicker, and my favorite, the red headed woodpeckers. It's the start of my favorite season here, the spring migration of waterfowl with some flocks of Canada geese showing now, but so far no masses of ducks. We've had common mergansers and goldeneyes on the river all winter, but so far nothing else has shown up yet.
I watched our young eagle this afternoon late, he was hunting the lake circling around, finally flew up in a 40' willow snag and pretended he was eating a fish. He really acts goofy sometimes; the old eagles are all business when it comes to eating fish. But, as I could see clearly with zooming my spotting scope, he would bend over and look at the small fish as if he were about to take a bite but then, would stand straight back up as looking for something. He did this acting several times. Just then, one of the mature eagles came sailing in right on top of the young eagle and in one sweep took the fish away and lit upon the very snag to eat it.
Don't know if this was intended but the young eagle was pretentious just enough to get bullied off the dinner plate. ???
Between the mill pond and Hartley brook down below it stays open and 3 or 4 ducks stay there all winter. The farmers over in the next community have a feed lot and in an old gravel pit they tarp some corn. For a couple winters they left it untarped and the ducks stayed right there all winter, musta been 200 ducks. I've never seen that before. :D Even the bears where coming out until mid January this year before it got cold and snowy.
Friday I saw about 300 canvasbacks on the river and the snow geese are massing just south of us. I heard there were ~ 6000 in a flock which is a small flock of snow geese.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10026/25/Buzzard411.jpg)
Some of the "pet" buzzards that play around here found reason to congregate in my front yard when a Tom Cat met his demise.
Buzzards will eat just about anything made of MEAT.
The only thing we've found in this area that they won't eat is a "southern delicacy", 'possum!
Don't know why they won't touch it, people in the south have eaten 'possum for years, maybe it's just because they're not natural for this area of the country.
I saw a 'possum in the yard (at night) about 2 weeks ago eating sunflower seeds that Sheila had thrown out for the birds!
Buzzards don't like to eat possums because they are afraid they will be hit by by a vehicle. ;)
Are you guys talking about turkey vultures? I prefer ravens and crows, those vultures are moving in up here. They were never here before, but I see them now in the summer once in awhile. Saw 4 together last summer feeding on a dead hare.
Yes, we are talking about Black Vultures here. The picture at the top of the thread is a family of Black vultures feeding on a meal opportunity they found just inside of the woods behind them. These are the same large birds that I sit in the front yard and watch soar over the field to my east. The Turkey vulture looks much the same except it has a bald, red head The Black Vulture is more prominent here. Occasionally we well see Turkey Vultures. These Vultures have been called Buzzards for as long as I can remember. It is an improper classification but the name is recognized by everyone. Like many of our other colloquialisms, I'm sure someone, from somewhere else, will eventually take it upon themselves to correct us, as they have with so many of the names assigned to animals and things around here. But, until they do, someone visiting the South, should equate the terms Vulture and Buzzard to the same birds. There are only two here that I know of, the Turkey Buzzard and the Black Buzzard. Both are Vultures and efficient, soaring animals.
Here is a picture of a turkey buzzard that I think Tom is referring to in his post.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/buzzard_op.jpg)
Quote from: pigman on March 15, 2011, 06:35:02 PM
Buzzards don't like to eat possums because they are afraid they will be hit by by a vehicle. ;)
;D ;D ;D
Unlike hawks and eagles, Buzzards use their olfactory senses to determine the proper condition of the carrion. It has to start smelling just right to attract them. Maybe you folks are cleaning up too quickly, Chuck. :D
We have turkey vultures around here now, by the hundreds. Never had them until the big hog units moved in and started piling all the dead hogs in dumpsters at the end of their drives, and the vultures just sit on top and have a buffet. A few years ago during calving season a close neighbor was having a lot of trouble with calves scouring and was losing a lot of them, every morning you'd see them circling his place and by noon or so they'd be perched at ours, not a good feeling as far as the disease carrying factor goes, and not many of them got to leave. I got to be a pretty good shot that spring.
As it turns out, the Vulture is a pretty clean bird. It's digestive juices kill most bacteria and it has, what we would consider, unsavory ways of cleaning its legs and feathers. It pees on its feet. We would find ourselves in a bad fix without the vultures. That they are dirty and unhealthy to have around is an old wives tale. :)
Yeah, I don't agree with killing the birds. There is no sport in that. If someone truly wanted to dispose of those hogs they should deal with them properly. Leaving them exposed to animals like the "vultures", and ravens that follow their instincts shouldn't make them the targets of scorn. Take away the source, not the consequence.
They may well be a protected species in some places making them illegal to kill.
I've only seen turkeys vultures here.Use to work outside with some guys.The old joke was when we would see a vulture circling over us we would tell one guy to start moving the vultures thinks you are dead.I don't think I've ever seen more than 3-4 at one time.Probably down to Decoster's hen barns would be many.Saw one in a tree just above the road one day.I had to stop and look at it.Never saw one that close before.It was some ugly looking.
Walked outside this morning and I can hear the sandhill cranes are back. That is a sure sign winter is pretty much over :)
Now I walk outside and there are Robins sitting on my driveway, hurray!! :D
Never mind that the snowbanks are still 5' high.
I expect to see robins here by Monday. They may already be here, it seems to be on the mild side of what remains of winter for here on out. It's almost 50 F here today and more rain expected for the remainder of the work week. The wicked witch of the west says, "I'm melting" :D 8)
Bill, you know winter ain't done with you yet. :D
Well, I don't want it to get too warm for a while. Can't build a shop fire then. :D A nice little fire keeps the moisture at bay in the shop projects. ;)
Mom said the robins had returned today on the hill, saw three. 56 degrees here now. 8)
So far, I've seen Redwing Black birds, Robins, Turkey Vultures, Killdeers, and today, I saw a pair of Blue Birds in the yard!
Yesterday I saw a large flock of Canada Geese flying NORTH.
Warm weather isn't far away.
Had about a dozen 'myrtle' warblers visit last evening. Can mostly tell of new arrivals, they come down from their flight and lite high in a tree then send their scouts down to see about possibilities of food, the whole bunch will soon come down in a apple or mulberry, the limbs quite bare, but the warblers are after insects, they had a feast yesterday as it was 72 degrees, the bugs were out.
A bird to watch for now is the Cedar Waxwing, they are my favorite of the migrants, often dropping in much the way the warblers do. But they want berries or fruits from junipers, cedars, hollies, or whatever is left from winter. The most interesting of habits the waxwings have is, they will line up side by side on a limb, the outside bird will then pick a fruit and give to the next bird in line and so on and on they give the fruit until the last bird in line is fed. Not always but notice they do this when fruits are plentiful.
Cedar waxwings stay here year around. I have fed the juvenile waxwings pin cherry by hand. In winter they will fleece the high bush cranberries which overwinter on the twigs. We also get the Bohemian waxwing in winter, it's a western bird. Our cedars have cones since they are not junipers, but the waxwings will eat seeds. I herd on the radio last summer that robins don't eat fruit, but the person obviously has no clue. They eat apples, mountain ash, chokecherries and cranberries which adorn old orchards and fence rows in this country. I see flocks of them especially in the fall gorging themselves on them. The little kestrels will scout these orchards for a meal of robins and do it in groups. Everyone benefits in the harvest. :D
Saw a Brown-Headed Cow Bird this morning trying to make up it's mind "which bird house to lay it's egg in"!
I hate Brown-Headed Cow Birds. Too lazy to raise their own "kids"!
Got a fleeting glimpse of what I *think* was a hermit thrush the other day but there are still juncos around. It's been a tentative spring here for sure. Did see my second ever red shouldered hawk the other day which was exciting.
Yesterday, April 2nd, here in the NW, had our first hummingbird show at the feeder. A little female was first this year. Usually a big male arrives every year but over five years old now and I think and maybe old age got him. And we even had heavy snow for an hour to welcome them.
We have this wreath we hang on the front door after we take down the Christmas wreath. 2009 and 2010, we had finches nest in it. When they start, I take it down and put in in the corner on a 2X4 with a 2 foot piece of plywood and zip tie it in place so it doesn't fall off. This year, 2 hours after I swapped it out, there's a pair of doves building a nest. I moved it to the corner the next day. She sat on the nest from March 4th until the 25th when her two eggs hatched. The last 3 days, she leaving the nest for a bit several times a day and returns at night. I'm guessing they will all fly away by next Sunday. I named her "Miss Beasley" after the Bush's Scottie in The White House.
We have been seeing geese and ducks here now. The lower head pond of the Saint John is still iced over, but the mouth of smaller rivers and brooks that feed into it are open. Our little river nearby , the Presque Isle, has been ice free for a couple weeks.
As I was driving home the other day, a big red tailed hawk swooped under a tree overhanging the road. He made an attack on an English sparrow flying around and missed. He wheeled in midair and spun to his left, and grabbed another bird in flight. I have seen red tails catch lots of mice and a few rabbits, but this was the first time I saw one grab a bird in flight. I've seen smaller Cooper's hawks catch birds, but not the big red tailed hawks. He sure seemed to know how it was done.
Quote from: Faron on April 04, 2011, 07:28:49 AM
As I was driving home the other day, a big red tailed hawk swooped under a tree overhanging the road. He made an attack on an English sparrow flying around and missed. He wheeled in midair and spun to his left, and grabbed another bird in flight. I have seen red tails catch lots of mice and a few rabbits, but this was the first time I saw one grab a bird in flight. I've seen smaller Cooper's hawks catch birds, but not the big red tailed hawks. He sure seemed to know how it was done.
But what is strange, a red-tail will allow a couple of crows to dive bomb and harrass him all the way across a 1/2 mile field! Years ago when crow season was open throughout the year, we would set-up a electronic caller, usually on a pine ridge-top in a remote area. We had a tape called 'Battle cry' mimicking a fight between crows and a owl. We would add our own touch by blowing a red-tail hawk caller. In a minute or two after truning the caller on, down the crows would come through the pines looking for a fight! Weaving and darting this way and that and within 15' of the ground, this made for quick exciting action. After the initial attack, we would pull up and move over 3or 4 miles for further combat!
I've seen migrating red-tails come down in a soybean field that we were harvesting and kill every rabbit. After nine or ten kills I got sick of it and tried to run over a hawk with the combine, the old hawk just grabbed his prey in one talon and skipped across the rows out of the way.
We haven't seen any humming birds yet, they usually arrive around the end of the first week of May!
The Brown Thrashers will arrive about the same time!
After that, we just wait for the Tree Swallows and later, the Barn Swallows!
I think the number one bird attacking hawk around here is the Sharp-Shinned. People with bird feeders often see sharpies sitting on a nearby perch, only to have some bird disappear off the feeder in a swoosh. I agree, I have never witnessed a red-tailed hawk take a bird before. Unusual.
A few winters past, some friends and I were having coffee and sitting inside the coffee shop by a glassed atrium for added warmth, for we had a large snowstorm and frigid weather for a week. Suddenly a hawk flew down and lit outside the atrium and ran a few steps into a clump of monkey grass about three feet high. Soon, the hawk reappeared just next to the windows and I could clearly see not one, but two bands on his legs. One band was the regular aluminum type, the other band appeared to be a blue plastic; I could read a partial number off the blue band, '07' is all I can remember now.
The hawk stayed around for a couple of days and was quite an entertainer for others to enjoy. I informed our local conservation agent but after calling around the State, the only hawks that were under a hawk-banding program was the peregrine falcon and were only banded with aluminum bands.
And when he grabs something, he will stand his ground. I am within 5 feet of this guy with a pocket camera.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0317.JPG)
He probably had a mouse, but his eyes said "go away".
Our duck migration is just about over. There are still some shovelers and blue-wing teal here, but before long we'll only have the resident mallards and wood ducks about. Duck migration just happens too fast!
Quote from: miking on April 04, 2011, 10:26:50 PM
Our duck migration is just about over. There are still some shovelers and blue-wing teal here, but before long we'll only have the resident mallards and wood ducks about. Duck migration just happens too fast!
Missouri Audubon Society is reporting a first-ever nesting record of a pair of, "Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks" in Lafayette county, Mo. last year. This species is native to Central and South America; however, is also being reported in Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, and is under review in Illinois.
The ducks took up housekeeping in a woodduck nesting box.
I have head before that they were moving north but not for a while so thanks for the update. I hope to make a trip to south Texas this fall and hopefully see some there as I have never seen one. I did see tons of shovelers yesterday and a decent number of blue wing teal so there are still some ducks around as well as a bazillion coots. South of Havana the ditches along the highway are still flooded and the ducks and coots (aka mudhen, moorhen, water chicken) are in them and it's funny to see the coots picking in the grass right next to the asphalt and yes, some do get clobbered by traffic from time to time but no ducks and it makes me wonder if the ducks ever say 'Why did the water chicken cross the road?' ::)
The migration was early here too.
We had big numbers of teal and woodies.
It's about over here too, but it was a good one.
I can remember when woodies were scarce and I had only seen a couple of canvas backs in 10 years.
Plenty of each were around this year 8) 8)
I was working on an oak tree project today in a customer's back yard. I was 75 feet up, so a great view of all the surrounding back yards. I watched a pair of mallards fly by and go into a yard about 3 yards over. The female flew up from the ground into a tree and perched on a limb. They were quaking at each other the whole time. She stayed up there for about 5 minutes before she rejoined the drake back on the ground.
I read somewhere a few days ago about someone else seeing a duck in a tree. A first for me, minus wood ducks nesting.
I walked out the front door, and a yard full of robins is normal for spring time. I look under the front yard spruce and notice a kestrel dragging on something I assume was a bird it caught. I never got a good look at it's prey but the yard also has blackbirds of 5 kinds and chickadees, so it could be any of'm. Glad to see my first kestrel of the year was able to find his dinner. ;D
The robins are thick this year, I mean a lot.
A baby Sandhill Crane and the Parents have been hanging out.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/IMG_3079.jpg)
Momma feeding the baby some worms. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtVuN8Xn0Kg
Getting an early start. ;D Nice.
You could rent those guys out for lawn aeration. :D
The little guy is sure cute, never seen pictures like this before. Thanks!
I wonder how they work on carpenter bees :).
Or Termites?
If a Bird is breed to eat Fireants sign me up for a couple. ::)
Well, if the birds won't get'n, freeze the buggers. Go north. ;) :D
Feels like I need a fire right now. brrr. :D
Klamath National Forest listed as one of nation's premier bird watching sites
A recent article in the U.S. National Forest Campground Guide has listed Klamath NF as one of the nation's premier places for bird watching. The Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion is noted for having a diversity of geology and vegetation. The area overlaps the Cascade, Sierra Nevada and coast ranges with plant communities representing each of these zones. In celebration of International Migratory Bird Day, the forest will sponsor a bird watching field trip Saturday, May 7, at the Shasta Valley Wildlife Area. Local biologist and bird experts will lead the trip, which is open to the public.
The Chief's Newletter
Saw a pair of peregrine falcons yesterday over downtown Peoria. They have been regular visitors in recent years hanging around the taller buildings and bridges where they seem to make a good living eating pigeons, and about 5 years ago some tenant put up a nest box which has not been used yet. Anyway, yesterday I saw them flying seemingly in unison as in some kind of courtship flight, so maybe this is the year we'll get some nesting? That'd be cool!
Tree swallows arrived here this week, still early for barn swallows up here.
I've seen trees and barns already and pretty sure I saw rough winged when I was looking at the peregrines. We've had a cold snap here until today and I think a lot of the migrants are stalled south of here. I've heard a few parula warblers and seen hermit thrush and brown thrashers, but that's about it.
Saw 2 pair of Tree Swallows on Tuesday and today we saw a pair of Rose Breasted Gross Beaks.
I think all we lack is the Hummers, Brown Thrashers, Barn Swallows.
My pair of House Finches are busily building a nest in the hanging fern. It's a yearly ritual for them.
I think we have a million robins this year, they are thick. That's why the kestrels are getting populated a bit to, they hunt in the yard. Lots of flickers around and juncos. I think the juncos stay here anyway, but there was none around the house this winter. I don't feed. Haven't heard the thrashers here neither. They only come to a small sliver of land in NB along the Maine border. Have not seen the phebes yet, that's unusual but it only warmed up this week. Been cold. Only a couple wheel barrels of snow left on the back side of the house (north), be gone today. Still a big drift on the line and blown in a breeze way off the field to the old garden.
Heard my first Wood Thrush yesterday morning at dawn. One of the sweetest sounds I know. I look forward to it every year.
We have a Mockingbird that sings to us every morning. That can be some crazy mixed up music. :D
Catbirds are kind of oddballs to.
Yup, and I had forgotten about them. They are kinda rare to see here.
The bird song I miss from when I was a kid is the meadowlark in Montana. My favorite right now here in the NW would be the red winged blackbird.
Found a Kill Deer so called nest with 2 eggs in it. I walked through the field 3 times before I found it.The way she was acting I knew a nest was near. She was making a racket for me to follow her. I need to mark it so the wife won't mow over it. I kept away from it,hoping my dog won't find it.
Killdeer. Now there's an unusual nester. They love gravel, and often nest on gravel roads here in Maryland. We had one nest on the gravel apron in front of my barn last year. We have two cats who knew she was there. So well hidden and camouflaged they never found the nest, and she raced away into the field when the chicks were large enough. Boy, was I impressed. Many is the time that I have driven down an eastern shore drive and come upon four pieces of firewood, laid out in a square on the gravel, marking a killdeer nest. Nothing to do but drive slowly right over her head! The display used to distract prey from the nest is truly remarkable. One of my favorite birds.
I saw a nesting pair of killdeer here to, most welcomed sound in spring time. They nest on plowed ground up here before farmers start scratching it for planting. We used to work around them, but I doubt many practice that.
Kill Deeer Kill Deeer Kill Deeer
Got some new migrants this weekend: white-crowned sparrow, northern oriole, black-throated green warblers and rose-breasted grosbeak
The woods are full of white-throated sparrow now.
Warbler sightings yesterday: chestnut sided, blue-winged, louisiana waterthrush, and I heard a nashville. Also saw an eastern kingbird.
Looking out my window right now, I can see a male & female cardinal, a few sparrows, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a blue-jay, and a large brown hen :D all pecking around the bird feeder.
The ground is yellow, like spring flowers popping up, with goldfinches.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/Finches_a%7E0.JPG)
Yeah we have those year round up here, but they loose their yellow plumage in winter. Mother calls them thistle birds.
We don't see them too often in Florida. Granddad used to call them a Canary.
I've seen only one or two on my place in the last 20 years. With colors that bright, the hawks don't have much trouble finding them.
You'll see them often in the Canada thistle after the seeds, that's why mother names them as such.
We get them often in the summer, if we put out a finch feeder. They'll fight over positions on the feeder.
Well, we finally sighted our first Ruby Throated Humming Bird around 6:00AM today.
We put the feeders up for them on Friday 5/6/11.
They usually arrive here between the 7th & 11th of May.
Overall, I think my favorite bird to listen to is the Whippoorwill.
We don't hear them around this area much anymore, just once in a while!
We had quite a few around the farm pond back when I was a kid!
Hasn't been a Whip-poor-will up here since they began spraying budworms in the 50's. My mother and uncle can remember them long before my time.
I notice the barn swallows have returned, but very few numbers. Almost too cold for them yet. It sure is a slow spring warmth wise. They called for snow showers in northern Maine over the weekend. ::) Had a thunderstorm last night and now the NW wind is cold. :D
If there was a bird award for persistence, I would give the gold medal to the Phoebe. Thye love to nest up under structures, and one decided to nest In the shed where I have my outdoor stove. They were pooping all over it. As they had just started to build their nest, I decided to "encourage" them to construct elsewhere. I would go out, twice a day, and knock down the mud/grass foundation they kept building up under the eaves. They kept building, and every 12 hours, I kept dismantling.
In the end, I had to put up a ladder and nail a board across the support they had chosen, blocking it completely. They moved one joist out toward the edge of the roof and started again. As the straight drop from this new position did not include my stove, I left them alone. They are sitting on the nest now. I kind of like this friendly flycatcher, but I don't need the excrement on my stove. Seems we have struck an acceptable bargain.
I had one of them nest under the chicken coop eves. No way for me to see in there but I could reach up and put my hand in the nest.Went from empty to eggs,than soft and fuzzy and than empty. I did have fun checking on those critters.Would be real quit when they hatched but as soon as I would touch them,they would come alive and start chipping.
Here are a couple of clips of nests we discovered this weekend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvvb1JefLjU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmpWi_Kbfrc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
For those of you that can't upload the video, the first nest has been built in the boys' cedar shack. Nick went to retrieve a small plastic tray with some rocks in it, but discoverd a bird had built a nest and layed some eggs.
The second video shows a momma bird defending her nest that she built down in the lifting arm of my shop crane. She has 6 hungry chicks down in there that start chirping when they heresomeone coming near by. :)
Here are a couple of pics...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12750/Birdnestopt1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12750/birdnestopt2.jpg)
Blue spotted eggs could be house finches, but that is a healthy nest. Maybe you can get a look and see for sure what they are. Our pair of house finches are busily building their nest in the hanging fern.
I get phoebes here, but I have not seen any yet. Not warm enough yet for flies and bugs to be too active.
Chris if the nest is hooded, could also be an ovenbird. Not sure if they like buildings, they usually nest near the ground and enter the nest on one side. House finch sounds more realistic though.
That is one large nest for small birds such as a house finch or ovenbird. I may be off base, but I am going to guess starling. They will nest anywhere and bring in huge amounts of debris and stuff. Look at the nest, there are leaves attached to some of those twigs. I have had them nest in boxes in my barn before. Very unusual with that sort of hood or tunnel entrance.
Well, have Nick spy on the nest for us to end this mystery. Thanks for the pics and videos.
Doctorb
I may have to retract my starling guess. Their eggs aren't spotted. Now I am more curious than ever.
I'm going to guess Carolina Wren.
http://www.sialis.org/nestscarolinawren.htm
These eggs are tiny - about the size of a jelly bean. Not those Jelly Belly things, but the real jelly beans. We'll keep an eye on it and see.
Maybe she's back there right now....
The video made the eggs look larger. I think that you are right. I have seen intricate nests for these little buggers before, and in some very unusual places. Most do not choose open boxes or tupperware, like this one. They like holes in things, like barn siding or bluebird houses.
Our phoebes have been around for a few weeks now. Traditional nest is above a yard light at the peak under the overhang of the gable end of the shed. Leaves the nest when I get a few feet from the shed door.
Today, three indigo buntings have joined a flock of 25-30 gold finches, along with cardinals, rose-breasted grosbeaks, chickadees, doves, and just in the last few minutes a pileated wood pecker.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/100_0174_%28Large%29.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/1594/100_0164.JPG)
Heard swainson's and wood thrush today. Like another poster said, the thrushes are among the best of bird songs.
Every morning it's like I'm in a robin rookery or something with the singing before daylight. Another thrush.
We have wood thrush around here, but mostly in the deep woods of mature forest. Never see one in the yard. I can here them most all day with the white-throated sparrow. A lot more shy than a robin.
The Kill Deer is gone. Only a few pieces of egg is left. I suppose a skunk,fox or whatever got the eggs. Have been looking at it with the binoculars but forgot about it until my friend came over with his both of his granddaughters.She would not get to see these things so down we went,to find it empty. Instead we went to throw rocks into the brook and see what the beaver had chewed off.
Might have been hatched and moved off the nest. They will hide in the weeds and grass. ;D
I did not think they would be hatched all ready.I was checking on them. Unless they can just about walk when they are hatched. I thought it took a while for them to leave the nest.I probably checked on them 2-3 days ago. Has a ways to go to hide in the weeds and grass. This nest was kinda in the middle of our blueberry field or I should call it blueberry barren. Not much grows there accept for the blueberries. She probably headed for the woods with them if they did hatch.
I think they leave pretty quick, maybe a few hours after hatching. I don't think they are naked like some birds, but more like a duck chick with thick down. I caught the little guys before, they run like road runners.
Chris,
Any nests in those logs :) ? Sorry, could not help but notice the very nice logs ;D.
Not sure, Danny. But I have been watching what I believe to be a starling bringing huge sawyer grubs to her chicks. They are probably coming from the pile. ::) There's a little bit of everything in there - from ash to walnut.
Here's a little clip of the progress of the chicks in the shop crane.. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhYPKU_hgIY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
There was a robin's nest in a spruce tree I tied a strip line ribbon on yesterday. She was making her presence known and wasn't happy. :D
Saw my first oriole yesterday, a male and a female checking out nesting sites in our big red elms next to the house. Would of never seen him except his song alerted me to his presence.
One of my favorite song birds. :)
We have them here to, but I have not laid eyes on one for a long time. I thought I might have seen a brown thrasher perching in the white birch, tail and beak looked right. I was inside the house so I couldn't hear anything.
Saw my first ever lark sparrow yesterday. Not really a rare bird but far more common out west than in Illinois. Also of note, saw cliff swallows, yellow-breasted chat and cattle egrets among other migrants.
The Baby Sandhill Crane is getting bigger.
They came to visit us today and let me video right out the front door. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd9VvlJQ73k
Cool!
What are they after in the lawn?
I don't know how they find them but those are earthworms they are eating. :)
Now you should take a handful of earthworms out and see if you can get them to eat out of your hand..... ::) ::)
:) :)
Great vid, and close-ups too.
Anyone notice the Mahogany Trees? ;)
Great Video!
They are aerating your lawn :D.
If they run out of earthworms send them up here. Thousands come out in the rains.
I can't see the video, but I can imagine they are having a good time. ;D
This little guy was insistent on wanting in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1xHGqW6yKE
Male orioles are famous for this behavior. We had one do the same thing a few years ago. Woke up my kids every morning for a week.
Some think that they see their reflection in the window and are being territorial. To stop it, tape a piece of paper on the inside of the window. It cuts down on the reflection from the outside and they go elsewhere. One beautiful bird. Thanks for that great video.
Ditto! on the great video of a favorite bird.
pretty bird, never seen one in person, just pics :)
Just take in a baseball game at Camden Yards, you'll see a whole bunch of them. ;)
Had an odd sighting yesterday, two birds practically in the same binocular view that I had no idea of. My field guide bailed me out though, and I saw a pair of orchard orioles with the female confusing me and a female bobolink, which is nothing like the male. The bobo looked very streaky like a yellowish sparrow but I asked the landowner on a whim if there had been any around before and he said there had in previous years, so I had a good clue and then found it in the field guide The oriole looked like a large vireo but after seeing the male myself later I put two and two together and made the call. The thing is, I had good long looks at both and despite birding for many years, these two really had me scratching my head! :D
I, too, have racked my brain over an orchard oriole, both male and female. It was the shape of the bird that finally gave it away, and I remember paging through Petersen until the match came to me.
Yes, the bobolink nest in the tall grass. They have one song phrase that everyone calls R2D2. ;D I've gone to a few sights looking for the song, but I can't find it like they sound up here. They are close, but seem more broken. I guess that there is a regional bird dialect like there would be with us. ;)
If you search youtube there is a "song of the bobolink" video. I think it has already been posted in this thread a couple pages back.
They have those Peterson cd's with the songs and calls on them and I like them a lot. My wife has a phone ap from Pete that has some too, but it's not real comprehensive. That bobo could well have been nesting in the grass as she did fly down there after I saw her on a limb. Neither bird called that I know of but the male oriole did after I saw him later. There were some yellowthroats down there as well.
When you hear a boblink you'll not confuse it for any other bird. You'll think it short circuited. :D
You know a man should always carry a camera in car. I was eating lunch today in the car on a narrow plantation road and watching the spruce grouse come out on the edge of the trees by the road and pick around looking for bugs I assume, no berries yet. The softwood forests up here are full of those things. This looked to be a male with the red eye brows. I also thought I heard some vocals as well when I was crawling through the bushes. However, no camera for the grouse. I doubt you could get a good photo of him in the shadows because they blend in so well. ;)
Today I was running a safety trail down through an old plantation to the block I was marking yesterday and low and behold I walk upon a spruce hen and 6 brown eggs in the nest. I practically stepped on her and she just walked about 5 feet away and sat still. I moved onward without disturbing her further. This was about 400 meters away from the male spruce grouse yesterday. They seem to like the older plantations and older softwood thinnings. The nest was under a 5 foot black spruce in a little opening where there was a spring.
I did the same thing with a hen pheasant yesterday while I was fixing fence, didn't see the nest but she wouldn't go far so there had to be one right there.
:D :D :D If you want to see humming birds in your face, just wear a red hard hat and a florescent yellow rain suit. I had to wave my arms at 3 of them buzzards the last couple of days. :D :D Plus I wear a set of screened goggles and half expect a beak with probing tong to enter. :D
Saw my first summer tanager of the year today and had numerous looks at yellowbreasted chat, common yellowthroat, indigo buntings, and brief looks at a solitary vireo and a magnolia warbler.
We've had an odd sequence of birds arriving this year, probably because of the late wet spring. Gold finches already but no tanagers yet. Varied thrushes much later then normal here.
But have a couple of baby robins just out our porch getting fed today for the first time.
Could the END be near? So far, twice this spring, a turkey vulture comes to sit around our farmstead! A month ago a vulture lit in one of our dead catalpa trees.....the trees have grown here for at least eighty years, suppose the drouth killed them last summer and vultures were never seen in this part of Missouri until the last two years. :o
But this morning, a vulture was perched upon top of our big barn. Some of the tin hs been torn off from the winds this spring and thought maybe the old buzzard was looking for a nesting or roosting site. Positive thinking..at its best!
Turkey vultures aren't native up here neither but I've already seen 2 this spring. They are new arrivals to this region and were not seen 6 years ago. I don't know how they compete with the crows and ravens. They are our native scavengers, as well as the eagles.
I'm surprised I have not seen Phoebes yet. I do see a few barn swallows more often so they once again growing in population. There used to be hundreds and the hydro wires would be lined with them on migrations coming and going.
There are so many different warblers in the woods I can't even begin to identify them. Most you can't even see, just here. Like being in a bird zoo. I saw quite bunch of northern parulas in the maples and birches in the yard last week. They seemed to be around the flowers, I suspect where the bugs were after nectar. Noisy little birds.
No doubt the Mississippi river flooding has altered some migration patterns of birds. I've stood in years past in the timbered river bottoms and witnessed hundreds if not thousands of migrating warblers of mixed species, along with several others only stopping briefly to rest to grab a insect, and move on. But this year many warblers have yet to appear and suspect they altered their routes somewhat as some flood waters were at least sixteen feet over the bottoms, covering many small trees and shrubs. This flood devastating to turkeys and deer.
Can be several reasons for low warbler numbers, not the least of which is habitat loss for both breeding and overwintering birds.
Nesting update...
3 of the 6 chicks from the shop crane nest made it and went out on their own.
Here are the chicks from the cedar shack...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12750/birdnest_opt_3.jpg)
I think I see 5 little beaks in there? :D They are quiet as a mouse and didn't make a move when I snapped the pic.
That dish is pretty full. :D
Today off to work I came across two male grouse in the road. They are not all the shy in the deep woods and I had to toot to get them to run off into the bush. Saw another moose today to. There is a wet area along the highway (well many of them) I always watch for them at this spot. I've seen 3 at a time there before. ;D
Looks like the migration has passed here. No new sightings in a week and resident birds are rearing young. Even the woods are quiet except for some robins and cardinals. Look forward to the nighthawk show every night though!
Thursday I could here the nighthawks, but not their flying display. This was in the deep woods not near home. There were lots of flies for'm.
The cedar shack clan has flown the coup! It looks like they all made it out , too. 8)
My son is happy because now he can get back in there for his continuing research on the amount weight that can be added into this tiny little building - one pocketful at a time. ::) :D
Spooked a ruffed grouse from his log, heard a red breasted grosbeak or two, countless wood thrush, and tiny warblers of all kinds I couldn't begin to name. Robins all along the dirt roads.
Oh, what the heck: two moose, doe and fawn together all on roads. Frogs down in a beaver pond. ;D
and a partridge in a pear treeeee smiley_singsongnote02
All in a days work. :D
Sure helps to make the days work worthwhile doesn't it? :)
Had a visit from a Peacoock when I started the grill tonight.
He liked the sliver of smoked sausage I offered him and that was my first mistake.
Our dog run him up the tree shortly after I had to scoot him away from the food because he was ready to grab it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Peacock1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Peacock2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1172/Peacock4.jpg)
I have never had BBQ peacock :).
Yep, let us know how that one cooks up on the grill.
Might be real good too, and maybe a steady supply that will keep coming. :)
Do they release them to the wild down there, like they release pheasants up here?
He knows where the grub is at. ;D
Probably taste like wild turkey. :D
We usually hear them down the street but that was the first time one hung out here.
He was used to humans. I had enough of him when he jumped up on the side bricks.
I have seen some local news stories in the past where they have been considered a nusiance and neighbors wanted them gone but I think they may be protected.
Wouldn't that just be the pits? Here you have an invasive species, feral in the wild, and some bureaucrat put it on the endangered species list? Go figger.
We have them, now and again, in this community and they sound like a woman in dire need of assistance. For some reason they don't last too long after their "pet" classification becomes old hat. :-\
Saw the "chat dance" today. Yellow-breasted chats do a courtship flight with with fast but short wing beats and legs dangling, and is just hilarious to watch. Also saw orchard and northern orioles, yellow-billed cuckoo, sharpshinned hawk, eastern kingbird and my first purple martins of the year. A banner day!
I just got back from vacation and as I was filling the bird feeders this morning I noticed that a pair of Bluebirds have nested in the new house I put away from everything else 8) 8)
We have not had a successful nesting nesting in the 11 years I have been here.
Thanks Doc for the advise. It seems to have worked great!
miking- I want to live in your back yard. You see some great birds!
Burlkraft - Glad the advice was productive. Wait for them to leave the nest and immediately clean out the box. Sometimes they build nest upon nest, filling the box. When it gets too full, they just stop using the box.
Quote from: doctorb on June 14, 2011, 01:14:02 PM
miking- I want to live in your back yard. You see some great birds!
Ha ha, I cheat. My work is in natural areas restoration and management and I get to spend all day in some high quality birding areas. Never hurts to keep your eyes peeled all the time though, with some binos close by.
I haven't heard any bitterns this spring, but I was not out on the woodlot that early, and when I was, I was sawing. Usually hear them every spring, weird sounding bird.
The deer flies are something fierce right now, do they count as birds? :D
They just completed a 4 year bird study here for the breeding bird atlas of the Maritimes. I signed up for it, but was too busy to participate. I get the news letters.
I think our barn swallows are starting to recover just from the numbers I am beginning to see. They have a ways to go though. They used to be thick for decades around here, then a cold spring wiped them out with snow and cold for several days in May. It wasn't disease, they starved. Those that didn't observe this event were just guessing at the cause.
It's funny you brought up bitterns. I *may* have heard one the other day deep in some cattails. I never saw anything despite watching a long while through my binos, but the red wing blackbirds were mobbing something in there and once I heard something pushing aside the dense vegetation. A few times too I heard the deep "galoomp" sound they make from in there but it was only a single note and not the characteristic pattern of theirs. Could have been a lot of things and I guess I'll never know ...
I saw one of those a few weeks back. I had to look it up to see what it was. Never seen one before.This was down by the brook and meadow.
This is a great time of year for bird watching in our area. So many that we only see for a very short time as they migrate through. I think we may finally have bald eagles nesting along our crick line. It's too weedy and buggy for anyone to be in the area so I'm hoping the eagles I've seen lately are nesting there.
Boblinks seem to be more plentiful this year. The trouble with them is no one grows timothy hay much on these big farms. Just short crops like clover and other grasses that they cut for silage. They have to have tall grasses. They sound like they have short circuited when singing. :) Lots of red wings out near the beaver ponds these days. Might even be the odd rusty black bird to.
At long last, a pair of eastern bluebirds have begun nesting in our yard bird box this last couple of weeks! I was showing the bird box to our 5yr. old grandson when out flew the female, I had no clue the birds were there. First ever. ;D
Eagles are back fishing the pond morning and evening, when will they bring out their fledglings? Last year seems was late July.
Having lunch break in my car and catching up on the Forestry Forum when this Egret came by for a visit. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYvXxkGKUPc
That must have been a Watch Egret bent on keeping you from trespassing ;D.
He also didn't want to leave the comfort of my car as I was driving off. :D
I'll post a link of video with him riding on my hood when I get home later.
Egret Take Off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SkH5iiSU9s&feature=related
That must be the new model Boeing is working on. :D ;)
It's a cattle egret. I've seen then resting on the backs of cows, watching for bugs to get stirred up by the hooves. They are one of the few egrets to be seen reliably quite some distance away from water.
Unfotunately, as pretty as egret are, cattle egrets are a bit like starlings. They are an overpopulated non-native species from the middle east ( I think). They in no way compare to the grandeur or beauty of our two native egrets, the Snowy or the American egret, IMO.
This sparked a little comment from me. Our native Canada geese that are very few in numbers fly north to nest, I mean way north of here. Now, about 20 years ago we had a premier in this province that took in troublesome/nuisance Canada geese from Ontario. Mostly around Toronto, if I recall. Now what we have around here are those darn blasted things nesting here in our province and now the town of Nackawic has to kill off a huge flock of the things because you know how geese can soil a place up. They have to destroy over 300 of'm and they had to get permission from the Canadian Wildlife Service with a special permit. Now just as bad, is those same line of geese feeding on crops in farmers fields. Farmers fields aren't meant to be wildlife food plots up here, that is rarely ever done up here. Don't mess with mother nature. >:(
Quote from: SwampDonkey on July 01, 2011, 04:09:54 PM
Farmers fields aren't meant to be wildlife food plots up here
I wish our DNR understood that. We get the pleasure of feeding them so they can sell licenses to make money, same with whitetail deer.
Quote from: doctorb on July 01, 2011, 12:06:49 PM
Unfotunately, as pretty as egret are, cattle egrets are a bit like starlings. They are an overpopulated non-native species from the middle east ( I think). They in no way compare to the grandeur or beauty of our two native egrets, the Snowy or the American egret, IMO.
I have some literature that says they are native to Africa, were brought to South America and got here on their own. I didn't see them here until a couple summers ago and have seen them more and more, which is never a good sign with exotics.
They have been here for as long as I remember being interested in birds. I never see any other egret a distance from water. Makes them seem out of place to me.
They also seem to flock more tightly than other egrets and herons
Saw and heard a black-billed cuckoo today. First one in a long time. The yellow ones are far more common here.
There is a spot on the Indian River in Sebastian I go to once in a while to eat my lunch.
As I was pulling in today, there was a Snakebird aka Anhinga that just speared a fish and was trying to position it for swallowing. The video isn't the greatest because I was hurrying and still rolling into the scene but if you can look at it in full screen it's okay. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RBaATMaH6s
Always wanted to see an anhinga but so far I haven't. There was a report of one about 40 miles north earlier this year from me though but there are a lot of cormorants around too, and they are pretty similar at a distance even with a scope. Today I saw a green heron and a kingfisher, but the highlight was 5 otters which I had not seen in the wild before.
The otters are more common here, but always seen them in the main river. They have been coming up the creeks by home off and on after the beaver and fish. Since they will kill the beaver, they are welcome to it. I've tracked them on the snow to beaver lodges in winter. They go under the ice in the creeks, most don't freeze up shore to shore like they did years ago. Well, I suppose there was always open spots, but these last few winters you wouldn't catch me walking on creek ice.
That being said, I've been seeing a lot of grouse this season with young. The hens whimper like a dog to distract you from the chicks. They are about quail sized now and can sure fly. Most places I'm in it's too thick to see much, all you hear are the chicks taking off in flight one at a time. Crazy darn timber chickens. :D
They did a big release of the otters in the late 90's here and I have heard they have done well. Too well, according to some as they have munched fish out of a few local farm ponds I've heard. I was with a IDNR biologist at the time and they were the first she'd seen as well, so apparently they aren't as common as some would have you believe around here. :)
The biggest complaint here the neighbor had was with the blue herons. There was one around his ponds all the time as we have a lot of herons around.
Today I saw a couple old ravens beside the road. These are a larger bird than the common crow, sitting side by side the raven is a huge bird and sounds a lot different. They have a scruffier face, because the feathers aren't slicked back like a crow, and thicker beak. They are smart buggers to. They are always present it seems when your in the bush and you can here them calling for a long way off.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on July 14, 2011, 03:02:00 AM
The otters are more common here, but always seen them in the main river. They have been coming up the creeks by home off and on after the beaver and fish. Since they will kill the beaver, they are welcome to it. I've tracked them on the snow to beaver lodges in winter. They go under the ice in the creeks, most don't freeze up shore to shore like they did years ago. Well, I suppose there was always open spots, but these last few winters you wouldn't catch me walking on creek ice.
That being said, I've been seeing a lot of grouse this season with young. The hens whimper like a dog to distract you from the chicks. They are about quail sized now and can sure fly. Most places I'm in it's too thick to see much, all you hear are the chicks taking off in flight one at a time. Crazy darn timber chickens. :D
Around here, the otter-beaver seem to co-exist quite well. I put my own quota on the beaver and otter @six each per trapping season. The beaver soon got out of hand, the otter held their own but the last year I trapped caught 12 beaver and six otter out of a 25acre pond area. The otter like to stay in beaver lodges in winter but this one lodge had about six beaver residing in it. There was some otter scat up top of the lodge. Some beaver stay in dens along a steep bank and are very cautious. The otter move out about the first good warm-up in spring and go fishing for yum-yummy crayfish, but I can see a large otter killing a baby beaver for sure!
Yesterday I saw an osprey on the river, he caught a fish. Two eagles, one was a juvenile, both harassed the pour osprey until he had to drop his fish to get air speed from those darn things. I know it's nature, but if eagles are suppose to be such great fishers, then fish on their own. I used to see it on the river during salmon season to. An eagle is just a glorified crow with white head and tail. :-X >:(
Quote from: SwampDonkey on July 15, 2011, 04:34:55 PM
Yesterday I saw an osprey on the river, he caught a fish. Two eagles, one was a juvenile, both harassed the pour osprey until he had to drop his fish to get air speed from those darn things. I know it's nature, but if eagles are suppose to be such great fishers, then fish on their own. I used to see it on the river during salmon season to. An eagle is just a glorified crow with white head and tail. :-X >:(
I've always heard Nebraska eagles were..uh..different. But our Missouri eagles, how proud, how strong, and swift of wing they are, always guarding our National Treasures.
You can have all the red-tails and buzzards, don't send them south in the fall! ;)
NB is not the abbreviation for Nebraska. ;) But, in the mean time if a national emblem is a scavenger, so be it. ;D
My most sincere apologies! Joke's on me. Funny, but now I think I remember Ne. Nebraska? :)
When the male can't stand it any longer...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10332/245/MFBirds.jpg)
Ya, but in this household it'd probably be the other way around ;). Can't say I blame her though.
Saw 2 common moorhen today with about 10 chicks. I've seen about a bazillion coots but no moorhen until today. Even the chicks have red bills.
Quote from: chain on June 28, 2011, 07:09:54 PM
At long last, a pair of eastern bluebirds have begun nesting in our yard bird box this last couple of weeks! I was showing the bird box to our 5yr. old grandson when out flew the female, I had no clue the birds were there. First ever. ;D
Eagles are back fishing the pond morning and evening, when will they bring out their fledglings? Last year seems was late July.
I know everyone must be on pins and needles awaiting the annoucenment of our latest addition to our new bluebird family. Sometime last Saturday one fledgling left the box, apparently one was all they were able to propagate.
From the box to an autumn-olive, to a cypress tree and on to a half dead apple tree the little blue bird was escourted; the parents brought him worms throughout the day and guarded from molesting young mockingbirds. Yesterday [Sunday] the little bird was able to fly fairly well as he headed to a thick cypress just before a thunderstorm hit.
Other than the eagles coming to fish in our lake the bluebirds are the most surprising of all and most welcomed of birds! ;D
Michigan's Kirtland's Warbler benefits from Arbor Day Foundation Grant. The Department of Natural Resources has planted 500,000 trees in the
Roscommon, MI area this spring with funds provided by the Arbor Day Foundation.
The trees will form habitat for the federally endangered Kirtland‟s Warbler, which nests in young jack pine stands.The planting project covered about 850 acres.
DNR list server
I trust they planted jack pines?
Yes, only jack pine on large clearcuts.
we have a small wren that built a nest in a potted plant on our front porch. when we spray water in it the bird flies out.... when the wife waters she does it from the porch and the wren flies into her face everytime... loads of fun right there... maybe i should have posted that in the simple pleasures thread :D
I'm wondering if tree planting density is a factor for the birds. Wild jack pine regeneration after fires around here are wicked thick. Plantation jack pines I see here usually result in very brushy/limby trees.
The Kirtlands Warbler only nests in young closely spaced jack pine stands up to 7 feet tall. The management program for it are jackpine clearcuts up to 570 acres, then prescribe burn for slash removal and new jack pine regeneration and planting at a 6x6 spacing. Young stands of jack pine in northeastern Lower Michigan near Mio, Harrisville, and Tawas on the Huron National Forest and State Forest lands are the primary nesting area of the Kirtlands. They then winter in the Bahamas and return to Lower Michigan to nest each spring.
Bird watchers come here from all over the world to get their "card punched" for a Warbler sighting.
One can only wonder what those birds are costing us each (per bird and per person).
I recall when there was a prescribed burn for these warblers, and it got away and burned many, many more acres than planned. I figured that must have shot the bird count up by a similar factor if burning was really effective. Sorry to sound negative here. ;)
Does the jack pine have any market value when it is older?
Interesting warbler non-the-less, to be confined, or to be found only in MI during breeding when there are millions of acres of jack pine forest further north. ;)
Jack pine is part of the SPF stamped on lumber in the east. It's also pulped. Quite a bit has been planted here where it was not growing naturally. It's native here in NB but further North and East from the head of the Mirimachi River toward to NE. They show it being all over NB, but it's not true. Here in NB it's typically growing in with black spruce, white pine and white birch. It would never grow in a hardwood forest type around here. In NB, it likes that brown glacial sand the best with a thin reddish top soil. Doesn't seem to like the igneous sand so well though. Most of it in plantations I've seen around here might just as well be burnt. Needs to grow thick to be straight and self prune well. My grandfather commented on the quality of the plantations 30 years ago. He wasn't too impressed. I've seen some nice old stands of wild jack pine, straight and tall and well pruned.
Yes, we have a lot of good jack pine in the warbler areas that goes for pulpwood, the rest is chipped for cogen fuel.
Many years ago, I traveled to MI to see the Kirtland's. I'd go back again.
Did you get to see one? We've gone from a low of 100 pairs back in the early 1960's to now over 1000 pairs which was our planning goal for a viable population.
I was just checking on some prices for jack pine: pulp is $35.56 a short ton, studwood is $44.45/ton, sawlogs grade 2 $53.35/ton. Spruce logs are always worth more, probably $5-10/ton more. JDI is the only buyer of jack pine around that I know of. Most of our pricing up here is zoned by mileage from the mills.
Not a bad price for the pulpwood. It is a good bit lower here, but our production costs are a good bit less than in the frozen north.
Roads can be cheaper up here if you only have to stump them and drive over the top on frozen ground. ;D ;) Just don't get caught on a block in late spring, it could turn to a soup mess or frog pond. :D I would think the differences are probably fuel, average piece size and intensity of establishment silviculture. But forest companies get a lot of fringe benefits from the government. Can't pull them machine leavers any quicker than we can. ;) We cut an awefully lot of small second growth.
The cost difference is mainly in the equipment cost. Processors, forwarders, and debarkers are much more expensive than skidders and knuckleboom loaders. You can buy two fellerbunchers for the cost of one processor.
Machinery cost up here, no matter which you buy is a good 30-40% higher in price. Even if you compared buncher to buncher.
Even a pickup truck will likely be $8-10 grand more. And to think my grandfather could buy a new Ford F150 for $7000 every other year in the 1970's. Pension cheques went a heck of a lot further back then.
Today I was sitting in the car for a spell on the edge of the plantation I'm thinning. Along a corner of the field road and highway, as you enter the block, it musta been prime bird real estate. I'm talking of an area that would be 20 feet wide by 20. I saw 2 pairs of cedar wax wings, a pair of chipping sparrows, 2 pair of robins, a wood thrush, 2 pairs of black pole warblers and a couple pairs of really small sparrow like birds (vesper sparrow ?) and a couple humming birds. :)
A few weeks back Patty and I were out checking on the oats that had been recently swathed. I noticed 4 huge birds feeding in the field and couldn't believe it when I saw they were sandhill cranes. I've never seen them in our area before although I've seen huge flocks while in Nebraska. Figured they were just passing through but yesterday I saw them in the alfalfa field we had just baled. Then last night they flew low past our saw shed heading over to the oats field again. What a beautiful bird and the sight of four of them flying by was awesome. Sure would be nice to see them start nesting in our area more.
We are at the cabin and I spent 13 hrs Bush hogging yesterday.
This huge Raven followed and was around me all day being opportunistic on field mice scurrying away from the tractor. I hope he gets his fill. ;)
Norm, The Sandhills make a very distinctive call. I call them Taradactles. :D
They are now found here in New Brunswick nesting. Never seen here before 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ06xI4pCEo
The sandhills are fairly common in this area. There numbers seem to be down this year for some reason. We aren't seeing or hearing them as often as we usually do.
Not a very scientific but the change is certainly noticeable. As Mooseherder said, their call is distinctive.
Here is the Raven that was hanging out with me for a couple days pickin' off the field mice. :)
He is one of the biggest I've had around me. You may want to turn the volume down because I am in the tractor.
I was crawling along because the field was high, wet and full of tall brush.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMXVito6AnQ
Our ravens up here seem a lot bigger than those in Michigan and those on the west coast.
That's nothin'! You should see the Baltimore Ravens!
:D :D I have!
Just had a migrating ovenbird clank the window. I don't think he's gonna make it ... :(
I don't have a bird photo tonight, but I'm hoping to have several soon. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2400/IMG00119-20110922-1915.jpg)
Ever notice any bittern up at the camp. They like marshy areas near wet woods. They blend in with the cattails and rushes. You won't even see the until you almost touching them. Scar the begeebers out of you when you see a lump of cattails with eyes. :D
Bluejays have been busy here sacking stuff.
We're getting a few birds back. Actually, fall migration has been going on for some time, but it is far less obvious here than in spring. Notables yesterday were about 20 American widgeons which I had not seen since spring as well as hearing a sora rail, which likely was here all summer.
Well, my outhouse cam pointed at the highbush cranberries resulted in almost 100 video clips of berries waving in the wind, and some dude on a quad with a log arch taking off and parking every once in a while. The last video is of me looking up at the camera in the dark last night giving it what for for taking an infrared video of me.
Was the guy on the quad in need of some Flomax? ;D :D Sounds like he was making some frequent trips!
What do you mean by a "long arch"? I hope your not referring to his anatomy or his ability to pee! I mean....it is an outhouse cam!
log arch. :)
Yes, I even had my reading glasses on! My bad!
Although not a bird this little guy was zooming around feeding on my wave petunias.
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We've also had a bunch of hummingbirds moving through recently feeding on them also.
Those moths are really cool. Just like the real thing.
Yes they are. Jeff took videos of some just before the 2010 Pig Roast. I never see them here.
We saw one last summer feeding on petunias very much like those except there were some white ones in with the pink ones, and the moth definitely preferred the white ones. It was maybe 80/20 pink petunias and we watched him for maybe 10 minutes and he was obviously selecting the white ones almost exclusively.
just had a break in the rain then heard the birds so i went out and filled the feeder not 5 min later must have been 20 bluejays
I haven't started feeding the birds here yet. The price of sunflower seed may hamper this years feeding till the weather reaily goes to crap. The last two years we always got 25 or more purple finches and they seem to waste more then was eaten.
I drove out to Samish Island this morning to buy oysters and pickled herring for Christmas. This is a little semi-island about 70 miles NW of Seattle. The Samish River hits the sound a few miles from here and has a run of king and chum salmon. There is a old farmstead nearby with a stand of big old trees and this morning I counted 17 bald eagles sitting up there and a couple out flying nearby!
That is really pretty country too. I was based out of Bothell and really enjoyed just bumming around on the weekends while out there.
The eagles are thick in our area right now. It's nothing to see several soaring overhead while out hunting. I was dressing out a deer by the house and looked up to see 2 flying right above me. I'm guessing they must have a really good sense of smell.
There was a moose shot in a field out of season this fall and gutted in the field. There was one adult and an immature eagle that hung around a couple days as well as 20+ ravens. I have not seen that before around here, so they are getting more common. We have eagles, but never see them on a carcass. Out in Prince Rupert they were as thick as seagulls and hung out at the dumps.
Again, the indians called bald eagles "white headed crows". Majestic as they are, their behavior tends a bit toward scavaging versus predator. See them occasionallty at my place, and commonly in the salt marsh conservation areas of the Delmarva pennisula. Always a thrill.
Bald Eagles are scavengers which is why Benjamin Franklin suggested that the Wild Turkey be adopted as our National Bird.
Are you sure he wasn't referring to the bourbon as our national drink? My understanding is that George Washington is incorrectly named as the "father of our country". Some history books record that Ben Franklin fathered over 20 children. Don't tell me that Wild Turkey didn't have something to do with that!
I think there is a debate on whether Canada's national bird should be the loon or the red tailed hawk. I'm not near much water here, so I here more red tailed hawks soaring high up. But, I think I would prefer the loon as a national bird. ;D
And then the Continental Bird could be a Loonie Bald Eagle drinking Wild Turkey. :o
I saw one of those last night! :o
SD
I agree. There is nothing more haunting, and Canadian, than a bunch of loons sounding off after dark. I love the Red-Tail, but the Loon is a special character, like most Canadians I know. ;)
If you ever get up to Jeff's place, you can here one or two loons in the lake nearby. ;)
My uncle lives nearby the head pond of the river and we here them (usually one) early in the mornings during the summer.
Made a reservation for a birding tour in Kingsville Texas yesterday for my wife and I. Anybody been on this trip or done any south Texas birding?
Quote from: SwampDonkey on December 15, 2011, 07:41:12 PM
If you ever get up to Jeff's place, you can here one or two loons in the lake nearby. ;)
My uncle lives nearby the head pond of the river and we here them (usually one) early in the mornings during the summer.
We are surrounded by lakes, and our home is under several flyways between some of the lakes. Pretty much every morning and evening while the Loons are north, you will hear them, and see them if you look, as they fly directly over the house. When ever I hear a loon, I think of the movie "On Golden Pond" and Katherine Hepburn's imitation of the loons. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yTwD7U_XV4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCZ2mqGfIE
I think of "The Great Outdoors" for some reason. ;D
Speaking of birds!
I looked out the back window this morning and in the back corner of the little field behind the house there was a Blue Heron hunched up in the tree-line absorbing what little heat he could from the sun.
We had +4°F at 7:00 AM.
We went to town this afternoon and when we got back the Blue Heron was gone.
I see them here until mid November, then they pack it in and head south. The last one I saw was 3 weeks ago on the shore of a brook.
Got down to 2F here this morning. That's quite a drop from the 30's and 40's we had for weeks.
Quote from: doctorb on December 15, 2011, 06:00:33 PM
SD
I agree. There is nothing more haunting, and Canadian, than a bunch of loons sounding off after dark. I love the Red-Tail, but the Loon is a special character, like most Canadians I know. ;)
Hey!! I represent that comment >:( :-[ :-\ 8)
Nick
Quote from: miking on December 18, 2011, 08:30:33 AM
Made a reservation for a birding tour in Kingsville Texas yesterday for my wife and I. Anybody been on this trip or done any south Texas birding?
My bird adviser [bil] advised me he and his son had toured down near Harlingen, Brownsville, Rio Grande Valley area several years back. He says a great area for rare Central American species as well as western U.S. birds. He mentioned seeing a 'Crane Hawk' and the Vermillion Flycatcher, alias.. 'little coal of fire'. Have a great time & Merry Christmas!
I have 4 ponds close by me,that can be seen from the road common to see a couple loons in any of the ponds. We lived close to one growing up and my brother could do a good loon call.
I put out some bird food a good month ago and have not seen a bird come to it,no chickadees,finches,nut hatches,nothing. Just like there is a blanket over The C Farm feeder. We always use to get a steady flow of something.
Quote from: chain on December 18, 2011, 11:00:22 PM
Quote from: miking on December 18, 2011, 08:30:33 AM
Made a reservation for a birding tour in Kingsville Texas yesterday for my wife and I. Anybody been on this trip or done any south Texas birding?
My bird adviser [bil] advised me he and his son had toured down near Harlingen, Brownsville, Rio Grande Valley area several years back. He says a great area for rare Central American species as well as western U.S. birds. He mentioned seeing a 'Crane Hawk' and the Vermillion Flycatcher, alias.. 'little coal of fire'. Have a great time & Merry Christmas!
Thanks. I got a few birding brochures from the Kingsville area talking about the great stuff we will likely see, but all brochures say that, lol. I do know that there are several border-area-only hawks I would like to see and a bunch of songbirds as well as the whooping crane festival just north of Kingsville in Feb. We'll be early for that, but the birds should be there anyway.BY the way, there were 5 whooping cranes sighting just north of me last week.
With an open mild fall there seems to be lots for the birds to eat. I see lots of chickadees, blue jays, doves, buntings, finches, junco and so on in the yard and I never feed the birds. I saw a robin a week ago.
SD, what kind of doves? We have mourning doves or "turtle doves" around here but they usually disappear with the first frost, I'm suprised you'd have them this late in the year.
As for as doves go we have more and more Eurasian-collared doves each year. They're more hardy than I ever thought they could be and tough it out during the ice and snows staying around nearly all winter. The mourning doves will, on occasion, get caught in a long, sub-freezing spell and die by the hundreds.
I've been feeding several with cracked-corn and sunflowers, they're a beautiful dove.
Sandhills, we have morning doves year around as well as rock doves. Put out a bird feeder around here and both will show up. I see the doves on the gravel shoulder of roads all winter. The morning doves roost in the spruce behind the house, they are in pairs. Starlings stay here all winter to, wish they would go extinct.
We have had a new dove move in in the last couple years, I wonder if it's the eurasian-collared dove that you are talking about chain, looks a lot like a mourning dove (maybe a little lighter colored) but about the size of a pigeon ??? They stay here year around, SwampDonkey, you seem to think the same of starlings as I do ;) we get them by the millions during the winter, especially around feedyards.
Its quite a sight to see starlings around a feedlot. Friend of mine that has one once tried to poison them. K State university told him how much they were eating in feed a year. He finally gave up; with other feedlots in the area, if he did kill his, all the others would move in. Kind of sad when I go out there and you might see a 1000 lb fat calf sitting down, with half a dozen starlings sitting on him, including one perched on his head. They have also gotten so thick that 2 or 3 times a year they sit so close on the power lines to his feed mill that they short across where the transformer is, and pop the line fuse.
Quote from: sandhills on December 20, 2011, 01:25:38 AM
We have had a new dove move in in the last couple years, I wonder if it's the eurasian-collared dove that you are talking about chain, looks a lot like a mourning dove (maybe a little lighter colored) but about the size of a pigeon ??? They stay here year around, SwampDonkey, you seem to think the same of starlings as I do ;) we get them by the millions during the winter, especially around feedyards.
The collared dove will have the tell-tale dark,"ring-around-the collar" of his neck. MDC has included these doves in the bag limit as well as white-winged and common turtle dove.
Speaking of nusiance fowl, we have tens of thousands, even maybe hundreds of thousands of 'Sky Carp' feeding in all the flooded rice-fields..sky-carp..are snow geese, looked upon by most wheat farmers as a nusiance, almost unlimited bag possession on them as in early spring the geese turn to the wheat pulling it up by the roots. But on the plus side, a farmer may have tens of thousands of geese feeding in his field..that's alot of free fertilizer! ;D
Sence were not feeding sunflower seeds this winter are bird feeding is pretty sad. Ive been buying regular bird seed and have seen a couple of nut hatchers bluejays woodpeckers but mostly regular old barn sparrows. I blame alot of it on our farming country, all the fence lines are gone and cover is getting to be something of the past. I rather have the tree lined creeks and fence rows but Iam afarid its all but over around here :(
Same here. I went on our Christmas bird count last weekend and we only came up with ~ 40 species, none of them particularly unusual and I was counting in rural country. Mostly we picked up crows and starlings with surprisingly few house sparrows. We are starting to seed more Eurasian tree sparrows here as well as collared doves although I saw none on the count. Your comment about fence rows reminded me about bobwhite's, which we haven't seen or heard around here for years.
We lost almost all game birds and rabbits in 1978 from a blizzard and they never did come back. Pretty sad but not alot a fellow can do about it.
We have lost our pheasant due to harsh winters these past 10 years or so. Back in the 70's & 80's, pheasant were plentiful....but the winters were very mild back then. This year we are having a very mild winter, temps in the 40's F and no rain or snow. This should help the pheasants unless we get a lot of rain in the spring.
Another email from my Sister, north of Ketchikan:
"the big news here is i watched an eagle/octopus battle a couple days ago. i looked out the window and saw an eagle at tideline right up to the beach with something he was picking at. got the binoculars and it was an octopus! and a big one, orange, arms maybe the length of my mine. when i moved to the window the eagle must have spotted me, spooked and he eventually flew off. then the octopus kind of re-grouped, got himself right-side up again and moved on. i suspect he had a headache from the eagle's pecking. octopus (octopi??) are common here at depths, but i've never seen one in the shallows."
Well now, there's something you don't see everyday, especially in Nebraska ;D.
Eagles really aren't accustomed to killing things as they typically just find dead fish to eat. I suppose he just gave up when the octopus fought back for a while.
The salmon were running while I was in Alaska and I can say first hand that eagles are excellent fishers, they weren't dead fish either, but I'm sure scavaging? is one of their strong suits.
Our Wedgetail eagles down here are both predators and scavengers especially on road kills. They are a big eagle with a six ft plus wing span, regularly taking live lambs, my mates weaning rate this year was only 40% due primarily to "Wedgy" eagle predation. We only get a breeding pair here each year and they don't cause any problems unlike the crows, we would of lost 50 goat kids to crows this season.
In 2000 my old partner and I were driving a truck load of 16 prisoners in the outback from the station to jail and a Wedgtail was feeding off roadkill, it was early morning and the eagle couldn't get altitude quick enough, he got caught between the mirror and the window. My partner was driving with the window down and got this big screaching head in the cab :D funny now but not at the time.
No pictures, but for years I have noticed a little flock of 6 or 8 wild ducks spend the winter at the mouth of Hartley Brook where it dumps into the Presque Isle River. The little brooks here never seem to freeze over solid like years ago.
Maybe the Winter has been too mild, but I have only seen one flock of Wood Ducks, and no geese.
MM, your geese are still up here. Thousands flying around last evening.
Wanted to share a video brought to my attention. The slow motion parts provide some real insight to the way birds move through the air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CFckjfP-1E&feature=player_embedded
That is amazing. :o
Those things hunt in my plantation corridors for grouse and I suppose rabbit. I have seen them catch grouse. I see them in winter.
It looks like a good way for him to eventually break the bird's wings.
Don't care for that anymore than I do circus animal tricks.
I think that video is pretty informative. I've seen these hunt in the forest. Those openings are child's play for that magnificent animal. They are built for attack and capture in tight places.
After we get over this storm and it gets cold this weekend, I need to take a journey up to my woodlot to see what I'm missing. ;)
Quote from: Norm on January 13, 2012, 07:46:28 AM
Don't care for that anymore than I do circus animal tricks.
You got it! I mean, it's amazing for sure but sooner or later the bird will pay for it.
But the fact is their eyes and reflects are so in tune that their prey catching abilities are uncanny. It was amazing how it adapted and changed it's flight pattern to adjust for different size and shaped obstacles.
Hawks and other birds of prey make those adjustments every day in the wild.
Should see ravens, they'll fly upside down and rotate in play with one another. They'll drive an eagle nuts making play.
Back on the 2nd, I was down in the Syria house I heard something outside. Looking around I saw this guy flying around. The first 3 images are at what I thought was the max zoom on my new camera I received in June. After watching him for a few minutes I noticed that the zoom indicator wasn't all the way over. So I held the zoom switch over for a few more seconds and boy was I surprised. Man did it zoom in some more. He was about 280-300 feet for me.
I think I'm going to like this camera.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11249/001.JPG)
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Bruce
It must have gone from optical to digital zoom. Hold it still and as you see, you got some nice shots. :)
You have to admit is amazing. now put some whiskey in her and she how she flies. jk :P
Nice catch. On the camera too. :)
Nice bird to have around the woods. And not the easiest to get a pic of such as yours.
I have to drive them from the yard once in awhile, they are at an old maple that the power company is suppose to take down since Nov 2010. ::)
I know they can do it in the wild but that's at their behest not for the camera staged.
Bruce great pictures, what camera are you using? I remember the first time I ever saw one or rather heard it first. Very cool bird.
Nice pictures. By the time I see one,they fly off. I have a few around here,I can tell by the mess they leave.
You can tell when your balsam fir is no longer any good, they will move right in and peck the buts full of square holes.
Quote from: thecfarm on January 14, 2012, 07:53:06 AM
Nice pictures. By the time I see one,they fly off. I have a few around here,I can tell by the mess they leave.
The pileated woodpecker has a very distinctive and frequent call and it is rare when in my woods that I don't hear one. Ours are pretty obvious as they seem to call often, usually as they are flying tree to tree. Not as often to see one or hear one tearing into a tree, but common to see the wood debris or the holes they leave. Have had them around the 40+ years I've been here.
When one would almost disappear into a big white oak near my house, I decided it was time to drop that tree if it had that much internal decay.
Here is a recording of a pileated woodpecker call.
http://www.pileatedwoodpeckercentral.com/audio.htm
I never get tired of watching pileateds.
Those buzzards may not be as thick as blue jays, but there is lots of'm around.
Norm,
Sorry I didn't back to you sooner. Been putting new tie rod ends and shocks on my daughter's truck so she can go back to Ithaca on Monday.
It's a Nikon COOLPIX P500. It is suppose to have a 34X zoom on it with image stabilization. Take my word for it, at the 34X you need a tripod. For these pictures I was using the door frame edge to hold it. Before I purchased it a Costco I did a little research on line and found out that it is a battery hog. So, I went by Best Buy and picked up an addition battery, an EL-5 I think, and a separate charger. An outstanding idea on my part because it "saved the day" over Christmas because I had the extra battery in my pocket. I do really like it and have enjoyed getting back to photography after being out of it for some years. Wish I could show you guys some of the pictures I took while I was the ship's photographer when I was on my last submarine. Always, I believe that it is an outstanding camera. Lots of operating modes.
Bruce
I agree Bruce, for the high zoom a tripod is needed. I used mine on the moose frolic. They were almost a 1/2 mile away. ;D
Thanks Bruce, interestingly enough I have a Nikon Coolpix but an older model than yours.
Often see varied thrush in our winters, more then normal this year it seems. Hiking in the woods today, half snow, half melted ran into what I thought was a thrush. Turned out to be the first robin of the year. Not sure if he forgot to migrate or is returning.
The honking birds are here!
They come from all over and usually migrate to South Florida and the peak time is right about now.
You hear them more and more at intersections because it may be a custom to where ever they came from.
It does get irritating because the feller next to you might think your da honking bird honking at him and give you a dirty look or flip da bird because he thought you was honking all the while it was da honking bird 2 cars behind you. Hopefully some looney bird doesn't get out of his car with fists or weapons of rage. ::)
I make my living amongst the honking birds so it is a mixed blessing to see them come and to see them go. When they leave it signals me to start thinking about my migration to the great north Woods. ;D :D
I liked that, Moosehereder! :D ;D ;D ;D
I could never understand the philosophy behind it, because the house back home still needs to be heated and electric maintained. There's no savings. A lot of those birds just sit around down there doing nothing, can do that home. I'm like grandfather, I think they're all crazy in the head. ;) :D
As long as I can take care of myself I'm dumb enough to stay here through the winter. ;D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on February 11, 2012, 08:21:16 AM
I could never understand the philosophy behind it, because the house back home still needs to be heated and electric maintained. There's no savings. A lot of those birds just sit around down there doing nothing, can do that home. I'm like grandfather, I think they're all crazy in the head. ;) :D
SD
Don't be jealous. ;)
They maybe like the heat and the humidity.
And they can do it as they have the money to spend.
And FL enjoys the money they spend.
That life wouldn't be my choice either.
:D :D Jealous is one thing that I ain't. Foolishness is what it is. Of course it's just my opinion. :D
I'm not so sure there is much spending other than day to day living. At least that's what I hear from some that go down. Maybe flea market spending or a game of golf I suppose.
A lot flock to Cuba and Mexico from Canada, I wouldn't be the least bit interested. ;)
Quote from: SwampDonkey on February 11, 2012, 12:04:26 PM
A lot flock to Cuba and Mexico from Canada, I wouldn't be the least bit interested.
Well, my wife (of 55 years) and I are two of those birds. In addition to heat and electricity, there are taxes & insurance on two places, maintenance fees, lawn care and watering, snow plowing our private road and our drive, and the travel costs to go back and forth, so it's even worse than you thought, eh? But so what? I play can play tennis and golf all winter, walk the woods and trails, or whatever. I'm retired and we can afford it. Guess I don't see the problem, Swamp. To each his own... ;D
Norm
Shotgun it's fine and dandy if anyone wants to do it. It's just not my thing. I won't hold it against ya. You at least know where I stand on it, so don't invite me. ;) :D
If I had a 500 foot lot I could leave it behind for the winter and enjoy warmer temps,but I have 170 acres to play on all winter long. Just means too much for me to live it behind. I even miss it when we are gone for a week.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on February 11, 2012, 12:20:10 PM
Shotgun it's fine and dandy if anyone wants to do it. It's just not my thing. I won't hold it against ya. You at least know where I stand on it, so don't invite me. ;) :D
But SD, it being fine and dandy isn't what you implied in this statement. ::) ::)
QuoteI could never understand the philosophy behind it, because the house back home still needs to be heated and electric maintained. There's no savings. A lot of those birds just sit around down there doing nothing, can do that home. I'm like grandfather, I think they're all crazy in the head.
But you can back away, that is ok. ;)
My friends come back up north to rest up before they go back. :)
Nope, I still think it's crazy and wouldn't do it. But it's still fine and dandy and won't hold it against ya. :D Being on the internet, I guess you can read anything into it if you want to be contrary Mary. ;)
That's telling him! :D
Quote from: thecfarm on February 11, 2012, 08:32:27 AM
As long as I can take care of myself I'm dumb enough to stay here through the winter. ;D
Just take a little extra grain along with the hay and that will keep your coat shiny and the eyes bright :D.
thecfarm,
If you ever do any snow birding, you had better stop in and see me, and I would hide all the grits away so that you would not get spooked ;D.
Or be slipping into the kitchen late a night and cooking up a batch. There are probably some Northern Grits Eaters that are still in the closet. food1
SC is the furthest I made it away from my home base. WDH,I would even try some of those grits if I ever make it down your way. Never know with me. Would only be gone for a week. We call the snow birds the ones that put thier tail between thier legs and head south for the winter. ;D
MM,probably there are. Them closest people are everywhere now a days. :D Not in my house. I sleep through the whole night. I'm tied to a machine at night to help me sleep.
Twelve degrees this a.m. but birds singing like 'twas breath of spring. Big ice storm four years ago, when it thawed on Feb. 10th sparrows began nesting, earlist I've ever witnessed [nesting]in this locale.
Heavy snow expected Monday night.
just wondering if anyone has a favorite bird. myself i prefer walking in the woods or snowshoeing, and looking up and seeing the perfect ruby red cardinal in a white snow covered birch tree. so any favorite bird types?
Mine has to be the Mocking Bird. Not for their plumage, but for the crazy songs that they sing. You just never know what the next note will be. smiley_headscratch smiley_huh2
Blackcap Chickadee but I like them all ;)
Either Pileated Woodpecker or Oreial. We have ALOT of Pileated around and I love to see/ hear them. Kestrals are COOL too.
I have spotted rose breasted grosbeaks, Scarlet taneger as well. I like the Pheobies, and Barn Swallows too. I enjoy pretty much all nature has to offer. I have good "hand only" loon call that I was taught by world class loon caller on Blue Mtn Lake (ADK's) about 15 yearsw ago. I called a mating male in one time while on a Canadian canoe trip with some troubles teens, they were AMAZED, "Mr. C can talk loon" , that night around te camp fire the other staff member called in a Bard owl, he swooped us while around the campfire. No doubt we created some memories on that trip.
Ironwood
There is already a nice "Bird" thread on the Forum with 52 pages of posts.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,9619.msg814455.html#msg814455
Lets not start another one. I merged the two topics.
Canada jay, whiskey jack, camp robber whatever you like to call them.... watching one occupy the dog while the other comes in and steals the dogs food....
Yet really the best bird is cooked and on the table
My favorite, the female Cardinal.
Eastern Blue Bird. Not many around here. I usally get a pair to nest. I would have more but the sparrows drove them off.
Kill deer and robins in the fields and white throated sparrow and chickadees in the woods. Snow buntings in the winter. ;)
In no particular order...cardinal, blue bird, oriole and one that's recently moved into our area the bald eagle.
At home: bluebird followed by the oriole
At the seashore: glossy ibis followed by the skimmer
In Canada: what else? the common loon
wild turkey, red tail hawk, eastern blue bird.
The sparrow hawk (I'm using that very generically) that was in the sale ring at our sale barn last Saturday ;D, it got the attention of more than a couple people sitting in there. I have know idea if they actually go after sparrows or not but my boss said as soon as it left one rafter was lined with sparrows. The ring is heated during sales and Saturday was one of the first cold days we've had in a long time so you really can't blame 'em :D
The Pileated is my favorite to watch but for song I think I have grown to like the various songs of the Tufted Titmouse the best. But then again, there is something about the call fo the Sandhill Cranes flying high overhead.
There is one bird song that is a simple two tone song that reminds me of the communication device used in Star Trek. I have yet to positively identify the bird making the song. My best guess to date is a truncated Titmouse song.
Our favorite is a bird we never see nor hear anymore, the Bob White[quail]. I've failed, in quail management.
Now, they say, I need to have a controlled burn, brings out more legumes and creates bare soil....and shrubby cover, etc.
Prescription management. :P
My prescription is knocking out dozens of various critters that feed upon eggs, chicks, and mature birds; they want them protected[critters], too many "Friends of chicken hawks" :-\
chain I think you're on the right path. Between the chicken hawks, coyotes, and feral cats around I'm amazed any live, we still have a few coveys of quail around the farm but nothing compared to what you used to see. My now deceased neighbors/landlords who I miss dearly found a quail egg one time and put in an incubater, it was the cutest little thing and was basically raised by the "wild" turkeys which they also helped get started around us. It was funny as heck watching that tiny little thing running around with those big turkeys. :)
We have this group of 4 tom turkeys that are regulars at our bird feeders.
They have been hangin' here since they were youngins'
One of them has an obsession with his reflection in my truck bumper.
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He just paces back and forth, occasionally pecking at my bumper while the others are eating up all the corn!
Quit spit-shining that bumper and he might stop. ;D
We have individuals or maybe groups up here introducing wild turkeys, which is not a native bird to NB and considered illegal. Authorities are concerned they compete with grouse. One fellow down near St Stephen, near Calais, Maine says he has 20 or 30 coming to his feeders and has seen up to 12 roosting in the trees near dark.
Recently the DNR have begun a crack down on illegal white-tail deer farms, they issued notices that the deer have to be gone by June.
Our mild weather here in Ohio this winter theres something wierd going on. In past years on late winter days when you would get a break in the weather you would see and hear robins singing. Here it's almost the end of Feb. with a very mild winter and I heard one robin. Sure hope they don't know something we don't :D.
I don't know. I have yet to see or hear a robin, but the doves are all paired up. The bluebirds never left and the juncos are still here. I am in "bird go-figure" mode, because I have never seen a winter, or a lack of winter, like this.
The robins have been here in NB all winter, they are just down in southern New Brunswick like Sussex and St John. They were in Fredericton in January I know. None up here since around Christmas. I won't see any until April, maybe end of March, but a big maybe.
We had Robins here several weeks ago, but I haven't seen them lately. I'm with Autocar, I hope they don't know something we don't. ???
I just saw 2 bald eagles on the ice yesterday. Took me a few seconds to figure out what they was. I don't see many around here. Still no birds coming to the feeder for bird seeds. The wood peckers are working on the suet.
I saw an Amazon King Fisher today, although they are not supposed to be north of Texas. There is no mistaking the size, head crest and beak. It was mostly gray and white, and when it flew, there were white stripes on the underside of the wings. It was near a creek in a wooded area.
Yesterday morning I looked outside my kitchen window and next to the LP tank was a bird I thought was extinct in these parts....a female quail. The last one I saw was 8 years ago. Sure hope she's able to nest successfully!
I miss hearing their "bob white" call. I often wonder if they would reestablish if I bought and released a couple of dozen birds.
While driving on curvy Route 1 along the California coast yesterday, I came around one of many "blind" turns in the road and startled a Golden Eagle. He was feeding on something right next to the pavement. He launched upward, barely clearing my windshield. Quite a sight! If my window had been rolled down I could have touched his tail feathers! What a view of a beautiful predator!
Mother says she sees golden eagles here once in awhile. Mostly along the river. I never seem to see them.
SD -
Our Ontario cabin is on the same lake as a Queen's university biologic station. They've got some very informed naturalists there. They tell me that Golden Eagles are uncommonly seen in that area, and the sightings usually occur during the winter months. I have never seen one in eastern Canada either but I'm not there during hard water time!
According to my map we have a tiny isolated wintering population here along the Maine/New Brunswick border in the St John River Valley. And a small pocket up on the tip of the Gaspe, Quebec that is year round. Most of the eastern range is far northern Ontario, Quebec and Labrador.
Pine Creek, which runs through the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon runs through our front yard. We see a lot of Bald Eagles but we are pretty far downstream from the canyon. They usually show up down here late in the summer. More fish down here when the creek is shallow up stream, I guess. Anyway, we saw one in the front yard the other day. Very unusual.
One time while camped in the canyon, I walked down to check the canoes early one morning. I saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree across the creek. I watched him while I drank my coffee. All of a sudden he jumped off the branch, flew in front of me and hit the creek with a loud splash. He missed his fish. When he got a couple feet in the air again, he shook like a dog. I never imagined.
Another time, we had climbed a steep mountainside. We climbed out on a big rock that overlooked the creek. All of a sudden there was a Bald Eagle in our face. He came in lower than the rock and swooped up to land where we were sitting. He spread his wings to apply the air brakes. That was awesome.
Check out the chainsaw at the end. Fascinating but kind of sad that a saw is part of his vocabulary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSB71jNq-yQ
I got the strange feeling the chainsaw sound was dubbed in for the "enviro" effect. ;)
You can't be serious. Would David Attenborough cheat? I think not!
I have to watch the barn door this time of year to keep it closed because the birds will get in and get trapped up stair and head to the windows to get out but can't. The other day heard a phoebe in there chirping and sure enough up in one of the windows. But I drove the bugger out.
David Attenborough is one of my favorite Naturalists.
Every time that I see this thread, I smile and think about Bro. Noble.
We have a large population of bluebirds at our place this year, seems they've shown up earlier than before too. Patty's little bluebird house has a nesting pair in it which is a first too. They have to be one of my favorite birds. :)
Me too Danny, seems to be a fitting tribute to a great guy.
Owls Take No Prisoners
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10014/Owls_Take_No_Prisoners.jpg)
Quote from Briscoe Darling on the Andy Griffith Show, "What a owl does is a owl's own business).
I did not get a picture last week but was treated to a once in a lifetime bird sighting. There were 7 wood storks roosting in a big dead pine at my grandaddy's home site. They are quite ugly birds and my neighbor looked them up on the web and say they are rare in our parts. I guess they were migrating through.
Don
Saw a few partridge this week (ruffed grouse) and took a video of a hen crossing the road. Just left her and went a few yard and there was the rooster on the side of the road. In the outback the grouse are not skiddish like near the settlements. More tame than chickens. ;D
I also took a video of a bald eagle sitting in a red spruce. Quite a long ways from a big body of water, but some small rivers near by.
Also saw a northern harrier hawk with a snake for a meal. ;D
No photos, as the GPS doesn't have a camera. ;D But while marking off strip lines in thinning I walked right up to two woodcock nests, on separate lines. We have a color of ribbon to mark trails and safety concerns, I marked the nest locations. I would imagine the young leave the nest quite early like grouse do anyway. But those woods were full of woodcock today. :)
I am with Danny, hard to see Bro Nobles name and not go back and read the thread.
Just wanted to make a small contribution. This guy showed up while I was having lunch. He may have owned a skidder with a detroit in another life.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/Flicker_a1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/Flicker_b2.jpg) He was unsure where the sound of the camera was coming from and had a slow moving vechicle sign on the back.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12754/Flicker_c3.jpg) He was definately not happy with a photo op while he was doing his wood work. :D
In contrast to those nice pics, what confounds me about Flickers is the amount of time this woodpecker spends on the ground. I know of no other that has this habit. My cats have taken more than I would like to admit, and I have no way to stop that. :( Their feathers on the ground are unmistakable. Fortunately, there seems to be no shortage of this species in my neck of the woods.
At times the flicker seems to be as thick as robins and other times they must be off doing their thing. But robins are like that to. There is a spell that they are mainly in the woods and other times they take to the fields and yards.
Flickers get a bad rap around here, they seem to be the only woodpecker that has a taste for houses, but one of my favorite birds. Anything looking to eat bugs all day, can't be all bad.
Speaking of birds, rec'd this today.
Unbelievable craftsmanship!!!!
Singing-Bird Pistols-Very Rare
This is a short video on a pair of almost 200-year old mechanical singing-bird pistols; whether or not you are an antique or fine art aficionado, you'll be glad you took a moment to watch this one-of-a-kind object of pure fancy. I thought I had excessive time on my hands........
http://www.christies.com/features/singing-bird-pistols-en-1422-3.aspx
I wonder how long it took to make them?
Sold for 5.8 million, a little out of my price range.
Should have been a Forestry Forum auction item! Would have sold for less than the axe!
Pretty cool, though. Thanks for the post, beenthere.
Down here we don't have as many flickers as I used to see as a kid in the woods. Have a mess of the red headed woodpeckers and as of late the pilated woodpeckers have made a very strong comeback. I have a nesting pair on my property. The young are oblivious to humans, and very curious. They'll fly down on a tree trunk at eye level and check you out sometimes. Very large birds. They will make a complete mess of any unpainted /treated wood that borer bees have laid egss/larvee in. They've torn up some exposed rough cut pine rafter ends on a out building, in search of the larvee. They also will wake the near dead from a sound sleep when hammering on those doggone rafters.... >:( They must have a continous headache throughout their lifes... :)
Sunday while sitting on my dock having a cold adult beverage watching the boat traffic go by, during a break in traffic, an Osprey came overhead, folded up tight with his wings behind his back, feet extended and dove into the water after a fish. He was successful, and naturally a crow got after him, attempting to rob him of his dinner.
Stump
Like you Cypresstump, I always wondered how those birds heads could take that beating. Those pilated can sure throw some chips.
You can say that again. I had a downed tree behind the shop and the Pileated woodpeckers tore it apart. It looked like it was done over with a stump grinder. Woodpeckers are amazing. It's a wonder their heads don't come off. The reason they don't suffer brain damage may be because their brains are small and packed in their skull tightly. They also hit straight on and that avoids twisting the brain. Or so I've read.
I saw a documentary where woodpeckers were a topic. It was said that they have an extraordinary thick skull and their brain is encased in a substance that is thicker than in other birds or animals, the stuff acts as a shock absorber Their brain is proportionately smaller to their size than in other creatures, they have a special muscle that absorbs the impact given the fact their brain is located above the centerline of their beak. An like Den mentioned the blows are intentionally straight forward to keep torsional forces minimized. On top of everything else they have a tongue that is barbed to help retrieve insects from their burrows. And they look freaky when you think about it..
Our bluebirds are back and nesting in the yard box. Last year was a first ever for nesting bluebirds here, also in June. Think I've figured out why they are nesting late here is..because we have so many sparrows and starlings that nest earlier and compete with the BBs, but at this late date the other birds have raised their young and flown the coop!
The tree swallows here take over any nest box and they are kind of territorial so any other nest box near by gets guarded to. Mom has seen blue birds for the last few years, but no one she has talked to have them in nesting boxes. I guess they much just nest in the thickets instead. We have small birds here that nest into early August. The woods are alive with little birds, some I don't know because you can't see them in the thickets.
In areas of NS they have found a few bald eagles getting sick or dying from lead poisoning. It is believed to be from lures in fish and lead shot in animals that they consume.
Saw a hummingbird perched on the telephone line. I have a nest on top of 2 boxes of chains for my chainsaw. I have the boxes hung on a nail in the tractor shed. The Pee Wees are just about ready to leave the nest i would think. One of my friends Granddaughter heads right over there every time see comes over. I think Mama got after my dog the other day. I heard a yelp and kinda saw her fly away from her. I had a canadian goose in the field the other day. We hear them down at the pond alot.
The hummers like to buzz my red hard hat in the woods. You don't think of hummers in the woods maybe, just around the yard. But the woods has lots of hummers. ;D
Today I heard a racket down by the shop and made a mad dash in time to grab a baby Baltimore from a cat. Mom and Dad was flying around raising cane plus the baby was screaming bloody murder. My wife heald the baby while I cut a two pound coffee can lower then I nailed it to the twelve foot stick and put the bird in the can and C clamped it to the side of the burn barrel :D Next thing the darn thing jumps up on the edge of the can and glides off and crashes. I catch him again and set him on a limb and he repeats the whole jumping off routine. By now every cat within hundreds is lurking around, I get him again and set him up on another limb . Mon and Dad is still screaming bloody murder and I turned and walked away :-\ Not sure how it turned out but hope he made it.
I had started another topic not realizing this thread was actually in reference to favorite birds as well......
here's mine -
Mine favorite bird would be the little House Wren. It seems they are very much like myself, tend to never have the time to stop,,,,,
They are very industrious little guys. Very inquisitive, not overly spooked of humans, seems to cohabitate with us very well. At times the ones around my mill are very curious. They'll flirt around all the stacks of fresh cut and love to hunt and explore in the piles of flitches tossed off to the side. They'll fly right up to me at times If I happen to be setting still long enough, and do that little up and down squatting movemnet thing they do while staring at me while determining their next move.
Also they are the first bird in the morning to begin their wake up call at my place. I love to hear them start off in the mornings.
The pee wees have flown the coop. I was working on the veggie shack when a peewee just about clipped me at the knees. I went right over and checked,all gone. One was dead on the ground. I did not tell the Granddughter about that one. But she came over and was bummed out that they was gone. She enjoyed seeing them.
I was standing in the yard talking to a customer and saw a pileated woodpecker fly out of the woods. Don't see many of them but hear them often. He did not get far when a good size limb fell to the ground. I went over after they left and looked at it. Seemed like he was eating supper on it and it break off.
:) seems like the woodpeckers don't mind the heat as much as some new millers 8)
I enjoy hiking in the woods anytime of the year, usually with
my wife. Generally I have a camera handy for any wildlife opportunities I happen upon.
I was in elk hunting mode, working down a steep lodgepole mountain side and
low and behold I spotted a fledgeling owl. We spent some time stalking
and shooting pics tho the baby pics were kinda dark and fuzzy, but the
one of mama came out pretty good.. Great horned owl.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21709/grol.JPG)
Who--whoho :D
Nice picture. You know we have a fellow member here who takes fuzzy pics of his carvings of owls and places the carvings in his barn loft for a laugh. :D
I don't see owls often, but here them around. I might see a couple a year. One cross road near here I keep seeing a barred owl in the winter. The spot is old farm that grew up and was cut and some apple trees around. See deer there to in early winter around the apple trees. Some apple trees are what we call winter apples, the fruit stay on the trees until about Christmas.
Yea, I saw the owl post on the carving, that would work pretty good
for keeping the trash birds out of your garden.
We live in a small mt valley and in Feb the owls get to hooting back and
forth at night-- mating season hooting at times, we hear them from in the
house...there were 3 fledglings in that group, nice to see.
Each owl will eat a couple of pack rats a day. I set traps for pack rats
in the wood pile and get a few. When I do it gets set out for the owls
on a big stump. I've had owls wake us up when they eat the offering
sometimes making the strangest chirping noises...afterwords they
go to hooting... I feel blessed to be able to have owls around..CBD
Where in Montana?
E. Powell Co, Little Blackfoot River/MacPass area---AKA heaven...
This past Friday we were expecting a serious thunderstorm to pass thru the area. It was making for a gooden' too,,, skies blackened, windy and had just begun to shower moderately.
As I was sitting on the steps of the old camp on my property, pondering whether or not to try and pull up and old sinker log nearby, there appeared three little house Wrens flirting about. In the old pump shed, there's an last year Wren nest, that's visible from where I sat. Within 10 minutes of the Wrens arrival, all three had disappeared into the nest, occasionally peeking out for a gander.
Within another 10 minutes the bottom fell out of those dark clouds, dumping 8 inches in 3.5 hours. From now on, I think I'll plan any wet day activities around the movement of the Wrens... ;)....... Even they know when to stay indoors.
An auction of original Roger Tory Peterson drawings / prints is to take place on September 8. I can't imagine what these will go for, but here is the info for any that may be interested.
http://guernseys.com/Guernseys%20New/peterson.html
Friend gave me his bird book at a bookstore signing, signed by both he and his wife. Have used it for 30 plus years. What an auction that would be!
Lots of bird books in the Peterson style. Gotta think there are lots of talented artists that draw birds. Never know what stuff will fetch at auctions. Sometimes it's just hype around a name, sometimes it's more about talent. I word it this way, because I've seen some spendy art, that in my eyes, belonged on a bonfire. :D ;)
I pulled into my driveway yesterday about noon and saw this hen in my front yard. I stopped about 50 feet away and watched her. It was odd because 1. She stood there with her wings spread and 2. She wouldn't shy away like normal. Then I realized; it was raining softly and she was using her wings as an umbrella for a half dozen poults.
I wish I'd had my real camera.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29968/2012-08-09_13-03-24_127.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29968/2012-08-09_13-03-31_619.jpg)
Reminds me, I saw a hen with a bunch of chicks in the UP of Michigan on the way north to the Soo. I think it was just a bit north of Pickford. There were also a bunch of geese to one side of them. Geese were all over the fields up there. Also saw a few sandhills.
I just watched the closing "Moments in Nature" on CBS Sunday Morning. They were showing the Burrowing Owls in Arizona. Cool, little guys. :)
Ran across this big boy yesterday on the way home from the doctors. Nice ending to a ugly morning. These were taken from a 300 yards using all the zoom I could. I have always wanted to get some Bald Eagle pictures. Wish these were a lot closer, but at least I catpured him on film/digital image.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11249/Eagle12C8-20-2012.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11249/Eagle22C8-20-2012.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11249/Eagle32C8-20-2012.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11249/Eagle42C8-20-2012.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11249/Eagle52C8-20-2012.jpg)
Bruce
Majestic!
Beautiful shots, Bruce. Nice of him to hold the poses for you. lol
I took a short video of one sitting on top of a red spruce. I tooted the horn to make him fly at the end. It was near a small river (Taxis).
I came across this pair a couple years ago snowmobiling on Mackinac Island.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29968/Bald_Eagles_1_-1.jpg)
We have a family that lives here at the Lake but yet to catch them posing like that!
Sitting in our great room playing cards on Sunday, when a loud thud and flying feathers turned everyone's head. Looked and a Pileated woodpecker lay in the flower bed. He didn't set there long before fluttering to this maple tree a short distance away. Stayed there for a good 30 minutes, prolly shaking the head to get some smarts back. Left a big dust print on the glass. Appeared to be a young one, as not yet full size.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/pileated_window.JPG)
Just getting its wings and survived the first crash. :D
There was a picture in our Highland County paper, "The Recorder", last week of a Bald Eagle eating a groundhog it had caught out in a field.
That woodpecker sure looks a little worse for wear :).
Pileateds have to be the loudest fliers in the woods. You can hear them comeing, but after they land the real noise starts.
They occasionally whack the glass beside me here in the sun room. I do not know which of us is more surprised, and as yours did, sometimes they will sit and shake their heads for a while. smiley_dizzy
I looked out the bedroom window a couple mornings ago and there was a Red Headed Woodpecker on the side of a tree. They are beautiful birds, too. One of those times that I wished I had a camera. My son wood have pulled out his cell phone. I tell you I've seen him do everything with that phone except talk on it! :D
Warblers really moving through in southern migration right now, hummingbirds are gathering, several others including a Barn owl I had flushed out of a grain bin today.
I did some habitat management last spring, burning and deadening and some clearing of the swamp-type plants and trees. My BIL visited last month, he is what I consider a pro-birder, even he was impressed with numbers of various species.
Last week while mowing an Egret flew in and stalked me closely until a frog jumped out of the path of the mower.
It was a good size frog and he worked hard getting it down the hatch.
Today while mowing, I was almost done and he showed up again so I came in to get the camera.
He got a smaller frog and there was one sacrificed in the making of this video.
I did have a hard time getting the video out of my pocket and zoomed in but got most of it.
Before you feel bad for the frog you should know we have plenty more.
One morning when I opened the front door to leave for work in the dark a dozen or so baby frogs jumped in my house making me scramble to catch them. I know I didn't get them all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsvjhCYHyug&feature=plcp
Its been a number of years ago but I was walking down to the the shop and on the side of the drive a snake had a frog about swallowed so I took a Y stick and held the snake then pulled the frog back out and turned him lose. He looked back and for a minuite I thought he was going to give me one wish ;D.
My wife caught this Hawk on my daughter's camera.
That is why it is better than my pictures. ;D
He has been hanging out here for over a month.
I hope he is eating snakes and frogs and leaves my lil' dog alone.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hawk2.JPG)
I don't know about little dogs for a meal, but my uncle had a white cat. As white as a hare in the winter. It's hair was even real fine like a hare. Anyway, my uncle had noticed a big old owl around the barn in the early mornings before daylight when he was after the cows for milking. One morning the owl got himself a white cat for breakfast. ;D
a hawk got my cousins mini yorkie that was a sensitive subject for awhile. I found a hawk the other day sitting in the middle of the road. Nothing i could do popped over the hill and he had its back torwards me. I hit the brakes but to late. But no damage to the car. But the week prior i was in the truck same road and a deer ran out it did 3 grand worth of damage to my truck. But the mini cooper that was in the other lane comeing torwards me wasnt so lucky. I hit the deer knocked it in her lane. It totaled out her car. 1 deer hit 2 vehicles in 2 seconds that done happen very often.
I was able to get this brief shaky video of two young eagles. One took off just as I took the camera off them and flewaround a wood edge and landed with a third. I'd been watching the adults over the summer fishing along lake Huron and noted the young birds a month or so ago. This is the first time I had a chance to film them (such as it is), and I didn't see mamma and pappa anywhere this time. I love da U.P. :)
http://youtu.be/vYbrct-fDVY
Thanks for the video.
Another video I ran across, and this is about the amazing Bird of Paradise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA&feature=player_embedded#!
Wouldn't it be cool to have a flock of them (several different varieties) in your yard each spring? :)
Quote
Pileateds have to be the loudest fliers in the woods. You can hear them comeing, but after they land the real noise starts.
It gets real noisy here when one mistakes the aluminum downspout on my gutters for a tree. The gutters are brown but I still think that is a pretty stupid bird.
We do not have eagles around here, but I have been to Hanes Alaska. We have a friend there that is the talker on the tour bus when one comes through, she knows all the places where they are. She took us around, so I have lots of pics.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31676/IMG_2517.JPG)
The eagles seem to stay around near here most all year. A year ago, a moose was shot out of season just up the road and the carcass was left. The eagles came and ate on it, two actually. An adult and a juvenile is what I noticed. The woods was also full of ravens, but they did not come near the carcass as long as the eagles were on it.
This fall on my woodlot I saw a carcass of some critter that the bears had hauled into a hardwood thicket to feed on. It was just bones left in a pile.
saw my first robin today
Been seeing a few ducks around. My guess is teal, they aren't big ducks.
red, I started to post something else, then I saw where you are. We have robins here all year, as well as bluebirds, mockingbirds, and canada geese. About the only ones that leave that I wish they did not are the purple martins.
Saw my first Robin today too and it was snowin. I thought the little guys probably thinking he may have jumped the gun a bit. :snowball:
Robins don't often hang around in northern New Brunswick, but in the south of the province they stick around all winter. I've been to my aunt's in winter at Sussex and they were in the back yard milling around. ;D
Spring may be headed our way. We have a wreath on the front porch at the house in VB. It used to be on the door until birds started nesting in it several years ago. I took it off the door and attached it to a 2X4 with a piece of plywood for the back, and leaned it up in the corner. My wife told me that three days ago, there were a pair of doves fixing up the nest. This morning, she's laid her first egg. Last year, the doves produced four little ones.
Last year, when we went from winter to summer in about 1 week in March, my purple martins arrived the end of Feb. They have not gotten here yet this year, so does that mean we still have some more winter. I did see the scouts checking out the gourds about two weekends ago.
In 1996 when they arrived in May as usual, the weather turned cold with snow and wiped out the barn swallows. They have never been back in great numbers like they were decades before. We used to have hundreds. They would gather on the power lines and perch when they arrived in May and when they got ready to leave in August.
We often see Robins here in the winter. Lots of people around us have bird feeders, so they stay. I've always considered the Red Wing Blackbird as the real harbinger of Spring here.
Went up to see how things survived the winter, too early for the deer and elk to come back, but saw a few turkeys and two pileated woodpeckers. Seems early, but I'm not sure how far they move, or even if they do. I don't know if it was a pair, or if the male and female look different.
I did spook a grouse the other day on my trek to the woodlot. I also found a spot where one had spent an evening in a snow nest. Saw a couple moose and also where they spent the night bedded down. They spent the winter on the woodlot, moose piles all over.
Timberdoodles! Not one but two woodcock observed so far this spring in our woods. It's been a long time, maybe twenty years or so since the last woodcock was witnessed.
Haven't seen any yet. But last spring I was on a plantation, that was actually hardwood ground. I saw several nests of woodcock with eggs. This was on a 30 acre plot. I tied a ribbon by several nests. No robins up here yet either, but those birds don't normally arrive until this month.
For the first time in over 30 years I have observed red-headed woodpeckers in my woods. They seem to be very territorial. I hope they can live with the pileated woodpeckers. As much as I am enjoying seeing the red-heads again I do not want to lose any of the many pileateds.
My guess would be that they may coexist just fine, given the size difference . Time will tell... :)
They may have their unique way to make a living that doesn't make them compete so much. There are quite a few species of woodpeckers up here, some prefer softwood, some mixedwood, some aspen and hardwood. Some pick at the tree buts, some are way up high, some might not have a preference.
After a little reading, looks like they don't migrate, are territorial with just a pair, look similar, the males have a red face patch. Always fun to see.
My impression, having observed them over the years, is that they move around a lot. You see them for a bit, and then they disappear for sometimes a great while. One of my favorite birds because I think they are very distinctive and I see them so infrequently.
Hard to believe they don't move out in the winter, but thats what the book says. I see the pileateds near the ground alot, might have to leave a few good size white fir logs laying around the forest floor for them.
They are here all winter Terry, I see them fairly often. The only pole buzzards that migrate here are the flickers and sap suckers, possibly others that we don't normally observe around houses like the 3 toed. Pileated eat lots of carpenter ants, so if they get at a colony of them, lots of eat'n and they can't run away when froze up. Old larger diameter balsam fir trees are ant hotels. ;D
Hummers are back !! Filled up the feeder again yesterday. They must have had a rough trip, they went through a pint of sugar water the first day.. I have a feeder hanging by the window so the wife can sit and watch them.
First robin today, and the ground and water is froze solid. Only in the 20's.
I got some footage of Sandhill Cranes with their 2 babies on Sunday.
Pappa let me know I was too close after a while and came after me.
I cut out the portion where he made me retreat like a little girl. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OhkW8Gx7Og
What do you name a sandhill crane male baby?
Derrick. Sorry :)
We deserved an apology for that one. :D
No apology needed. I chuckled. :)
I pulled the game cam down from the palm tree it has been hanging on for a few weeks and really couldn't believe it took another 350 pictures with low batteries. Sure was happy about that because it got some good footage. :) I had changed the direction of view from my pond to my neighbors pond after they decided to bait and catch their 2 Gators. For sure I thought they would just come back in my direction. I did manage to get some shots of their hired guns catching a couple lil gators and some other comical stuff. My neighbor is infatuated with his lawn and yard.
He also like pacing everyday while on the phone in his yard along with a regiment of other yard duties. I feel like posting the pictures just so I could put some captions to go along with them. Is this wrong? :D
These Sandhill Cranes have been hanging around everyday and they walk by the camera thankfully onto Wayne's yard. ;D
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I love sandhill cranes and great blue herons. It always makes my day when they pay us a visit.
A few more Bird pictures from the cam by the pond.
Egrets, Blue Herons and another Sandill Crane.
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Those game cameras sure are great. Love the birds Moose. Only in recent years have sand hills been found up this way. I've only seen them in the UP of MI when visiting Jeff's. It's funny, when I come out that way to the Brokaw's, I'm also visiting another friend Jeff and his family at the Sault, Ontario. :D
I saw them in Maine last year and thought that was odd.
Was just looking at my bird book here, and besides nesting along the Quebec/Ontario border, the only other nesting colony it shows on the map is in Lac St Jean in Alma,Quebec. It's a huge lake and a large farming area north of the St Lawrence. The Sagueny River comes out of there. Two hours north of Quebec city to Chicoutimi, and then it's up river from there a ways. Just shows a dot on the map.
Sandhills are making a big comeback. A large part of the comeback is the Goose Hollow preserve in Southern Indiana. Sometimes we do something that has a major positive payback.
Yes, most of the nesting range is west of Quebec and into the far north of Canada. Mostly what we would call Hudson's Bay territory. Water that flows to the Arctic and Hudson's Bay.
The Sandhill Cranes came by for a visit today.
The babies are getting bigger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B65tL5JD1CA
We have had nesting eagles all around us but its the first time we have had one in Auglaize Cty. Always fun to see them, yesturday one of them had a fox squirrel. Here setting at the computer I have a robin setting on a nest and the next tree a little higher is a blue jay setting on her nest. I don't think they have eggs yet but not sure they sure like to dive bomb each other.
I think robins breed like rabbits. As soon as they arrive here they set up boundaries to their territory. And the squack'n starts when another comes into their space. :D I have seen little sparrows, might be chip'n sparrow, but they sit on the same exact trees when I go for a walk. One is one a cedar and other on a willow about 1/2 mile apart. But I have walked by them several times and they are always in the same trees. ;D
An eagle flew by the house a week ago. A moose was shot a couple falls ago and the guts left in a field, a couple ate on that for a few days. The ravens made an awful time but never came near as long as the eagles were there.
The Sandhill Cranes have been here everyday. It is sad one of the babies didn't make it.
This is the case most often when the parents have two. A preying animal or car hit it because they are always crossing busy roads.
The first part of the video, they are laying down in some Mahogany branches I had trimmed on Saturday. The second part is from Sunday I was in front of the garage working on a project and they came up to me. One pecked at some pecan planer shavings off the infeed table.
I went in to get my camera and my wife had got some footage of them coming up to me from inside the house from my daughter's camera.
I'll have to get that footage later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynk4MKdRdjo
Nice birds.
I have been hearing the bitterns looking for a mate, the snipes doing their thing, ducks on the beaver ponds. Man those beavers have a lot of woods flooded around here. ::)
They must have heard that you had some pecan. They look disappointed that there were not any nuts.
You've made some great friends.
I'm disappointed the pecans are all gone. :D
They were so good that they were gone in no time.
The planer was putting off a sweet aroma though.
I think other humans in the neighborhood are feeding the critters getting them used to handouts.
From a birds perspective, not a bad way to raise a family.
While driving down to the field earlier this week, I saw this guy or gal perched in a tree just off the raod.
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10487/107_3637.JPG)
I fired off an email to a friend and told her about seeing a Long-Eard Owl attached was a pic ... She promptly replied that its was a Great Horned Owl..... Well, we have a debate :D
Never saw one like that, who won the debate?
I must be loosing it. I thought I posted in here about your owl Marcel. :D I was only saying that I don't see many owls, but hear them often. The last owl I saw was a barred owl a couple years ago sitting in a maple. Not much for large cavity trees around.
Here is a (not very good..) scan of the two owls on a National Audubon Bird book page.
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The shape of the eyes on Marcel's owl looks like the great horned. I don't know if the shape of thier eyes changes with thier mood ;D
I think it's a young great horned
I love this time of year in the woods. Lots of birds singing although I can only recognize a handful by their call.
Especially in hardwood thinnings. Couldn't even begin to name all them warblers or remember the names. :D
A bird guy I know calls them LBB's, (little brown birds.) ;)
Walking through one of the town parks this afternoon, on the way to pick up Lara from school, and there was this funny looking duck by the pond. Got a bit closer, and...
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You see them occasionally in the country, but I've never seen one in town before ???
Ian
Where the folks live is a housing development, and there are a lot of wild unkept lots there with tall weeds and young thick growing trees for cover. There are lots of pheasants there that raid everyone's garden. See them all the time. See hens with chicks all summer long. However, I was surprised a couple weeks ago though, to hear one near the edge of the woodlot crowing. There are areas near the cleared fields that have tall weeds, so I suppose enough cover for the pheasant to call for a mate. ;D
Canadian geese. Never had any around here,that stayed all summer. Had a pair in the field 4-5-6 years ago. Kept seeing one pair for those years. 6 flew over last night,just about tree top height and I suppose heading for the pond.
Thank our Premier McKenna for that, for bringing in nuisance geese from Toronto. Share and share alike I guess. ::) And as I type this I'm listening to his rhetoric on the radio.
;)
Heard this correction on NPR the other morning:
They are Canada Geese. They have no passports and are not recognized as citizens of the country.
Today's sighting.
Small kowhai tree on the neighbours front lawn. Look in the top centre of the tree.
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A Kereru / Wood Pigeon.
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It's winter and food is a bit scarce, so it was chowing down on the tender leaves at the top of the tree. Just picking them off and eating them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/IMG_9228crop.JPG)
It's quite an impressive bird, about the size of a small chicken.
Ian
Great pics Ian! smiley_thumbsup
Ran across this guy during my last visit to Ithaca, NY. I have always had a thing for Blue Jays. i can remember as a kid we always had them in the woods. Than they just went away. Now it appears that they are turned to the northern Virginia area.
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Bruce
Yes, they are very common around here. Put out a feeder and you'll have 30 or more by the end of the week. One year there was sunflowers growing up in the potato field. Those darn 'gorbys sack'n and hiding the seeds. Dropping a lot too it seems.
The Bluejays harvest our Live Oak acorns every year.
We had at least three different pairs that had babies on our cabin property this spring. Pretty to look at, but they are bullies to the other birds.
One thing I've noticed about Blue Jays.....
While they are stiking in appearance, they have garnered a reputation in the east as an undesirable bird by some people because they can be loud, squawking, and aggressive. They are often taken for granted by most non-birders. What I have noticed on several occasions is that, when people from out west come east and see our Blue Jay, they marvel at its appearance and think its one of the most atractive birds they've ever seen. Further, the same thing happens in reverse. When easterers head out west, they see the Stellar's Jay and comment on how beautiful the bird is, while the people out west think its a pest.
The grass is always greener......
They're not my favorite Corvid, but I think they're only bullies in the sense that they're smarter than your average songbird... ;D
And Doc, you're right! I still think Stellar's jays are beautiful when compared to blue jays, eight years after my westward migration. Familiarity breeding comtempt? :D
They are intelligent birds and look after their sick and old family members. I've seen it lots of times. They will bring food and watch over the injured ones. When we hear them fuss, it is a sign of a pending storm coming. One of my favorite birds. :)
Blue Jays are important for genetic diversity of eastern oaks. They will collect and bury (plant) acorns away from the parent trees. Squirrels do the same thing, but usually under or closer to the parent oaks.
We had snow buntings here yesterday. Family was here for Christmas and there was 3-4 birds on the ground under the feeder. DIL saw me looking hard and came to look too. She had no idea what they was either. Out came the bird book and she found what it was.
We have the snow buntings here to. They have been here since the end of October. I never see them around a feeder though, they are very timid and stay in large flocks around here. They look similar to wintering goldfinch, only a lot more white.
Blue jays, like the crows are sort a rarity here. I've even missed them in our timber while hunting, when they spy something like a bobcat, coyote, or fox, hawks and owls, they really put up a fuss!
We had a crow nest in a pine several years back. I had stepped outside and heard an awful squawking, four or five jays had attacked the crow nest killing one young crow and knocked the other crow down to the lower branches where I captured the little fellow and fed it earthworms for a few days and allowed it to fly away.
.
Crows are pretty well off up here. We have lots of'm. Just toss a chicken carcass out the back yard and see how quick you see crows. Usually as far as nest robbing and harassment, it's the crows doing it. :D
I saw a few crows really doing a number on a squirrel once. He was dragging a piece of field corn through the back yard. The crows came down out of the trees and surrounded him. A crow would sneak in on him, and the squirrel would attempt to defend his corn by snapping at the advancing crow , but this was only a ruse. The other crows would nip the cob behind his back. They all did this in turn, nipping at the squirrel until they flew away, leaving him with an empty cob. :/
Most people around here call steller's, blue jays, just like they call western larch, tamarack. People don't like to be corrected, so I try to use the correct names, but am guilty as most. Steller's and gray jays seem to know when you're eating lunch, almost tame if food is involved.
When at fishing and game camps in my younger years I could feed gray jays (whiskey jacks) bread from my hands. They are very friendly. We do not see them in the settlements, the cats would probably have lots of jays for lunch. The blue jays would also be around and steal the jack's stash. :D
We've got a clump of cottonwoods next to the highway about 4 miles west of town where two bald eagles use almost every January for a month or so. But yesterday I came up the valley mid-day and spotted 7 of them sitting in "their" tree. 40 feet off the highway, 50 feet in the air.
There's an eagle tree I drive by often and the last time the pair was sitting up above their nest by ~ 15 feet - wish I had a camera for that one! Nesting soon...
Here's 2 geese in our field. They show up off and on all summer. Will see the gosselins behind the parents in the pond. Most times at early evening,I can hear the pair honking,coming back to the pond.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/greese_in_field2014.JPG)
Anybody know this guy?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_75.JPG)
Real hard to tell with the lighting of that pic of that Buteo. Large wing span. Could even be an eagle. I'm interested in others opinions as to which species it is.
I don't know. But been seeing the ospreys here taking some pretty big fish from the water, at least 3 lb fish.
I can tell you they like to soar, then will do a power dive from 400ft to hit their target. There is a pair of them and they have driven off the redtail from the saguaro hill. They are a bit shy and very quick, so hard to get a really good picture. I'll keep trying.
I've seen ospreys and it isn't that. We thought it might be a black shouldered kite, but this is sort of out of their range. Still trying to figure it out....
Goshawk?
We have been watching the pair which are close to redtail hawk size. Actually they drove off the redtails. We are thinking they are Northern Harriers at the moment. They don't hang around all that long usually and I haven't had my binoculars along.
Got to see an immature Bald Eagle when I pulled in at the work site this morning. Great way to start the new week. :)
The rough shouldered hawks and the red tails are constantly sparring for territory here. Currently the red tails appear to rule the sky - that is until the bald eagles decide to make an appearance.
I hear a red tail once in awhile when out on a block, he/she screeches as he sores in a circle. There are a couple places along roads where I also see a hawk most every time I drive bye, so I assume a nest is near.
I came upon a goshawk today sitting on the road. There are lots of rabbits and partridge this year along the roads, the goshawks like to fly the road corridors.
Osprey here are almost pets, they nest on platforms people erect along the river and power lines.
Beep! Beep!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/photo_106.JPG)
Note the open beak. Even the desert natives are looking for shade.
Ramadas are cool. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Them Snow birds were just spotted headed South !
Haven't seen too many of them yet. More after Thanksgiving and another large flock following Christmas/New Year's. fly_smiley super-smiley
Had a grouse hit a window in the laundry room yesterday, same one they broke at this time of the year last year. Both survived, this one at least didn't break it this time. Must have something to do with them moving down the mountains this time of the year.
Just put up hummingbird feeders last week. Now the broadbills and the anna's are at war. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Sandhill Cranes aerating the lawn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8OHRpIik-E&index=1&list=UUoK01ereAGdikRqDj00MmYA
At least the treatment was free ;D.
So what's my cranes doin' in your yard? :D
:D :D :D :D
There was a odd looking bird flying around the yard today sometimes being chased by a flock of crows, It was quite far away so the pictures could be better. The best guess I could come up with is a mostly white red-tailed hawk.
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Cool. ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:
Sure looks cool. What are the chances? ;D
Nothing to compare the size with, but it looks like an Osprey to me!
When I google "white red tail hawk" and click on images I get quite a few pictures the look very similar, The tail feathers are about the same colour as a regular red tailed hawk.
Osprey don't winter up north here. Frozen water is hard to fish in with talons and feathers. :D
It doesn't look familiar to me. We have lots of Osprey around here and it doesn't look like ours.
It is a white / albino Red-tailed Hawk. Great Pics!!!! Thanks
https://adlayasanimals.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/red-tailed-hawk-buteo-jamaicensis/
Check out this site. Scroll down to picture of same.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on December 22, 2014, 04:31:23 AM
Sure looks cool. What are the chances? ;D
I believe it is the square of the gene frequency. ;D :P :P :P :snowball:
If you look closely you can see the hawks in question have dark eyes. They are not albinos, which have no pigment. This looks more like a gene affecting only part of the coloration that is pigment defective, producing no color there. Think of things like black spotted cats and dogs as something similar. Or Holstein cattle. Seems these hawks have the same pattern of colored tails. Likely one gene of very low frequency in the population.
Happens here with our brook trout. We have the regular brook trout that everyone up north has seen. Then we have "sea run" that is only 1 gene difference and it goes to sea, just off shore not like salmon that go far off. Looks about the same with the colors, but it's scales have a more silvery fleck.
Quote from: doctorb on December 22, 2014, 09:44:03 AM
It is a white / albino Red-tailed Hawk. Great Pics!!!! Thanks
https://adlayasanimals.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/red-tailed-hawk-buteo-jamaicensis/
Check out this site. Scroll down to picture of same.
Good info Doc! Thanks.
Thanks for the link doctorb.
Perhaps it is a contagious and the hawk caught it from the deer. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/2262/IMG_1476.JPG)
It's a piebald deer, and images of piebald redtail hawks show up very similar to the ones photographed.
https://www.carolinabirdclub.org/gallery/Sorenson/rtha_2.html
Don't see it as an albino however.
Broad billed hummingbird. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1137.JPG)
There used to be a blue jay around home a few years ago that was mostly white. It would come to the feeder with 30 other regular colored ones.
I just had a few exciting moments in the backyard. I was witness to a very cool aerial pursuit of a small unidentified bird by a Goshawk. It took place just a little over head high, weaving and banking in and out and around the trees in our yard until the small bird gave the Goshawk the slip. The Goshawk then lit just above the roof of the little cabin in our back yard just long enough for me to give him a real good look. A moments rest and it was off in the same direction in which its intended prey had disappeared. I've no pictures other than that which hopefully, will be forever imprinted in my minds eye.
The fox runs for its supper. The rabbit runs for its life.
I saw several Giant Hummingbirds while in Peru earlier this month. Sort of like a long billed swallow hovering on amphetamines. They are large enough that their wings do not beat as fast as the standard sized hummingbirds, so you do not hear the pronounced hum. But man, they are impressive doing what they do at their size.
This Marsh Hawk was bothering the other birds in the yard on Wednesday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bClmwhcGB_0&list=UUoK01ereAGdikRqDj00MmYA
Good Video Glenn....beautiful bird. Did he ever move. ;D
He was causing a ruckus out there and the noise is what got my attention.
By the time I started to video he was on a break. ;)
Quote from: Mooseherder on December 26, 2014, 07:04:13 PM
He was causing a ruckus out there......
But not enough to go to the Wood Shed. :D :D :D :D
Costa's hummingbird. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_1023.JPG)
Great picture Russ......We are having to thaw/ heat our feeders daily to keep the local guys going. Rob
Ours have frozen for a few hours for the last few days. :(
The ice is creeping southward. :snowball:
:(
Great hummingbird pic!
With the faint grinding sound of the glaciers moving inexorably south, the Birds fly South :).
Quote from: WDH on January 05, 2015, 08:15:20 PM
With the faint grinding sound of the glaciers moving inexorably south, the Birds fly South :).
...and later on with the faint grinding sound of Grits, the birds fly North. :D
Oh, you wanted to see a take off. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8LYKC6o-E&list=UUoK01ereAGdikRqDj00MmYA&index=2
This one was sent to me recently, Ospreys are my Favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nA3LtXnNIto
I didn't notice until today that there is a second hummingbird sitting on the feeder. That one is an Anna's.
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I don't have a photo but a bird of prey took a hare in an open trail in the last couple of days. I am saying goshawk because I have seen them catch grouse. There were rabbit tracks and no ground predator track. There was an impact area on thin crusted snow and lots of fur in small chunks around. So it was lifted off the ground to where ever for someone's lunch. ;D
Quote from: Hilltop366 on December 22, 2014, 08:33:03 PM
Thanks for the link doctorb.
Perhaps it is a contagious and the hawk caught it from the deer. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/2262/IMG_1476.JPG)
Here's a link to white whitetail deer
http://senecawhitedeer.org/
As a past meatcutter I processed one of these in the late eighties, only one I've ever seen. Back then they suspected it may have been from past shelling practice by the Army, not sure if it's been clarified now and didn't have time to read it.
Well, that didn't take long:
http://thedreamyidealist.com/2013/09/30/whitedeer/
My grandfather shot 2 or 3 albino white tails. I have a photo of one hanging with some regular deer at his hunting camps on Serpentine Lake. Camps are still there after 60 years.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 07, 2015, 06:34:40 PM
My grandfather shot 2 or 3 albino white tails. I have a photo of one hanging with some regular deer at his hunting camps on Serpentine Lake. Camps are still there after 60 years.
Love to see the pics........probably a hassle, surely they're not digital lol
Warped-
My hunter friend - who I know well and is the only hunter permitted to hunt on my property - told me he once shot an albino deer. This was not on my land, although I did see an albino deer a few years ago. Anyway, he said that the meat was very atypical for a whitetail and it did not have the usual taste of deer. Has that been your experience?
All white meat?
Quote from: doctorb on January 07, 2015, 08:08:36 PM
Warped-
My hunter friend - who I know well and is the only hunter permitted to hunt on my property - told me he once shot an albino deer. This was not on my land, although I did see an albino deer a few years ago. Anyway, he said that the meat was very atypical for a whitetail and it did not have the usual taste of deer. Has that been your experience?
To be honest, I don't eat much venison, maybe try a piece every few years. Just a weird hang up, also pass out giving blood 70-80%, bet on it. I've also never actually field dressed a deer, but I've done plenty on the cutting block. I swear some guys used a chain saw! Corn, turds, full bladders, and various other things that I guess just turned me off.
With that said, it was a doe, and once the hide was off there was no difference visually, in texture or smell. I remember the guy's and their young son who brought it in said it ate the same as any. They shot them often, so I'm guessing they tasted the same. They're actually in a fenced in area where you needed special permit to get in. A lottery, maybe? While it was certainly white, it wasn't as snow white as the ones in that I linked to. Could of been from what they dragged it through. Just to be clear though, they aren't albinos, I've never seen one of those.
Just to redeem myself that I'm not a complete sissy, I remember this one deer around 1992. Often, when they take a slug in the torso they get down and rub it in mud, grass and dirt (so I've been told) to pack the wound. Well, when I dropped the hide, which had no hole, I found one of these healed over messes. The smell! Almost knocked me over. Then you have the healed over broken legs that look like clubs and a rusty broken off broad head in the hinds once. Poor guys go through a lot. But, I still hunt and take my son who loves it........I'm just very careful to never shoot one! LOL!
Sorry for the long post but I've been down and under the weather.
Quote from: beenthere on January 07, 2015, 08:32:09 PM
All white meat?
:D :D
and taste li.........oh nevermind
Here's lookin' at you kid.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Sandhill_Crane_2015.JPG)
That sure is a beautiful yard, and you always have amazing visitors!
Looks just like a new avatar for POSTON. ;D 8) 8) 8) :snowball:
Black Birds were in all the tree tops this morning. . . To many to count making lots of Noise. . Must be because it Snowed on the first day of Spring and they are hungry. . . It will be 50 this afternoon and they will be happy
First hummingbird showed up yesterday and had our first band tailed pigeons a few days earlier.
Mourning Doves are cooing.
My wife opened a bedroom window last night, why not it only gets down to 30 :D, but did wake up to a pair of cardinals talking, oh and a slight chill.
Currently have drama going on in the front yard--cat vs solo turkey. At first there was stalking, then the cat came to its senses. Now following.
Tim
:D :D :D That's funny!
I watched a small hawk, I don't know what kind but about half the size of a chicken hawk the other morning. He'd caught a meadowlark and was trying his hardest to hang on to it as I was getting closer with the tractor, the meadowlark got free so I watched and within a 1/4 mile or so the hawk got him again in mid air. Nature can be cruel but it was pretty neat to see that.
Got up this morning to find a turkey gobbler strutting around in my pasture a couple hundred yards from the house. Good sign as our spring season starts later this month. They had a hard time with about 4 weeks when the ground was covered with snow and ice.
Later went up to my son's place and found a pair of Killdeers in his yard. Evidently they were starting or had already established their nest as they started trying to lead me away. Last year the had a nest and put on some remarkable shows. My wife is a photographer and had a blast watching their broken wing act. We had a turkey hen here at the house also try to lead me away like that. I'd had quail and the killdeers and even cranes in Mongolia and ostriches in Africa do that but was first time I ever saw a turkey try to lead me away. Ain't nature grand!
Yup, nature has many lessons to teach, if we will only pause to learn. :)
The Tree Swallows arrived here, first thing this morning.
Now they're just squabbiling over "which birdhouse" this year.
First Eastern BlueBirds here this morning!
They just entered into the mix with the Tree Swallows over birdhouses!
Now I'm curious Chuck, we call them barn swallows around here, wonder if it's the same bird? Ours haven't showed up yet and I'm a lot further south?
Tree swallows and barn swallows are two different species. You might want to look them up. Google them. ;)
In this area we have 3 species of swallows that I know of, they are the Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow & Bank Swallow.
The Tree Swallow resembles the Purple Martin and likes to live in birdhouses, and the Bank Swallows nest just under the lip of gravel pits or any other type of sharp embankment, just dig a burrow back into the bank about 1 1/2 feet.
When I was a kid, I liked the swallows in dairy barns. They just made themselves at home like they belonged there.
Thanks guys.
http://youtu.be/JnCZQoxcad8
Mary spotted a pair of giant woodpeckers going around and around a walnut just outside the yard. Although the birds are very elusive, I was able to get the cam-corder out and crack the door to get them on video. They finally moved from this tree and leapfrogged to a couple of others in the yard before heading back into the woods.
They are pileated woodpeckers. They are magnificent birds.
I have been doing some research and the male and female look very similar. I thought they may be male and female or two male but looking at the video, it looks like two female birds. Territorial dispute?
We have lots of the pileated woodpeckers here and they are one of my favorite birds. I think they are the ones called wood hens here. We got some pictures a few weeks ago of a pair in the snow pecking the bark off an old locust. They tend to nest in old locusts and such around here.
First hatching of Eastern Bluebirds this weekend, look like at least 5 in nest.
This time of year I would have to believe that's a male and a female. I cannot tell the gender by appearance in this bird. Very nice video Bibby. Thank you.
Excellent video capture of the two pileated woodpeckers. Rare to get them to stay in one place long enough for that length of time. We have had them all the 50+ years in our woods, usually hear them and then see them moving about. But correct that they are a pretty shy bird.
My wife captured some video of this Pileated Woodpecker about a month ago.
http://youtu.be/aiPnQypFgcA
Their calls are very distinctive.
Great thread;
Wild Turkey (Spring)
Quail
Morning Dove
Ruffed Grouse
Chickadee
Towhee
Wren
American Gold Finch
Sparrow
Thrush
Warbler
Stellar Jay
Grey Jay
Rufus Hummingbird
Starling and crow
Barn Swallow
Grosbeak (several types)
Cardinal
Woodpeckers
Nice video of two beautiful woodpeckers. I see green woodpeckers pretty much everyday just outside here. Last week, I stepped outside and saw one. Then, just as I started driving down the lane, a weasel ran across the road (I probably only see about one a year, usually running across the road!). This seemed a bit suspicious because recently someone took this crazy photograph of the same two species:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31691/Screen_Shot_2015-04-28_at_22_38_29.png)
Have you seen it yet? Apparently the woodpecker managed to get away.
Good videos of the pileated woodpecker. i had one in my backyard in town last week though they are a featured species of old growth timber. ;)
We're still waiting for the Ruby Throated HumingBirds to arrive, they're usually here between the 7th & 11th, but thought they'd be a little early this year because of the nice weather.
Thanks for the woodpecker video, Bibbyman. I have been trying for years to get a good shot of them... even just bought a better camera !!!!
Last Thursday there was a Chickadee "trapped" in the 3 sided garage attached to my house. It had been flapping up against a window and was too dumb to fly back out the door. So I grabbed it in my hand and put it outside !
Same thing happened to a Junco on Friday ! Also caught in my hand and put outside. Feels pretty cool to have a real live little bird in your hand :)
I have hung the tarp different over the door so they won't think it's a shortcut.
John.Howard,if that is true,THAT is a picture. And than some.
Chuck, I saw my first hummingbird this afternoon. They're on the way! fly_smiley
Had some of these guys in the garden yesterday. They are tiny things, and hyperactive. Hard to photograph as they NEVER stay still. They hunt small insects on the wing, so they don't even fly in a straight line!!!
Anyway, it's sign of winter when they come down from the National Park and start hanging out in town gardens and farmland. They like to follow people and animals around to catch any insects you stir up. When we were winter feeding herds of cattle you might have 5 or 10 of them fluttering around the herd, sitting on cows, and swooping around your knees to grab something you never even saw.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Fantail.jpg)
Well, I saw the season's first (for this area) Ruby Throated HummingBird about an hour ago. :)
The little bugger went around and around the house and checked out all 6 of the feeders.
Won't be long and they'll be buzzing everywhere.
thecfarm, the picture is real. They guy took a few but that's the amazing one. I think he was lucky enough to see a weasel riding a woodpecker but to get a photograph and in focus too is crazy!
There is a robin nesting in the bolt box in the workshop. Made 4 nests in different compartments. The male is bringing her food. She just looks at you if you need to get a bolt. One of them spent pretty much the whole winter in the workshop. They don't seem bothered by us. We'll have to buy some more 1/2" nuts!
Story about the weasel riding the woodpecker.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31711446
The red tailed hawk came back that I posted about a year or so ago (or it is another one) so got a few more pictures.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0109.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0102.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0090.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0080.jpg)
That last picture is outstanding!! :)
Nice pictures.
We was going somewheres the other day and looked where we feed the deer. Most times there is at least gray squirrels,crows,small birds eating there among the deer. Not a critter was there.Than Brenda saw the eagle up in the tree. I drove down so she could get a picture. The eagle flew off before she could,but what a sight to see it fly away.
Thanks, but wait there's more!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0082.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0084.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0083.jpg)
Great shots. ;D
I've seen a few European Starlings over the past couple of weeks!
I don't mind a few, but if they get to thick, they become targets! fudd-smiley
Just saw Robins and not just one or two about 75- 100
That constitutes a whack.
A couple few bunches.
Quote from: WDH on February 24, 2016, 04:14:28 PM
That constitutes a whack.
How many Glugs in a Whack?
300
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D I wasn't thinking.
Just like bowling 300 is the Magic Number
Yeah, I've seen robins here all winter this year.
Lately, the waxwings have arrived for their annual feast on our highbush cranberry bushes. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/cedar-waxwings1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/cedar-waxwings2.jpg)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCWXaY4aD-0
Look at this guy feeding them apple from his hand. ;D
https://youtu.be/0mS4HS1v1wM
We got some visitors this morning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHUFY79M89s&feature=youtube
Bunch of great stuff !!!
Was gonna add a few I have. Buy I guess I have some uploading to do.
Chickadees @ the feeder.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0074.jpg)
I love waxwings ! Thanks.
New flock of ? has joined the chickadees, nuthatches, juncos and goldfinches at my feeder. The new ones are aggressive and won't share the perch.
Lots of new bird voices in the yard.
The back two bushes are completely bare after a couple days of feeding. They still have one more bush to visit out front. :)
We have quite a few Cedar Waxwings here, but usually in July-Sept.
These ones we believe to be the western bohemian waxwing because of the wing bars and color under their tail. But our cedar waxwings overwinter here to.
I have fed cedar waxwings by hand, some wild cherries. These ones are more timid.
Snuck up on a Roseate Spoonbill that was fishing in the canal behind our house. Trying to zoom in makes for blurry mess but got a short video on it. I had never seen one before and had to look up what flavor it was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB6jN2mYn7k
Dude was a little camera shy.
Quote from: WDH on April 18, 2016, 07:30:57 AM
Dude was a little camera shy.
He knows Glenn likes to cook. :D
Forwarded from my Sister in Ketchikan today:
http://www.krbd.org/2016/04/19/tens-of-thousands-of-geese-fill-ketchikan-skies/
Is this early or what? Just curious. :)
Just now we have our first blue birds for the year. Both male and female have arrived to this nest box.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_easternbluebird.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_easternbluebird2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_easternbluebird3.jpg)
I've had a cardnal beating his face into my dining room window for the past several days now, man does that get annoying. Foxes and hawks just ate all the baby geese around my ponds, there one day and gone the next. Sad really, I enjoy watching the baby geese grow up and leave the nest.
Nice pictures swampdonkey.
Saw our community white robin today. David, our neighbor saw my wife in our local hardware store 3 years ago and said "Oh, you're a photographer. I've been looking for one." My wife is a free lance photographer with pictures from all over the world from our travels. David said he had a white robin hanging around his place and had the biologist from one of our big local state parks verify it. David told Becky about the bird and when we returned we stopped and spotted it. Over the next several days she got several good pictures of it, the best being it feeding on wild grapes in a big sycamore tree. That was in the late summer or early Fall. Becky printed David an 8X10 and he showed it all over town.
We saw David a few weeks ago and he said the bird has been coming back every year. I saw it fly past as I drove by so turned around and went back. Stopped and he came back pretty soon and lit on the power line then pitched down in a fresh plowed garden plot. he hopped around in typical robin fashion. I called Becky and let her know where he was but she could not come back and get more shots but may in the next few days. The robin must have a nest nearby. The first time I saw it fly by it looked like it had a twig in her beak.
Its not a true albino with pink eyes and complete white body. It has a few black feathers and such. I am surprised it has lived this long and returned to the same place but it is neat to see it.
More "blue" birds. This time a nesting pair of blue jays in a mixed row of spruce and pine in the yard. Sitting in a yellow birch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_blue-jay.jpg)
Had a little wild kingdom action while milling mesquite. A family of horned owls was fledging and a raven and a red tailed hawk decided a little owl veal would make a nice afternoon snack. Wasn't able to get the dive bomb passes in a photo, but here is mom with 2 of the three babies huddling next to her.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/31219/IMG_3124.JPG)
Mom was a good fighter, and the hungrys eventually gave up...
Nice pic, rare scene to catch on film.
We have a few Humming Birds back from their Southern vacation!
They'll never learn not to fight! They're very territorial.
I was about 10 feet today within a black duck nest with a ribboned line. I marked it with a safety ribbon for anyone coming upon it with a brush saw. They will probably be hatched and waddled down to the beaver pond before the place gets thinned.
Saw a pair of mallards and a pair of teal on one of our pasture dams the other day so hopefully they've started nesting there and hang around, I enjoy watching the little ones through the summer.
I also noticed yesterday that some of the Barn Swallows are back, they're a little early!
We don't get many barn swallows any more. But the tree swallows have been around for almost 3 weeks now. We have a couple nest boxes in the yard, and 4 pairs of swallows fighting for one, the other occupied by blue birds. ;D
Generally, we kept track of the barn swallows when they were in large numbers, up until 1996 when they died off from unusually cold late May weather. They would arrive around May 20.
Rose breasted grosbeak. Haven't seen one for a couple years.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBgrosbeak516.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1463088987)
Not many of them around for sure. Nice birds. I see a few, not many, mosty hear them. They kind of sound robin-like. The first time I noticed them was on the woodlot a few years ago. Never noticed them before.
We have several pairs of Rose Breasted GrossBeaks here.
They are everyday visitors to our window feeder box to get their dose of blackoil Sunflower seeds!
We used to have lots of Evening GrossBeaks, but since we started having milder winters in this area, we rarely see them anymore!
We have been seeing a cardinal at the feeder, Well the platform one,just about a foot square,flat. First one here. I know others get them about 10 miles from me.
We have them here year around, but they are very few, not like flocks of robins. ;D :D
We've moved back into the city but have a green belt and creek that runs through the development. A week or so ago I had a barred owl wake me up about 4:00AM in the morning. Then last night had two of them hooting, just after 4:00AM. Have never heard two of them together like that before, even when living in the woods. Have heard that it is how they define their territory so unusual to hear two of them.
A couple of locals taken up winter residence the garden this week. They seem to move down from the forest around the mountain when it gets colder, and hang out in town gardens and farmland.
First is a Waxeye.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/IMG_2685c.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1496638250)
And a fantail or Piwakawaka
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/IMG_2697c.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1496638260)
These guys are infuriating to try and photograph as they never sit still. They are very tame and will fly within a few feet of you chasing insects you might disturb, and catching them on the wing. But next second they are 50 ft away :D
Have Tui, Bellbirds and Kereru hanging around too, which are larger birds, but they are a bit more wary, so more of a challenge to get a good shot of.
This hawk was just perched in our backyard. At first we thought is was protecting something because it wouldn't take off as we got closer. After we got the dog inside it just hobbled around the yard and we realized it had an injury on the left side. Unfortunately none of the raptor rescues in our area were able to come out until the next day and we couldn't keep it contained in our yard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43657/DSCF1141_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1500997476)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43657/DSCF1152_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1500997476)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43657/DSCF1165_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1500997476)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43657/DSCF1184_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1500997477)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/43657/DSCF1207_28129.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1500997477)
Always sad to hear of such injuries, but you got some real nice pics!
A visitor last week
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/DSCN1607.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1504646088)
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/DSCN1608.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1504646163)
These birds are known as Tui, They are a type of honeyeater, but quite a large (about 12" long), vocal and boisterous one. Every winter they seem to move down from the native forest in the National Park, and hang out in the parks and gardens around town, where there are various introduced trees that flower or fruit. Once the weather warms up a bit they all seem to migrate about 10 miles the road into the forest and make their nests there. The pictures are shot around the girls school, they are quite proud of their birdlife, and have maybe 30-40 of the birds in around the school at the moment.
This guy was feeding in a small flowering cherry tree just outside Taylors classroom.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Tui01.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1505190206)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Tui02.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1505190206)
And another one at their favourite food this time of year, Kowhai. Being a large bird they can't hover like a hummingbird, so they just do whatever acrobatics they need to reach the flowers and nectar. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Tui03.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1505190220)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Tui04.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1505190221)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Tui05.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1505190231)
Every year 1000's of birds come to our old Christmas tree farm to sleep.
https://youtu.be/E_8xepEfDn8
Good you have a place for them.
If those are Blackbirds, Yuck. They completely overrun some of our towns breaking tree limbs and leaving their thick deposits of crap. Some towns have to resort to the use of "propane cannons" to try to relocate the nasty/stinking Blackbirds.
I had a house in Louisville that was plagued with those things. They would fly into the tree at the back of the house and poop all over the place. Only good thing was I had excellent target practice with my 12 gauge and the feral cats enjoyed the birds that hit the dirt.
What ever they are they only stay the night...
The filthy migrant Blackbirds that we have spend the night in the towns and then disperse during the day into harvested fields to feed during the daytime only to return to their roost at night. :-\
European Starlings.
We have them here in NZ too, but they are generally liked by farmers for the number of bugs and caterpillars they eat. I have seen large flocks roosting like that before. The "city" ones around New Plymouth seem to fly out to a small offshore island to roost at night. (no predators?) The ones around our place only seem to hang out in smaller groups and spend their time poking around on the lawns. Not big enough numbers to be a nuisance, and there is a pair that nests every year in the eaves of my workshop.
Bonus word of the day. A flock of starlings is called a murmuration.
Up here there is a crow problem in Auburn. They used to have an annual crow shoot until environmentalists stepped in. They get thousands of huge crows in town.
Quote from: 21incher on November 09, 2017, 07:07:12 PM
Up here there is a crow problem in Auburn. They used to have an annual crow shoot until environmentalists stepped in. They get thousands of huge crows in town.
Better than an annual Goat Shoot. :D :D :D
I hate the European Starlings! >:(
One year (a while back), when they first arrived here, I shot a 5-gallon pail of them right from my window! ;D
They, over time have pretty-much stopped landing in my yard! :)
We get 500 crows like that that roost on the hill at night, they will even sometimes crow in the night, then they fly up the river valley for the day, and back down here again for the night. They left this fall Nov 5, so they must be headed south. We have lots of crows however that don't migrate, here year around but more like a dozen or so locally.
Quote from: Ianab on November 09, 2017, 05:57:44 PM
European Starlings.
We have them here in NZ too, but they are generally liked by farmers for the number of bugs and caterpillars they eat. I have seen large flocks roosting like that before. The "city" ones around New Plymouth seem to fly out to a small offshore island to roost at night. (no predators?) The ones around our place only seem to hang out in smaller groups and spend their time poking around on the lawns. Not big enough numbers to be a nuisance, and there is a pair that nests every year in the eaves of my workshop.
Bonus word of the day. A flock of starlings is called a murmuration.
They could also be red-winged blackbirds. Very common to see large groups migrating this time of year.
A mumuration of starlings? How about a "murder of crows"? Gary
Murmuration. I like it.
I have seen the grackle flock up in the fall and they seem to be in the hardwoods (maples) that time of year, but they nest here in softwoods in summer. I have also seen a few rusty black birds flock up around the beaver pond. Not large numbers of them because they seem to be in declining numbers.
You got the 1000 right, wow!!!
We have a sparrow and we use to listen them on daily bases. We use to keep millet and feed them on daily bases. It feels really good to see them.
First time this year, I saw two Eastern Bluebirds in the yard, fighting over the birdhouses early this morning!
Won't be long now and the yard will be busy with all the different birds!
The most active are the Tree Swallows, but they aren't here just yet!
UPDATE: 10:40AM Just looked out around the yard and I saw one male Tree Swallow fighting with the Bluebirds over the birdhouses!
I saw 4 blue birds this morning at once, but this guy was alone this afternoon. First time I saw them this year and first time I have seen them here in Royalton. I know neighbours have bird boxes up the road, but never asked if they ever have any.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-2018-1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-2018-2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-2018-3.jpg)
The tree swallows have been here a week or so and have not gone to the boxes much. I saw 6 this afternoon flying around the church and around the fields.
The farm next to me was leased for hunting a few years ago. They released hundreds of quail and put feeders up for them. The game warden got wind of it and issued them a citation for feeding game birds and shut them down. The hunters left, and they left the feeders. I brought one home, modified it somewhat and loaded it with cracked corn. It's in my yard and the quail found it and put on a show for me every day. They are really comical. Gary
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/44177/DSC08939.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1524994073)
The bluebird found himself a mate, she has been nest building all day. :)
Busy nest building. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-2018-4.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1525028138)
Love is in the air.
Taking a break in the refuge of a white birch a few feet away from the nest box. :)
Bluebird sitting in a white birch. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/cOlAxLdQ75E)
He must be tired, they usually don't sit still that long!
Nice video!
I've observed them quite bit this spring. They will perch quite a while if not disturbed. I've seen them hang out in my yellow birch plantation at the far end of the house lot, they like the edge trees. They'll perch and 'talk' to one another quite a bit. They also like to sit on my fence posts a lot that I use in the raspberry rows. Most any tree in the yard they are quite content to sit a spell. Their little eyes can sure spot a bug from quite a distant. I'll see one take a dive and back onto his perch with a bug. :)
Winter is when we get more birds here in town. They aren't really migrating but they come down from the forest around the Mt and move onto the town gardens where there is more foos and less snow. Starting to see the Tui staking our their favourite trees already. Seeing 20 of the them squabbling over a flowering cherry in the spring is interesting 😁 Will break out the zoom lens and geg some pics soon.
Cool picture of my Sister Lynda's Cherry tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20180603_185452.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1528066808)
Wow! Piliated woodpeckers are one of my favorite birds. Never saw 3 on a tree like that. Very rare photo IMHO and a very good catch. We have lots of them here and they must be nesting close to the house as we hear them calling every day, especially just before dark. We call them Wood hens here.
Uh Oh, they are on the woodpecker march. :D ;D
WOW!! Nice picture. Last time I tried that I got dizzy from circling the tree to get a picture of it. ;D
Baltimore Orioles are back,been here a couple weeks. Tried a different type of feeder. We tried the liquid one years ago,that wa a waste of money. We use to just put out oranges,sliced in half. This year I have a hanger with a small glass cup for jelly and a place to put a sliced orange. They ignore the orange and go for the grape jelly. Most time we only see for a couple weeks,male and females are there quite often. Seen 3 at one time.
Nice pic, Jeff!
The bad news, I'd bet that there are ants inside that Cherry tree!
Great photo of the pileateds.
Only rarely see them in my woods
Chuck, they line up there because of the suet feeders you can't see in this picture that is on the deck about ten feet from the tree.
Well, I guess that would change everything, all woodpeckers like suet! ;D
Awesome pic!
I was near a pair of them with a nest in a cavity tree today. You talk about a disturbance. I kept moving and glad I had a hard hat. They never attacked or anything, but I bet they was prepared to. :D
A rare picture!
Blue bird babies and momma. There are 3 babies as far as I can tell. They were all in the garden this morning. Took these pictures in late afternoon.
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-baby1~0.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-baby2~0.jpg)
Nice pictures. I have no idea how the ones around here are doing.
I have more woodpeckers now than all winter,4 at one time. Seem like the finches are busy too. Orioles are still here,so far.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_4633.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1529440786)
An umbrella stuck in a plant pot on the sidewalk.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_4631.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1529440746)
And underneath was a hen duck hatching her eggs. :)
We had one up on the flu sitting there one morning. She thought she was a chimney swift. :D
Friend said she had an unusual waterbird on one of her ponds so I had a look when I was passing.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/dabchick.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1529471102)
Turns out it's a NZ Dabchick, which I have never seen locally either. According to wikipedia it's quite rare, with only about 2,000 birds in total. But it's been upgraded from "Endangered" to "Near Threatened", which is an improvement.
Middle of winter and the Tui birds have arrived here in town. They are a native Honey Eater that usually live up in the National Park around the mountain. Of course this time of year it's a bit cold, and there aren't many flowers up there, so they migrate a few miles down the hill and hang out around the town were there are more flowering trees. There is a line of Banksia trees at the end of our street that they have basically "taken over". Maybe a dozen birds in as many trees, and I'm guessing it's "pairing up" season by the amount of activity.
Anyway I stopped and shot some cellphone video. It's hard to see the birds, but I got some decent audio of their calling. All the different bird calls are Tuis.
Tui song. - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rylDoYvBZC4)
This what the bird looks like, a pic I got last year once the Kowhai trees outside the kids school had started flowering.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Tui04.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1505190221)
While we were vacationing a Woodpecker came calling. :-\
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_4646.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1530013695)
I realize that it was just doing it's job but I ain't happy. :-X
Ouch! Always some work defending the buildings from the critters. If it ain't squirrels, it's ground hogs or woody wood pecker. ::)
Lynn,
He was just pointing out that you needed to be alert for likely insect infestations. Now you know where to look.
They are real good about showing me where the carpenter bees have gotten into my false rafters on our log home. Their favorite time to show me however is about 6:00 a.m. I guess they just wanted to be sure we were home to get the message. >:(
Was out clearing up some pine trees, some storm damage, and other had been taken down to clear some fence lines and prevent them falling on the new fence in the next storm
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/20180630_125319.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1530347419)
Can you see my little buddy?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/20180630_151749.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1530347415)
Closeup. It's a little fantail. They are a a small insect eater. Very friendly, and a like hanging around people and cattle to catch any insects that get disturbed. They are never still, constantly flitting around and catching bug, flying withing a few feet of you.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/fantail01.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1530347371)
Loon in the river with a heavy morning mist.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC2361.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1530362130)
Ringneck pheasant in the front yard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC2422_2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1530362249)
All 3 are great shots. Appreciated.
Did not know where to post this here or over in the health and safety about eyes going screwy. Late this morning we heard a thump on one of the windows and Becky saw feathers floating down so I went out and checked. This little guy was on the ground looking pretty addled. I put him in a cardboard box on the porch and went back a couple hours later and checked on him and he perked up enough to fly a few feet. The last I checked he had left the porch so I hope he is okay. I don't if he is just a young bird learning to fly or attacked his reflection or what.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_0835.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1530922498)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_0836.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1530922530)
Not sure what kind of bird he is. Maybe a wren or finch or something.
His crash landing reminded me several years ago we visited the Galapagos Islands and learned the most common death of the Blue footed booby is poor eyesight. When he gets older he gets cataracts and can't judge the water depth very well and breaks his neck in shallow water when fishing.
They are pretty neat birds. Have black feet when young then turn blue when mature and when he starts to get old they turn purple. Not many purple footed boobies alive in the wild. (I am sure that will keep you up all night worrying how to fit BFBs with glasses or contacts or get them Lasik surgery.)
We have two, maybe a mated pair, of very small Hawks here at the Cabin. I call them Sparrow Hawks, but anyway I have not seen either of the Fox Squirrels that are normally here. :-\
I'd love to see a sparrow hawk take on a fox squirrel. :o I think they mostly eat insects and very small rodents. I have not seen one in years. I think we are out of their range up here but we had lots of them in N. Fla when I was a a kid.
I saw a big red-tailed hawk grab a fox squirrel at my deer feeder a couple years ago. They went round and round and I thought the squirrel was free then i saw the hawk had him by the tail and just reeled him back in. The hawk finally spotted me and dropped the squirrel which laid they a minute or so and got up, ran to then end of the log beside him, rested another couple minutes then ran off the opposite direction. I guess he survived intact.
Our bluebirds are having a second family. :) They have a favorite limb on a couple of the yard trees. When I hear them, I look to those limbs to see them.
We do have kestrels here that prey on little birds, but I have not seen any around the yard. We have a great big hawk (I think a sharp-shinned) around in the fields. A lot of white underneath and brown on back and head. When birds spy him they are in hiding. :D
Same here, with the Bluebirds!
There are several "second family" pairs around the yard!
Don't think they've hatched yet though!
WV -
Certainly looks like a warbler to me. Either black and white or.......
Cardinal under the bird feeder. Juvenile or female, don't know. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/cardinal-juvenile.jpg)
These lil guys were under the porch eave when I got to the cabin early July.
Momma moved them or they were big enough to be on their own the next day.
July 2018 Birds - YouTube (http://youtu.be/ST_pZh0RafE)
I brought some lumber to my camp on Friday, when I was about to leave I could here a eagle across the river, then two more circling above.
Eagles at Big Meadow Brook - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbMEI45wNaU&t=4s)
I love to watch the Eagles!
Thanks for posting!
Your welcome,
It was entertaining to watch, I wished I had brought my camera to record them but the cellphone was better than nothing.
Saw something similar this week out on the river, a young one with momma Eagle since it was not white yet. They nest along there in summer where I saw them, on the island where there are big pines.
Here is eastern Canada eagles are on the rebound. There a 2 pair right in my area. They are a beautiful bird but they are hard on cats when there is nothing else to eat.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38728/fullsizeoutput_289.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1545439085)
I saw one day before yesterday fly past my studio window. Glide would be more like it. :)
Bald eagles are impressive /looking/, but less than impressive acting. I see more feasting on roadkill deer carcass than anything else. They also steal fish from their betters. I'd be happy to support changing the national bird to the red tail hawk.
Yeah but then we could not shoot red-tailed hawks. :D :D Oh yeah - we can't shoot them now. Actually, I have several on my place and I am real fond of them. Reminds me of the old Justin Wilson spiel where he said he saw a boy walking along carrying a dead hawk and asked what he was doing with it Boy told him was going to cook and eat it. Justin told him "I like to cook. What does a hawk taste like?" The boy replied "About like owl."
We have lots of bald eagles on the local lake and river where I fish and we made several photo trips with friends last year just to photograph them and other water birds. We had several very good outings doing that. We see 3 distinct age groups of eagle. This years young which have no white on their head or tail, "teenage" birds over a year old but under 4 with just a small showing of white on their tails and heads and yellow beaks, adult birds 4 and older with mostly to completely white heads and tails.
I love to see them swoop down on the shallow flats and grab fish but they will steal them from ospreys and even herons on occasion which I also like to watch. One crashed into an osprey about 70 yards from me and made him drop his fish. The eagle spiraled down and picked it up and flew off with the osprey about 10 ft behind him trying to decide whether to try to get it back or maybe hoping he would drop it.
Several times we have watched them try to land on a lone dead limb in a big sycamore or ash tree along the river and have the limb break out from under them and watched them scramble to recover from the fall. You know things like that happen but we rarely see it.
Went steelheading this morning, up the north fork of the Nooksack River, about 6 miles from Mound Baker, about 100 miles NE of Seattle, maybe 6-7 miles from the Canadian border.
The Nooksack has a late run of chum salmon, late November into December and the bald eagles show up every year. Article in the Seattle Times last year mentioned someone counting 110 eagles in a 5 mile stretch of the river. Today driving along the river and then fishing there for about 4-5 hours probably counted 50-60 eagles. On the way home saw one tree with 6 eagles in it.
Gravel bar 75 yards up the river must have had dead fish on it, had 3 or 4 sitting there at any given time and half a dozen in the trees around it. Eagles would fly in with a chunk of fish and land in a big maple tree just across the river from us, tear off chunks and eat it and then sit and watch us for an hour.
No steelhead today but beautiful day. Snow on the ground, heavy snow falling for a couple of hours and then mixed snow and rain.
We don't see the numbers of birds here that we did 50 years ago.
I think that's mainly due to the numbers of coyotes, feral cats, and birds of prey!
Now we have only Chickadees, Gold Finches, and Nut Hatches, along with a few sparrows that regularly come to our birdfeeders!
At Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, NY several people, including my neighbors and I, have counted around 100 eagles in the past few days.
Haven't seen much interesting lately. Saw a couple eagles flying high today, but that's about it. Lots of hawks here and there. You can see them more easily in the winter. Haven't seen a sparrow hawk in ages, and I used to see them fairly regularly. Wonder if something's happened to them?
We regularly see Eagles here, not a lot, maybe 3-4, mostly feeding on carrion/road-kill!
We have a wide assortment of birds also Chickadees, Red breasted Nut hatches, White breasted Nut hatches, Pine Siskins, Red Polls, Pine Gross beaks, Gold finches, Blue Jays, Hairy & Downy Wood peckers, Pileated Wood peckers, and quite a few Ruffed Grouse. One day we had 11 Grouse in the back yard ! First time I've ever seen that many all together !
You have a really nice variety Jerry!
Turkeys that have been hanging around this winter. Looking out the front door. I have since put some feed out, but they have not come to that yet.
Turkeys March 06 19 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTadXU3KI2s)
Roosting
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/turkey-roost-March11-2019.jpg)
Local Walmart in Jefferson City Missouri is in the edge of the farmland. Turkeys come to the woods beside their parking lot twice a day, early and late. Why you ask? The stockers open broken sacks of pet food in the woods. Dozens show up.
They love burdock around here. Their bodies are usually 1/3 covered in burdock clumps. They was all day yesterday in one patch here at the end of the field. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48272/MVIMG_20190312_122343.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1552436982)
turkey on the driveway today, I hope he sticks around a couple months
I really like pileated woodpeckers. They're impressive birds. I especially like the way they land on trees with authority. They fly in hard, then "Thwack!" against the side of the tree, and scoot around. They also sound cool. Sounds like something out of an African or South American jungle :^)
Your stupid trivia for the day(maybe it's just me that's stupid)...
I looked up the name not that long ago to see what it means. It basically means "capped", as in wearing a pileus...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileus_(hat)
Yes, a week ago I saw a pileated hugging a telephone pole. He was dead still watching me walk by. A yard tree I took down 6 or 7 years ago was frequented by one picking on a rotten patch on the base of the tree. I cut that tree down and there was hardly any rot to it at all. It was 36" across and lots of solid wood left in that rot area. Oh well, winter was warm. ;)
I was watching youtube videos of hawks hunting turkeys yesterday. Red tailed hawk and also a golden eagle. I found a paper online written about goshawks hunting yearling turkeys. Had photos of one eating on one. Well, that's nature I guess. :) A fellow online, whom I know in person, said there was one recently preyed on by what was thought to be an owl. There has been a mean owl around his neighborhood. It knocked a guy down and has attacked kids. Not sure I believe it. They aren't nesting yet, might be just a story. That time of year. :D
It must be spring I saw a robin a few minutes ago
They won't show here for a month, along with the killdeer and blue birds. :)
A lot of cool birds pitches here. A tree getting smaller every day. 8)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22511/SAM_2225.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1552609132)
Must be a bunch of bugs in there. It's been cold here in the 2° thing for 3 weeks just starting to warm up.
Yeah, the birds are not at the feeder so much now that it is warming up.
We're feeling that Spring Weather will be happening very soon!
I even saw a flock of Robins this afternoon hopping around in the field next to the house!
Robins are a funny bird, some winters they are here in small numbers. But most of our robins here are wintering no more than 200 miles south of here around the Fundy coast. My aunt who lived in Sussex (southern N.B.) had robins every winter in the yard, and they have snow to.
Interesting. Our robins do the same sorta thing. They leave here in winter and head to the eastern shore of Maryland, or the western shore of the southern Chesapeake Bay. Our Bluebirds hang here a little longer and certainly return earlier. Both are back now. In fact, our bluebirds scout nesting boxes in mid-February.
Quote from: doctorb on March 16, 2019, 08:47:21 AM
In fact, our bluebirds scout nesting boxes in mid-February.
But 3 feet of snow and cold down near 0F in Feb makes a difference I suspect. ;)
Noticed a loaner red winged black bird yesterday at the feeder.
I saw a good sized flock of Red Winged Blackbirds yesterday!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1224~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1552827174)
This guy and his brother and several girlfriends were in the yard 2 days ago. I saw him near dark in the pasture above the house yesterday.
Robins came back about a week ago. I love to watch them doing a tug of war with a big old night crawler still firmly anchored in their hole in ground.
Three grouse (partridge) out in the back yard this afternoon. Ten feet away from the bird feeder. The other birds have the feed pretty well eaten up today, they won't get fresh feed until tomorrow.
https://youtu.be/fhhvKXdnxjE (https://youtu.be/fhhvKXdnxjE)
Fun to watch, good to eat!
I just happened to see one budding along the hedge row behind the house earlier this afternoon, it was out there about an hour!
I think the season is closed here now!
Haven't seen (or heard) a grouse round here in years , used to be plenty, thanks for pic .
Adding a couple of images to enjoy
Coopers (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/54794/IMG_0521.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1553090642) Great-horned (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/54794/IMG_0652.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1553090755)
Out here we have a very interesting Buteo , The Zone-Tail Hawk {Buteo Albonotatus}. It is also known as "the Great Pretender" This Hawk will become a part of a kettle of Turkey vultures to disguise itself in making its way close to the ground , pouncing upon all kinds of unsuspecting ground dwellers. As it glides it's primaries spread out and it adopts the vultures classic Dihedral or V shape wing pattern and the rocking/ rolling side to side motion as it soars. Quite unique and awesome to see !
The Kestrels (Sparrow Hawks) are declining likely because of the whole Northeast is reverting to forest habitat. They do well in hayfields and grasslands where there are lots of Meadow Voles.
We have lots of kestrel here, they sit on power line wires along the fields. One pair usually nests is a small woods grove every summer on my cousin's tree farm. In the fall I have seen them circle a small grove of apples and mountain ash bushes where robins were feeding. Reminded me of sharks circling around their prey. The robins were very vocal with their alert calls. :D
I saw 4 crows yesterday feeding on a dead turkey at the end of the field.
I saw another 3 partridge up the road on Wednesday near the main road sitting on a berm and in small popple trees. There also are cedar and yellow birch in that little grove and a spring in under the canopy of trees. I was looking right at one in a popple sapling and he was really camouflaged, his breast feathers looked like the bark. :)
Tree goose is back! Last year I was bucking up some dead maple under a tree, and I'd hear a goose honk. No big surprise; they're all over the farm. Hear it again, look up, and nothing... That happens a couple times, and I think "wth is going on?!" look up in the tree, and see a goose head poke up. She built a nest on top of the snag, and it looks like she's back.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/49990/IMG_20190412_142109small.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1555094068)
Picture's crappy, but you can see her head; maybe... My phone doesn't take great pics anyway, and I had it on full zoom.
That's how they sort of nested in the city of Toronto, only on buildings and not trees. Some of them was sent down here and transplanted. We call them McKenna's nuisance geese. He was provincial premier with the brain fart idea of bringing them here. Goose are not native nesters here in New Brunswick until those goofs transplanted them. Well what do they expect up there when they take their lake front property and turn it to city dwellings. :D
I've never seen a goose nest in a tree. That's very interesting.
I did learn a valuable lesson about accidentally walking near a Canadian goose nest when I was ten. They can administer a nasty bite and twist on a tender backside.
lol. Happened to my youngest daughter when she was ten!
I saw an Eastern Bluebird in the yard on 4/12/19, was a real surprise!
He has already laid claim to one of the birdhouses along the edge of the yard!
The tree swallows are back today. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/treeswallow1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/treeswallow2.jpg)
Are they from Capistrano?
No, I believe those are cliff swallows and Capistrano is their destination from Argentina. ;)
Haven't seen any Tree Swallows here yet!
Saw a male Blue Bird a few days ago!
Bluebirds arrived. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-April18-2019.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-April18-2019-2.jpg)
A bit grainy, but picture was taken through screen and on digital zoom.
The blue birds sure do look good.
Brenda saw some a few days ago. I have not been out front much yet this year. When I start the raking along side of the driveway I should see them.
A couple of Red-bellied woodpeckers are nesting in the bird boxes I built on the grandkids fort and swing.
They spent a couple days making the entry holes bigger.
Woodpeckers - YouTube (https://youtu.be/U36pbpqgwps)
I feed feral cats out back, and the birds come and collect the scraps. A cardinal pair just showed up, the male grabbed a piece of kibble, and gave it to his mate that was perched on a nearby stick.
A surprise this morning, the male Eastern Bluebird that's been here for a week or so, now has a mate!
Looks like SHE approves of the house the male had picked out!
Spent a few days at the camp, seen a few birds took pictures of some of them.
Not sure about this one, immature eagle perhaps?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3364.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406236)
Flicker
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3363.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406235)
Red-tailed Hawk
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3339.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406235)
This Grouse flew up in a maple tree and hopped around and seem to be eating the red buds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3302.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406233)
Loon
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3290.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406233)
1959 Piper PA-18
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3359.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406234)
I agree, that first pic has got to be a juvenile Bald Eagle!
We've got Hummingbirds coming to the feeders now, and I saw my first (of the year) Rose Breasted Grossbeak yesterday!
Most of the regulars are here now, but I still haven't seen a Baltimore Oriole!
Baltimore orioles are at my house. Brenda called me at work and asked where the feeders was. She had 4 at one time. A big deal for us. Last year they stayed all summer.
That explains their record in the AL East.
Beer, sunflower seeds, roast neef sandwiches and crabcakes are favored by Orioles.
Saw one of them immature eagles today hovering near the river bank and not far off the main road. I went slow because I know down in Maine there is a spot that them eagles have gotten hit by car traffic before.
Haven't seen them orioles here for years. Used to see them in the back yard. Also, I don't think the blue birds are staying this year. I never seen any female ones yet. The male was alone. Cats eat a lot of blue birds.
Ray; We had an Oriole feeder here for a few years, but we never saw an Oriole feeding from it, just Hummingbirds!
I made a little holder that will hold 1/2 of an orange, cut crossways and they would feed from it, whenever they would be feeding, orange juice would be splattering everywhere!
I rebuilt our birdfeeding station this morning, and not ten minutes after hanging the feeders we got this visitor. Second time in my life to see one. An Indigo Bunting.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20190510_142235.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557539835)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20190510_142348.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557539866)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20190510_123711.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557539937)
Just in time!!!!!! I think I have only seen one,that was years ago. I had to get the bird book out to identify it.
We get them here, mostly later in the Summer!
The Scarlet Tanagers show up about that same time. I think they nest in the woods directly behind the back yard!
My bears would have a good time with your feeders Jeff. :D :D :D ;)
The progression of baby doves in the front yard, from parents to flyaway kids.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/doves_1_4_28_19.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557572471)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/doves_2_4_28_19.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557572506)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/doves_3_4_28_19.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557572566)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35190/DSCN2074.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1557572609)
Scarlet tanagers are a rare sight up here to and very shy bird. We don't get the buntings up this way though. We barely have blue birds in my estimation. And this year is not looking good for the bluebirds.
Quote from: Hilltop366 on May 09, 2019, 09:03:23 AM
This Grouse flew up in a maple tree and hopped around and seem to be eating the red buds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3302.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406233)
It appears to me the grouse is in a white birch feeding on the catkins as grouse do. ;)
Yesterday I could hear the orioles so when I went to the store I picked up a orange put it on the feeder both were there this morning
Quote from: SwampDonkey on May 11, 2019, 08:30:11 AM
Quote from: Hilltop366 on May 09, 2019, 09:03:23 AM
This Grouse flew up in a maple tree and hopped around and seem to be eating the red buds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC3302.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557406233)
It appears to me the grouse is in a white birch feeding on the catkins as grouse do. ;)
Now that you say it that sounds correct, it was just about dark but there is a birch behind the maple trees there.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/DSC_0362.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557581265)
Lots of color the last couple day.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20190513_170430.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557868323)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/20190513_145131.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1557868352)
I fed 12-15 blue jays here all winter and when the weather warms up they take off without a thank you. I'm cut'n back their rations next winter. :D
I still have not heard the brown thrasher this year. He always goes to the big rock maple in the yard to announce his presence. So far nothing.
SD; I had a pair of Brown Thrashers in the back yard just yesterday!
We've had quite a few Common Flickers now for quite a while!
We've got a mother Robin sitting on her nest for the past 8 days in one of the oaks in our front yard. Been raining for most of the past 4 days, too. I know she's tired of it because I am (and I live under a roof).
I have to check out the tractor shed for some bird nest building action.
Yeah them flickers have been busy around here to. The robin is trying to build a nest under the porch by the wood pile. We have a lot of little sparrows scratching around in the seeded down lawn dirt. I can't imagine getting any nourishment from a seed 0.4 mm wide, tinier than a pen dot. :D
Bath time, after it had rained all night. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/birds-bath-May-18-2019.jpg)
Ive currently got several species of black birds coming in and monopolizing the feeder. I could shut it down but then all the desirable birds leave as well.
we've got the same birds here this year more color than usual red winged blackbirds,yellow breasted blackbirds ,finches and gros beaks evening and red breasted gros beaks like the one in the picture you had posted .
We now have 2 pairs of Rose Breasted Grossbeaks coming to the feeder.
I've got about 40 white throated sparrows (white striped morph) on the new lawn. They love the brush on the property edge. But with them all crowded up as they are like a flock they do not sound like the white throated sparrow in the woods. They start out like the normal call, but then stop mid-stream. I would assume this is migratory vocalizations. It's the only bird that fits with the yellow patch by the eye, white throat with light grey breast, black and white striping on the head. Can't see the yellow around the eyes in the photo, but I could with binoculars.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/white-throated-sparrow.jpg)
https://youtu.be/WitVBR0kEW0 (https://youtu.be/WitVBR0kEW0)
The little buggers sure blend in well with the grey rocks. :D
Nice to listen to the birdies from the porch. :)
SD, what you have in the pic is the "White-Crowned Sparrow"!
We have lots of them here!
They make a sweep across the yard, always working as a group!
Here is a nest of nearly grown robins nested over the door of my boathouse. I did not spot the mother making the nest in time to break it up till the eggs were laid and the young birds hatched. I don't care for them there but once hatched I don't have the heart to destroy them. They are about ready to leave the nest any day then I will remove the nest. We had a small wren or such with a ground nest at one of our pasture gates. The last I saw there were 5 eggs but my wife checked today and they were all gone so either a snake or Sampson got them. Probably a snake as Sampson would have probably been scared of them. ::) Did I ever mention he is not the worlds bravest dog?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1315.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1558238732)
There are at least 3 in the nest but there could be another in the back of the nest.
Hi Chuck they don't nest or winter here, they go to the Arctic. These ones here have a spot of yellow near the eyes. And there are two color variants of the white throat. But I did search for the white crowned sparrow song and they do sound like those after all. So maybe that is them and they are either on there way north or the range has shifted. Still can't figure why they have yellow though. :)
We also have a lot of song sparrows and chipping sparrows in with them.
White-crowned Sparrow | Audubon Field Guide (https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/white-crowned-sparrow)
Fits more with the colors of these white throated and range here in New Brunswick. Has that yellow patch by the eye.
White-throated Sparrow | Audubon Field Guide (https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/white-throated-sparrow)
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on May 19, 2019, 12:06:36 AM
Here is a nest of nearly grown robins nested over the door of my boathouse. I did not spot the mother making the nest in time to break it up till the eggs were laid and the young birds hatched. I don't care for them there but once hatched I don't have the heart to destroy them. They are about ready to leave the nest any day then I will remove the nest. We had a small wren or such with a ground nest at one of our pasture gates. The last i saw there were 5 eggs but my wife checked today and they were all gone so either a snake or Sampson got them. Probably a snake as Sampson would have probably been scare of them. ::) Did I ever mention he is not the worlds bravest dog?
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There are at least 3 in the nest but there could be another in the back of the nest.
Just curious : why destroy a robin nest ?
Because they crap all over the wood and they draw/introduce mites. You can knock a nest down and they will rebuild it and have eggs in it 2 days later if you aren't careful. I like the birds - I just don't like them nesting in my buildings.
Couldn't see the yellow spot near the top of the beak, but if it's there, they are the White Throated Sparrows.
I agree with Howard, they are just NASTY, The little Phoebe are the same way!
They're both persistent builders! >:(
These have already left the nest. I knew they were close to leaving. I guess me getting the mower out from under them and mowing and trimming in the area was enough to encourage them to move along. I removed their nest and another one on the ridge pole 7-8 feet away today.
This redheaded woodpecker was pulling worms like a robin. Never saw a woodpecker on the ground pulling worms. I had just put the dirt in and raked in the seed to try and fix the winterkilled lawn.
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Remember that we also watched a Hawk pulling worms in front of the Cabin.
Yes! I thought about that right away. I thought I had video but I can't find it.
And I have seen grackles catch and kill mice out in the yard. :) Anything can be food if you can overtake it. :D
And crows eat earthworms here all the time in the bare fields and on the paved road after a rain.
I think the most hated and threatening birds around here in the Summer are the Sea Gulls!
Lots of times when the farmers are cutting hay, the Gulls will circle over the fields and moving equipment and all of the sudden they would dive! We assumed that they were feeding on mice or pieces of mice, NOPE they were feeding on baby birds that were evicted from their nests as the hay was mown! They would just grab the little birds and swallow them whole, and alive!
We ended a lot of that by carrying a 12ga in a scabbard on the tractor and dropping a few of them in the hayfields, then later the Turkey Vultures would come in and feed on them!
No sea gulls at my place. But 15 minutes away they are in the small mall parking lot,100 feet away is McDonalds french fries. :D
The movie The Lighthouse (Willem Dafoe & Robert Pattinson not the UK one) was filmed a few miles from me last year.
Story goes that they needed more seagull footage but the seagulls were not cooperating so a local women mentioned that they needed McDonalds fries so they sent her into town to get some, she became the seagull wrangler for the movie.
We get seagulls here in the fields in the spring time and after harvest. But they hang out in the parking lots in Woodstock, our largest town in the county. Fast food joints down there. ;D The Saint John is a wide river, I suppose they think of it as an inland sea. It actually was eons ago ;)
And yes to the french fries for the gulls. :D
This morning's visitor.
Male Pileated Woodpecker. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/oOMSq7-NADE)
Jeff,
Neat video. They are one of my favorite birds. We saw a big one on a dead snag our boat outing Sunday morning but it was backlit by the sky and we could not get pictures of it - just a silhouette.
He'll have that gone and be looking for more in no time. :D
Actually the female comes in only once a day (well, as far as I know,) before sunset usually, stays about as long as that video, and is gone. This is the first I've seen the male since snow.
I'm mad at the blue jays. ;) Fed them all winter, now hiding away all summer. Ungrateful bunch of feed raiders. :D :D
Did see some new geese chicks yesterday waddling along with the goose and gander on a horse ranch near where I was working. There is some ponds there with cattails around them. They have a nest in them, built up high and dry. Well, I guess they don't need that now. Free range Canada geese now. :D
Nice video. I have them around here. Just don't see them much.
This one picture took me a while. I was always on the wrong side of the tree. ;D
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This is what I find in the woods.
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And under the tree.
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I bet I can count on one hand how many times I have seen those wood peckers.
When the WoodPeckers hit a tree, it's already infested with ants, and that's what they're after!
I see a few every year. Saw one yesterday fly across the road by 'the long swamp'. One was around here this winter, but not the suet. He was hammering on a dead limb on the big yard maple. Probably some maple borer in that dead wood. Seen one one day clinging to a telephone pole up the road from the house and remained motionless for quite awhile. Don't see many on the woodlot, not a lot of old wood, but they will find a bad fir once in awhile and peck at the stump wood.
If you see more sawdust then shavings it means his beak is getting dull.😀
I did see a Baltimore oriole yesterday in the big yard maple. No photo though. Haven't seen one here in a long time. Might have always been here and never laid eyes on them for awhile. :)
I have good luck with grape jelly. We put out oranges and the orioles that we get don't seem to like them. ::) So grape jelly it is. I have 2 feeders because I get so many. No big deal to have 2 feeding and another waiting.
Must be Mediterranean oranges. Pulp, no juice. :D
:D
We use to put out oranges on a nail. They would stay for about 2 weeks and be gone. Than I bought this feeder with a place for an orange and jelly. I guess they like the jelly more,because they hardly touch the oranges. And they stay for the whole summer now.
The male bluebird that came earlier this year to the nest box has returned, still no mate with him. He has been singing his heart out for 3 days now. About 4 miles away, friends have a nesting pair that came in the middle of June. We're still hoping a female comes along for our bluebird.
We have a nesting pair of Eastern Phoebe under the porch eaves.
Video from today. I can see 4 heads in there.
Eastern Phoebe Nest 06272019 - YouTube (https://youtu.be/7vk1oVFr5g8)
Mid May.
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I think Phoebes are the most persistent and prolific birds when it comes to nesting time!
I have one nesting under the eaves on the back of the garage that is in the process of hatching her second batch, being this early, she's likely to go for a third!
Look who showed up?
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Looks like they're about ready to leave.
Eastern Phoebe June282019 - YouTube (https://youtu.be/jyiBGS5D1Lw)
Saw a hen turkey yesterday leading 12 chicks down the road by the woodlot. They all flew up into the trees as I drove closer. :)
This a very interesting story about bald eagles raising a hawk chick with their young.
'You don't go and raise your dinner': California eagles defy odds by taking in baby hawk (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/apos-don-apos-t-raise-145241028.html)
This past spring I had one or two hummingbirds flying around, now I have a bunch. I have two feeders out for them. Hard to get a pix.
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The pix of the green ones I have some have a black and red chest on them.
Peter,
Thx for the pix. I think those are Ruby Throated Hummingbirds and the males have the red chest. The males are very territorial and will spend all day chasing the other males away from "their" feeder while they will let every hen in the area come feed at it.
Great pictures!
Great photos. We have a couple here this summer. I'm not feeding them, but we have a wind chime with a hummingbird theme and those bubble buzzers come to that thing every day. :D
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I looked out the LR window this morning and spotted this hawk land on the ground next to a brush pile evidently trying to catch something. I did not see that it had caught anything. Then it flew up on this gate post on the cross fence 20-30 feet away. After a while it flew back up into the holler above the brushpile. My wife ran to get her camera but it was gone before she got her lenses changed.
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About an hour later I looked out and spotted this hawk sitting on the brush pile made mostly from a stink tree (Allanthus) that fell and I dragged to this wet area to burn in the future. I called my wife and she came and took a few pictures. On most of them her camera focused on the limb directly in front of the bird. I had not noticed but the first hawk was back on the same fence post about 30 feet away. This one looks much bigger. I don't know if it is a pair or a mother and a child she is teaching to hunt. After they flew off I heard a very vocal chipmunk in the brushpile so I suspect that is what they are after. I think they are red tailed hawks. If we have any expert ornithologists on site who can verify or correct me I would appreciate it.
I'm no expert, but the red tailed hawk has white underpants. It looks like it could be a red shouldered hawk.
All my hummers are gone south I think.
I saw one yesterday.
And here in North Carolina the hummingbirds have been at the feeders constantly. I don't know how they can drink so much. right now they are fighting over the feeder. sure fun to watch
I haven't seen any hummers here since last week around Wednesday, day before a rain. They always came to the wind chime every day all summer. It's by a big picture window. One I seen Wednesday was buzzing by my red hard hat I wear in the woods. ;)
Over the last 5-6 days, we've had a huge increase in the Hummingbird population, so my money says they're heading South and we are now feeding the ones that "were" further North!
Within a few more days they'll all be gone!
I just got on here to post what Chuck just posted. We just had a squadron of them here!
Another interesting tid bit, is that the bats left the barn before the end of August. There was 4 I'd see every morning all summer. So they left around the 24th or so.
The blue jays are busy in the beechnuts.
The beech nut bandits - YouTube (https://youtu.be/um53ncwxqm8)
No picture but on the way to our gd ballgame tonight a woodcock flew up right in front of us. That is the first one I have ever seen in WV. I used to see lot in N. Fla while duck hunting in November time frame but I think they had migrated down for the winter.
We was driving down the road and a bald eagle tried to land on the car. :D Well not really,but it sure did seem that way. I saw it up in the like 20 feet,kinda flew straight up and than a sharp and I do mean sharp turn towards me. His hind feathers was spread wide,I could see gaps between them and he was working his winds to slow him down. He wanted something in the road. I slowed down to see it in action. Good thing the speed limit was only 35 mph or the car behind would of hit me.
I almost hit a black vulture last week. It was in the shadows where I couldn't see him, and he took off, and went right in front of me. If I hadn't hit the brakes, I'd have had vulture in my window at 55mph. Startled me. They're big birds up close.
We have the turkey vulture up here, which is not native to this area. Loss of habitat down south I'd guess. At the same time, all kinds of crows and ravens in the sky.
We have lots of turkey vultures here in New York.
They are usually in groups of 8 to 12 birds .They always follow me around when I check my wood chuck traps three times a day .This year I have seen the groups of vultures in our hay fields catching and eating live snakes and mice which I have never seen before they used to just eat expired animals .I guess the hawks and crows have competition now.
Zeke
My Sister Lynda just sent me this great shot of a pilated wood pecker she took through her patio door.
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Great Horned Owl, I seen this owl while out canoeing in a river this past Tuesday, it hung around for a while and I was able to get a few good pictures.
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Great pictures!
Nice owl. :)
Been crossing an old aldered in field to get to the latest thinning. The place is full of woodcock. Seen 4 this morning in the lights of the truck. There are grouse around to, hear them drumming.
I heard about this Ruffed Grouse from a friend of mine in May. He had a Ruffed Grouse come out to greet him when he stopped on an atv trail in Northern Maine. She was friendly and he gave her the name Penny. The trail is just south of town and comes out to greet all the locals if they stop. This has been going on all summer. I have stopped to see her 3 times and she came out every time.. She jumped on my shoulder and my hat in this clip.
Penny on my Hat - YouTube (https://youtu.be/DJVYKOSC7O0)
Someone else I know of has a pet grouse, she just calls him 'bird'. :)
She's out WI way and the only reason I know of her is from the weaving groups on Facebook. :D
I saw 6 Ruffed Grouse this summer. This bird, two others while riding on the atv trail and 3 on our property. One was huge. Biggest I have ever seen.
Where I am working right now, there are lots of grouse I hear all day drumming. A couple of us was out by the road for a break and one took off over our heads. Another lad with us stepped into the block with his gun and bagged one just after the one flew over head. Later one of the guys' saw was broke down, so he went for a walk around the property and seen 6.
We were talking about them earlier this week. I never see them on my place any more since I cleared the multi-flora roses out.
Many years ago I worked a project in eastern Ohio near Steubenville and one of the guys up there said the first day of deer season he had one come out and walk all around him. He knew nobody would believe him but he went back the next day with his camera and it came back and he took pictures of her on his boot and sitting on the log with him and such. I have no idea why one would do that unless it was raised as a pet and his was apparently a wild, native bird with no fear of humans.
That is amazing.
Another visit with Penny.
Penny 2 - YouTube (https://youtu.be/RxPz65KMayY)
Guess she was expecting a handful of seed or something?
There was a Chokecherry tree there and we tried that but she didn't bite. Other riders must be bringing her food.
I didn't research what they eat.
I forgot all about it, but one of the fellas I work with discovered one of them pet grouse. Him and his boy seen it along a woods road I think. Had some video he did on his phone. This was a few years ago.
Quote from: Mooseherder on October 23, 2019, 10:22:50 AM
There was a Chokecherry tree there and we tried that but she didn't bite. Other riders must be bringing her food.
I didn't research what they eat.
Here is what this one was eating. Highbush cranberries. He had a crop full
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No wonder grouse taste so good. :D
They also eat birch catkins a lot, by the way.
sawyer looks a little nervous. It will be interesting to see if he behaves better. The first time I killed a chicken with a hatchet (sorry @Southside (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=24297) ) my chocolate lab Norman Rockwell spread his front paws apart and looked stunned. i thought he was going to pass out. :( :o :)
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Sawyer's first grouse. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/X2AfJmBr3-0)
Looks like he is denying being an accomplice. :D
he listens really well. he may worry that this is what happens if you misbehave. that was what i imagined seeing the look in my dogs face, when he "witnessed" the "murder" of one of our chickens years ago. :D
chokecherries :o That was a smart bird not to eat them. Them things will pucker you up. :D
Regarding the Ruffed Grouse, there is a long history of ones that will act tame; I don't think anyone knows why. Here is a photo of an Eastern Screech-owl in a roosting/nest box in my yard. I had one a few days ago. I knew the owl was inside earlier in the day because the chickadees, a nuthatch, a Blue Jay and robin were putting up a fuss. The chickadees would land right at the entry hole, peer inside and quickly fly away. The owls are my idea of natural biological mouse control.
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Great picture! I love screech owls. They look like grumpy little old men. Very few people ever see one. I hope he sticks around.
:D :D I had chickadees that were using two bird houses to store ironwood seed for winter. Other birds will hide seeds in tree bark. I suspect the chickadees do to. The yard here has 4 ironwood trees and they had thousands of seeds this year. :D I think the chickadees were trying to de-thrown that owl from their stash hideout. :D
Chickadees are well-known for mobbing owls so if you hear chickadees and others making a big fuss, check it out. Crows often mob owls and hawks. So, if you hear crows putting up a big fuss, check that out too. Oftentimes it will lead you to a Great-horned Owl or Barred Owl or others.
Ive not caught it on video, yet, but we have a pilated woodpecker that pecks away at the suet, then he flies a few feet to the flag pole where he wipes his bill back and forth on the flag rope like a knife on a steel.
Two redheads.
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Thanks for sharing. We have several living on the back side of my place and I hear them every evening when I am hunting up there and usually see them off in the distance but rarely close enough to get a picture of them. They are one of my favorite birds.
Quote from: KEC on November 06, 2019, 07:32:52 PMCrows often mob owls and hawks. So, if you hear crows putting up a big fuss, check that out too.
Seen two hawks getting harassed by crows this week.
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Good shots. I like it even better when a pint sized mockingbird gets back at them and chase the crows around.
A couple of eagles around the camp this weekend as usual, the never seem to come over to my side of the river but they did Sunday and I was able get a half decent picture of one through the trees.
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Nice shot! They are such magnificent birds.
Yep, I see them once in awhile soar over the farmland out here away from the river. Any deer or moose ponce around here left behind from hunting will have an eagle on it. And the ravens and crows will stay at a distance.
We have lots of eagles on Bluestone Lake here where the New and the Bluestone Rivers merge and where I go catfishing. Lots of times I take my photographer wife and we will go run the lines and sometimes stake out our catch and pick them up on the way back then go up river several miles till we hit the shoals and too shallow for safe motoring. We see 3 distinct groups with this years young with black beaks and feet and no white on their head or tail. Many people mistake them for golden eagles or hawks. (We even had one at the Zoology Dept at AU when I went there someone had originally identified as as golden eagle then one of the ornithologists got to checking and confirmed it was a young bald eagle.) The juvenile birds will have yellow beaks and feet but no or little white on their heads and tails and finally the adult birds with completely white heads and tails. I have seen captive 5 y/o birds with white heads but they still had a few trace brown feathers in the heads if you looked close. It takes them over 5-6 years to get the completely white head and tail.
Eagles around here hunt the mud flats and such catching fish in the shallow water. They also steal fish from the ospreys and even the herons if one of them catches a fish to big to immediately swallow. (We spotted a blue heron in the Everglades several years ago with a largemouth bass that had to weigh at least 1.5 lbs. He kept tossing it up in the air and catching it till he finally got it pointed right then he finally choked it down but if there had been an eagle around he could easily have lost it.) I watched an eagle crash into an osprey about 70 yards from me one day fishing up there. The osprey dropped the fish he was carrying and the eagle swooped down and picked it up in the shallow water near the bank. The osprey followed him about 10' behind as they flew out of sight. I doubt he ever got brave enough to try to take it back and likely was hoping he would drop it.
I love to watch them. Many around here will stay on the perch while we drift under them taking pictures. Several time I have seen and we even photographed them landing or taking off from a dead limb and it breaking under them. They have to do some fancy flying in those cases to keep from falling. You don't think about things like that happening but if you are out there and watch them enough you will see it. I even saw a dead turkey stuck in a fork in a tall tree in PA while working up there. I don't know if he got spooked and flew off the roost at night and broke his neck or why he misjudged and broke his fool neck.
Yes, used the watch the bald eagles steal salmon away from the ospreys down on Hearts Island in the St John river near Fredericton. We used to fish salmon from canvas back canoes, back in the good old days. ;) Grandfather and Arthur 'Art' Eastwood would see who could top the other with a good fishing or hunting story. Come Halloween and those molasses candies come out, grandfather used to give him a bag and watch as he tried chewing with no teeth and the juice running down his face. A couple old poluses. :D
If you recall, last winter the video I did of the 3 ruffed grouse out behind the house walking ever so carefully under the spruce. Well this fall there have been 4 of them walking up along there almost daily. But today they were darting up along behind one another. They must like brush because that is my snow fence of tree brush in under those big spruce. :D ;D
I was sitting in my upper shooting house today and got a visit from my 3 neighborhood turkeys and then this pileated woodpecker paid me a nice visit. I love to watch them.
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A pair of hairy woodpeckers flew into the shooting house with me but left when they spotted me sitting there. I have several Red-bellied woodpeckers visiting and stealing corn from my feeder. they don't take much and scatter a few extra grains of corn with every visit so I like to see them too.
It's great to watch the birds and critters while on a stand. I was at a spot once where I planned to stand till the end of shooting hours when a Pileated Woodpecker came around acting a little irritated by my presence. It went from tree to tree fussing and I had a hunch that it wanted to enter a tree cavity to go to bed for the night. Sure enough, after a while it went in a hole about 40' up in a Beech tree and looked back out and, apparantly, decided that I was no threat, then went insided and stayed. Stuff most non-hunters will never see.
Some of us were hunters and became naturalists and we see it to. Sometimes from the house window or on a walk. :D :D Case in point, grouse from the window and then a lynx sunning along a south facing snow drift while on a morning walk. ;)
Swampdonkey, I'd love to come up and see a Lynx or the Goshawks that you mentioned once. I'm more naturalist than hunter these days. I report bird sightings on the computer to Ebird at Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology. The data goes into a HUGE data base from people all over the world. If you sign up you can view reports to see what birds are being seen in any given area.
I'd like to see that goshawk again to, but I have not seen any activity from them lately as I'm not on the woodlot as much right now. It's ideal for them up on the woodlot because of all the corridor hunting they can do down them trails. And their are grouse up there I see almost every time I go. Usually one, sometimes 5 or 6. No driveable roads in there, so they are safe from hunting. :D Been taking it easy on the bones for a bit and just walking the main road for now. Might get up there in the next week, hopefully the 'snow' coming is more rain than ice to make it more pleasurable getting around. We had a little rain shower yesterday and no one mentioned any possibility in their arm swinging and spitting all over the map screen. :D
I wasn't home when this happened but I can't help but think it was a big bird making alot of noise
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This was done back in 2007,I noted this is a 3 foot long hole.
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The above is a dead fir.
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Yep its Pileated woodpecker work. I have a stand of Norways spruce and a few trees look like that. One flew up and lit on a tree about 20' from me last week while I was working on my new shed roof. They are one of my favorite birds.
Blue birds have arrived. Only see the male so far.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-April26-2020-1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-April26-2020-2.jpg)
Nice pics. We have started seeing them here for first time I ever remember. I showed one to my wife in front yard on the power line and she got several pictures as it would dive down to the ground after a bug then back up on the line. I have a nesting box cut out and will likely make several and nail them up on fence posts around the pasture and see if I can encourage more to use them.
Yesterday I checked a box that I put in my neighbor's yard and it has a bluebird nest with 4 eggs. Hope it warms up soon, before they hatch.
Posts some photos of your birds and nest boxes. 8)
Nice picture of the blue bird. I saw one maybe a week or two ago?
I am sure no eggs yet. ;D
A week ago, we started seeing the Tree Swallows buzzing around and claiming birdhouses, then two days I saw a pair of BlueBirds sitting on a birdhouse, but haven't seen them since!
Try putting two bird houses about 30 feet apart. The blue birds will most likely use one and the swallows will use the other.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10007/bird.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1587991991)
I had seen a male and female back on April 8th, got a couple of pictures of the female but the male would move just as I was taking the picture so I ended up with a really good picture of the empty fence post and one of him jumping off the shed.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC4321.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1587993053)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC4324.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1587992979)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC4328.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1587992999)
I have 12-14 Bluebird/Tree Swallow houses scattered out around the yard.
I have one right near the back porch/deck and it usually gets occupied by a House Wren!
I have two boxes here, one for the tree swallows which are also here, and the other is always used by the blue birds.
Swampdonkey, I'll try to get some pictures of birds at my boxes. Recently, I checked a box and it had a female flying squirrel with 2 babies. Meanwhile here is a picture of a Green-winged Teal and an American Widgeon.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN9990~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588036072)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN9990~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588036072)
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN9991.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588042848)
Yesterday (May 1st) I saw a Tufted Titmouse carry nest material to a bluebird box in my front yard. I looked today and the nest looks nearly complete. In over 40 years of having bluebird boxes, this is a first. And I'll try to get some photos soon.
Same here, KEC!
Actually this is the first time I've ever even seen a Tufted Titmouse, and now I have one frequenting my window ledge feeder box!
I try not to bother it any more than I have to, hoping it will nest here!
Really cool looking bird, but very shy!
I finally got out and finished my Bluebird nesting box and while I was at it I went ahead and made a second one. Design changes I made included making the top removable instead of having a pivoting side for viewing and access. Also I made the back board longer so I could just nail it to my pasture fence posts. We will see what the birds think but I am real happy with them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1936.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588544531)
Just used some scrap 1X6 lumber for the box and a wide piece for the top.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1937.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588544530)
The design called for a 2" slope. I added 4-5 inches on the bottom with 2 nails to keep the box from rotating.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1938.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588544697)
The half inch holes were from the design drawing for ventilation. The top is my design and real simple. Just lay/center the top board on the finished box, trace all 4 sides with a pencil, cut up some scrap sticker pieces and nail along the outside of the pencil marks and the top will snap securely down on to the box. The entrance hole is 1.5" diameter and not seen but on the inside is a "ladder" starting about 1/2" below the bottom of the entrance hole. I just made 5-6 parallel cuts by raising my RAS blade then just kissing the inside of the front board making a shallow cut every half inch or so so the baby birds have something to help them climb out when graduation day comes. Now I just have to watch them and if it works I'll make and place a bunch more.
Nice bird houses. Good idea on the ladder inside. I just take a hammer and use the claw end and makes some indentions below the holes.
A variety of birds including several different woodpeckers at the camp this weekend. A flicker was banging on the aluminum boat, made quite a racket.
Got a picture of this woodpecker.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC4425.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1588554972)
I'd guess that is a Hairy Woodpecker. Second guess would be a Downy WP but I think the Hairy has a longer beak. I get both around my deer feeders as well as Red Bellied WP and we have lots of the Pileated WP which are my favorites.
Discovered the pheobes were making a nest under the porch, it was more like 4, they hadn't decided which spot to build. Lots of moss and grass in their nests. ;D
The female bluebird just arrived with the male after he was gone for 3 days. Musta been looking for a woman. :D
We got 3 refugees (Granddaughters) yesterday for a few days while DIL having kidney stones removed. It was a beautiful day so I told them if they'd pick up some sticks on the lot we'd cook some hotdogs and SMORES so they got busy. I went in my boathouse next to the picnic area to get the hotdog forks and spotted debris sticking out of a plastic bag of cleaning supplies.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1941.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588709610)
Turns out a little wren or such decided this was a good place to build a nest. I showed the girls then went out today with the camera and checked more closely.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1942.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588709608)
There were no eggs or chicks so I took the nest out. Either they already raised, could have even been last year, or had not gotten a chance to lay yet. I went ahead and removed the nest to help reduce the chance of bird mites in the shed. I am too late on a robin's nest overhead and will have to wait a few more weeks till the baby birds get grown and leave it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1940.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588709603)
Here I have been spending time and effort building nesting boxes and all I really needed to do was hang some plastic bags in the shed. ::)
Several months after we moved here an old USMC buddy and family stopped by and gave us a hanging plant as a housewarming present. I screwed a hook into a convenient 2X6 over the porch railing and we hung the plant and stepped back to survey our workmanship. I swear the plant was still swinging when a little brown wren flew in with the first stick and by the end of the next day she had completed the nest and laid a clutch of eggs. She had to have been watching us hang that basket and was just waiting for us to get out of her way to start building.
I have a neighbor who said she'd hang jeans on the line then when dry she'd take them down and kept finding little sticks in them and could not figure what was going on till finally she spotted a wren building a nest in the legs of the hanging wet clothes.
Looks like a pheobe nest, looks like moss and grass I seen them use here. But they usually nest on ledges like robins, in under decks and such I think
WV Sawmiller, I'd say the nest in the plastic bag is probably that of Carolina Wren. I'll try to put photos of a Carolina Wren nest that was up under my porch roof a few years ago.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN1662.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588735264)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN0646.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588732665)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN0646.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1588732665)
I have one nesting in my planer room. Cool little birds.
@KEC (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=40283) & @WDH (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=4370) ,
That is what I am thinking too. That was the one that built the nest in the hanging plant I mentioned and they are notorious for building in such places. One built in a old plastic bump hat/helmet my dad had when we were kids. I have them visit me in my shooting houses when hunting. I have had the light on my hat, shoes, rifle and even an arrow I had in my bow one time.
There was a nest in the tractor shed, forgot what kind, but I would check on the babies each time I went to get the tractor. This was the same time I was building the women cave, only about 100 feet away. One day I was nailing the floor down, on my hands and knees. All at once a bird flew right in front of my face. Odd I thought. Than the light bulb went off. I walked right along to the tractor shed. Reached up and all was gone. Mama kicked them out!!
have seen a few oriels flaying around. got my wife's feeder spruced up and hung.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/22B71DB1-DFF7-49FA-AD57-B10C26DED96E.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1588852693)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/9410F51B-4602-4594-BE8A-B5154B7864AA.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1588852729)
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grape jelly.
Been seeing some Golden-crowned Kinglets out in the spruce woods.
Golden-crowned Kinglet Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Kinglet)
This isn't today,s snow. The picture is about a week and a half old. The one next to the truck was in the same spot for about 5 hrs. He spent half the time admiring himself in the bumper and the other half pecking at himself
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/41048/IMG_20200427_103733~1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1588011396)
I was out looking for and at birds yesterday (5-9-20) and looked into a water filled ditch and noticed some movement. It was a Star-nosed Mole swimming around underwater and at the surface foraging for food. Of course my camera was back in my pickup.
We spotted this guy a couple times today. Mostly the pair of them have been bouncing from post to post on my pasture fence. I tried to get a picture of this one on the post with my new bluebird nest box but he moved before I got my camera ready. I love to watch them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1950.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589210896)
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I like it when I catch them on the ground on a root or old post or log like he is doing inmost of the pictures here.
Sometime last night one of the pheobes passed away from exposure, he was dead under the porch and he wasn't there before dark. Late spring snow does a few little birds in. We had 8" over the weekend.
Seen a bunch of Rose Breasted Grossbeaks and Goldfinches, along with the regular Chickadees in the feeder today.
Haven't seen the Tufted Titmouse in a few days, that's a cool looking bird!
Over the last week I put out 3 nesting boxes for eastern bluebirds which I have started seeing in the area recently. Today my wife noticed a pair of bluebirds entering and exiting the box closest to the front of our house. Hopefully they will start using the other two also but this is very rewarding to see.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1966.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589637883)
Hard to see with my little point and shoot camera but the little spot of blue and russet and gray on the limb almost directly over the top of nest box is one of the pair.
Haven't seen any around here since the snow last week. Been tree swallows around the boxes.
Both bluebird nests in the boxes near my house failed during the recent cold and snow spell. They will try again. The Tufted Titmouse nest in a box in my yard has birds incubating 6 eggs. I have photos on back order for Swamp Donkey.
Took a few pictures of my bluebirds building their nest in my new box. They are pretty frantic to get it finished and sometimes one bird will be roosting on the roof waiting for the mate to get out of the way. They have been carrying small sticks but in the pictures below one was carrying a good sized leaf so it sounds like they must be getting pretty far along and ready to start lining the nest with bedding materials.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1969.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589724948)
Perched on the limb overhead with nesting material in his/her beak
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1970.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589725034)
Taking aim
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1971.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589725116)
Entry w/nest material
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1972.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589725174)
Load dumped - exiting the home
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_1973.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1589725229)
Resting on a nearby locust limb to catch his/her breath and check out the nosy neighbor with the camera
I don't know enough about bluebirds yet to be able to tell which is the rooster and which is the hen. I assume birds are like humans and the male is the more brightly colored and attractive of the pair while the female is more drab and mousy. :D
Here is your sign:
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_0245.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1458339672)
You can resume posting when the swelling around your eyes goes down. :D
We have several pairs of Bluebirds and Tree Swallows occupying the birdhouses we have around the yard!
Yesterday we had a Baltimore Oriole buzz past the back window, so I put up a 1/2 orange on the nail and early this morning there was one out there feeding, and has made many return trips in the last few hours!
I saw the brown thrasher appear this morning when I was gardening. We are just at the edge of their range here.
Have not seen the blue birds today, just the tree swallows at the boxes.
Well, I had an afternoon nap after all the gardening got done for this week. Went out on the porch and no sooner than it took to sit on my rocking chair I first heard then saw the pair of blue birds return. :)
Went out with Taylor after school and found this little guy.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Fantail1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1589779552) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Fantail2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1589779554)
Fantails are hyperactive little birds, constantly chasing insects on the wing, and they never sit still long enough to get a good photo. :D
They are normally grey and black, a pure White one is very unusual (I've never seen one before). It's not albino as it's eyes and beak are black.
Neat find Ian. He sounds kind of like our kingfishers in respect to hard to get him to sit long enough for a picture. Several years ago a neighbor saw us in our local hardware store and got excited when he remembered my wife was a photographer. He had a white robin hanging out at his place and he told us and asked her to take his picture. We stopped by several times and she got pictures of him. The best was him in a white barked sycamore, with a wild grapevine with yellow Fall leaves and eating purple grapes. She printed our neighbor an 8X10 photo and he liked it better than gold I believe. For months after that we'd run into people telling us about David coming by showing off his picture. The white robin came back for about 2-3 more years which amazed me that he even lived that long.
@WV Sawmiller (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=28064) , can you post the pic?
@doc henderson (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=41041) ,
Here he is.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/white_robin.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1589828565)
Nice photos of the white birds. Never see white birds here, except maybe see a pigeon that may be nearly all white.
A year or so after we moved here we had a couple of white phase wild turkeys that showed up for a couple of years. I always wondered if a domestic turkey had gotten loose and interbred with the wild stock. The robin amazed me because he came back fro several years. I had a white baby coon born and raised till nearly grown 2 years ago before I quite seeing him. I have lots of pictures of him that season as he hung around my deer feeder and finally started coming here to the house. He was a true albino while the turkeys and robin above are just a white phase. Always neat to see something unusual like that though.
beautiful!
Nice pictures.
I remember that white racoon. Seem like he was a little fellow too.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=98086.msg1516174#msg1516174 (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=98086.msg1516174#msg1516174)
Here is the thread. he was just a few weeks old the first time I saw him and about half grown the last time I saw him 3 months later.
Baltimore orioles are back!! Male and female. They are feeding on Dollar General grape jelly. I won't feed them the jelly/jam Brenda makes. ;D
I would suspect I need to put the other feeder out too. Last year we had at least a couple pair. For all I know we could of had 6 pairs. Hard to tell, but we only would see 2 males at a time and 2 females too. So we had at least 2 pair.
Haven't seen them here for years. But I did here a rose breast grosbeak at the woodlot on the weekend. First time I ever saw one was up there, then seen them around the house.
I talked to my sister this morning and she told me she checked one of her Blue bird nest and there were three but two of them were dead and the live one was wet so with our four inches of rain must of drown the two and not sure if the mother bird will return or not . But sad you just wonder how many baby's survive .
Haven't seen the blue birds for 2 days.
We have lots of Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Hummingbirds, and Orioles!
Haven't seen the Tufted Titmouse in over a week!
Tomorrow I have to get to DG and get some more of their cheap grape jelly!
I'd say we have about 8 tree swallows here sitting on the wires. I think there are also some barn swallows around, that just arrived this week. We've never had lots of blue birds, in fact never had any at all here until recent. About 80 miles north of here in Nictau and the neighboring park of mount Carleton, they recorded blue birds years ago and in recent years, not a one. We are at the fringe here of a lot of stuff including tolerant hardwoods and butternut.
Mom came back an is taking care of her one surviving baby ;).
Well, things have changed a little, now I have a PAIR OF TUFTED TITMOUSE'S, or is it Titmice! ;D
Our fantail has made the national news. :)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/300018681/rare-white-fantail-delights-stratford-community (https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/300018681/rare-white-fantail-delights-stratford-community)
Well, I see the bluebirds back again and at the other nest box this time. The swallows took over the nest box that bluebirds usually take. Did that come out right? :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebirds-May24-2020.jpg)
Quarantine must be over, the squirrels and orioles are eating out together!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/4119311D-AA10-46D7-9075-8D2F918B4BE0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1590578406)
squirrel in the jar, and the oriole is the yellow spot above the feeder in front of the clump of leaves.
I really like watching the birds, I believe we have 3 pairs of Orioles, feeding on grape jelly and orange halves out on the deck!
This guy has been around all week crowing. Last night, in an approaching thunder storm, he high tailed it across the grain field and across the lawn in front of the porch. Blurry photo because he was on the run. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/pheasant-May27-2020.jpg)
Years ago, I was at an old abandoned farm looking at the woods for a new owner. The field had neck high thick weeds. There was pheasants there and they could run and hide in those thick weeds with ease. A human being would be all tangled up in the first 3 steps. :D
I went out and took the top off the bluebird box 30 yards from the corner of the house and took these pictures. Either one egg did not hatch or has not hatched yet. The mother returned right after I put the top back on. The father swooped at me I guess to chase me off. I guess it will be 3-4 weeks before the babies are old enough to leave the nest. You can just see the "ladder" I built under the hole to help them climb out. I cut grooves about half an inch apart with my RAS to make the steps. I trust they will work fine. We are enjoying watching them.
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I find that the blue birds build up the nest to the hole, they put a lot of stuff into their nest boxes. Nice to see the babies there. Mine are setting now, I'm sure they are not hatched yet. :)
My wife heard a "thud" this morning and looked out and saw a pile of feathers falling in the air. Evidently the male bluebird had crashed into a blue jay flying too close to the nest box. We went out on the porch and watched a while and I saw a downy or hairy woodpecker land on a dying ash tree about 10-15 ft from the nest box. The male bluebird immediately swooped at him and chased him off. I never knew they were so territorial and aggressive. We are having a blast watching this pair. The little ones hatched nearly a week ago I guess so we should be able to enjoy them for about another month before they graduate and move on. The next time I am out I will check the other 2 boxes and see if any activity there. I have not seen any but I can hope.
Oh yes, I've seen the blue birds tag team a tree swallow that laid claim to the box they wanted. :D
We've watched this one send an imprudent fox squirrel who parked his butt on top of the birdbox packing in real short order. I'm not sure he isn't still running. :D This one even swooped at me when I took the top off to take the last picture I posted.
Here are the baby bluebirds a week since the last picture and I see the last egg hatched since then. The parents buzzed me several times in the minute or so I had the top off the box. I really respect their courage and diligence! I guess that would be about like me charging an adult blue whale.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_2014.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1592010424)
I can see 4 separate beaks but am pretty sure there are 5 babies in there.
The Tufted Titmouse nest in one of my boxes failed, something got the eggs. I found a Brown Thrasher nest in my front yard in the middle of a clump of Forsythia. The thrashers called me names not allowed on the forum for looking at their babies.
I only seen the brown thrasher pair once this spring, never saw them again. They are one of them birds that have a range that ends here, so one of them fringe things. Here, or maybe not, from year to year.
Well, my wife looked out the window a few minutes ago and said "The bluebirds are out." We went on the porch and watched a while as a couple of the babies fluttered to the ground then flopped around on the grass a few minutes. The dad landed in the tree overhead. Just about the time I had about decided I better go put them back in the box the two on the ground finally got coordinated enough to fly up to the limb with dad then they flitted from limb to limb awhile then over to a nearby maple. I guess they just flew out and were having to learn to fly and now they are coordinated enough maybe they will make it. I hope so but I will miss watching them.
The blue birds here have been busy feeding chicks for 2 weeks. I don't know when they will fly to coop, but soon I think. Then the nurturing for a couple weeks and on to another family for the summer. :) I'm interested to see if they go to the shorter post where the swallows started. The swallows had eggs, but the female died. Happened last year to. Abandoned the eggs. Tree swallows have had it tough now for two years.
By my estimate it was 19 days from hatching until they flew out of the box. I'll give them a few more days then remove the old nest and see if they rebuild and start another brood this year. Looks to me like they have plenty of time to do so. One was sitting on the ash limb in front of the box this morning. I can't tell if the babies go back in the box for a few days or not. This is my first ever bluebird family.
I've not had the babies go back to the box after they leave. But I do clean out the box after they go for a week. I think they have to go through the whole process. Plus it gets rid of any mites and poop from the first bunch. ;D
working on firewood, and yesterday noticed this face looking at me from a nest that has been there all along. close to the machine. hopefully not too much stress for the parents.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/BEA49412-31E8-467E-AF8F-FC1672D33AAA.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1593433013)
we also have a family of orioles enjoying the grape jelly, with a nest 50 feet sway. can hear the babies in the nest, but too well camouflaged to get a good pic.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/9CB8CD64-7446-46D0-9A27-87F9B8094C10.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1593433693)
here in the center is the oriole, and the nest is about 5 feet under.
We have an Elm in the back yard, and had an oriole, and several other birds, and a rabbit and squirrel all dining together. fun to watch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/5567573B-294B-4777-850A-0BEE325C0B29.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1593433675)
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I think we have the second generation starting here!
Birds mating up on the power lines, and a little House Wren cleaning out the birdhouse on the back porch, that was just vacated by a family of Bluebirds just 3 days ago.
tried to get a better pic of the oriole nest, but with the zoom on, I can barely find it in the pic.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/515439DC-167A-4A4D-815F-219F20AC2719.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1593449389)
it is in the far upper right hand corner.
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pic from underneath.
I think something happened to the female bluebird a couple days ago. I don't think it happened on the nest, whatever happened. Could have been struck by a car, eaten by a raptor or a cat. I see no signs of feathers around the nest box, if a cat got her there is always feathers in my experience. But the male seems to be feeding the youngsters on his own. I can hear the babies in the box when he comes to it.
My son dropped of GD #3 for a few days and we were sitting on the front porch and he saw a big plastic vase on a shelf we have out there. He picked it up and looked in and said "There's a bird nest in it." We checked and there were eggs in it. It appears to be another Carolina wren at work. We put it back and will check it periodically till the babies are hatched and gone.
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A couple days ago I spotted a nest in this baby swing on the same shelf a couple feet away. It was empty so I ditched the nest.
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My bluebirds left the nest 6 days ago and I have been meaning to remove the nest so hopefully they will rebuild and start another brood but we were watching and the mom keeps going in evidently feeding at least one baby still there. I guess they had a pretty staggered hatch/departure.
That can happen, but usually she lays all the eggs and then incubates.
Swamp Donkey, Don't be too quick to believe the female is gone. Though she usually helps feed the young in the box, as time goes by and they leave the box the male assumes most of the duty of feeding the young. I have a pair right now with 5 young in the yard.
It has been 8 days since the birds left the nest box but the parents keep feeding something in there. I have not opened it to check. I figure there is at least one chick that is not ready to leave the nest yet. I don't know what the politically correct for that is these days. We are seeing bluebirds everywhere and can't tell which is the adult and which are the young ones but they are a blast to watch.
Molly, our 8 y/o gd has been staying with us a few days and today she told Becky about her dad finding the wren nest in the vase so Becky stuck her face up to the opening to check and the mom flew out and nearly hit her in the face and really startled her. Becky and Molly both got a laugh out of that.
The male bluebird is still on his own feeding his babies.
still no sign of the mother. Something must have happened like you said. That's good the dads feeding
Had a family of barn swallows nest fall off my building last year with 5 little ones that didn't hardly have feathers. I duct taped there nest back up and put them back in there and they all made it except one when everything fell 16ft on the concrete. There is a new crew of 4 babies up there this year in the duct taped nest
finished another oriole feeder for out past scoutmasters mom. i think she is in her 70s and still holds women swimming records at KU. she has been involved in scouting for years. she got to run my sawmill with my help at the last camp Alaska, and the ERC is from that tree.
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Nice feeder, and wood burning art. :)
I'm going to a flea market selling benches and such and advertising sawing and such. I also have made and am trying to sell some bluebird boxes and include pictures of my bluebird family showing that the design works. I made me up a new sign and printed to attach to or near the bluebird nest boxes to see if I can generate more interest and sales of them. It may not be politically correct enough and the flea market people may make me remove it. It reads:
Blue Lives Matter - Buy a nesting box for your neighborhood bluebird today
An imprudent crow lit near our box today and the father bluebird knocked feathers out of him and sent him packing. I'm loving these little guys!
EDIT/Add-on: Well I sold my first 2 bird boxes at the market so maybe my new slogan is working. :D
The bluebirds in the box in my yard are nearly ready to fledge. It's been hot here and I went around and pried the roof boards up on my boxes to get them some ventilation. Many boxes are made too tight and heat is as lethal as cold. WV Sawmiller, you might also be able to interest people in boxes for other birds. Wood Ducks, Screech-Owls, Barn Owls, Crested Flycatchers and others use boxes.
I did have one lady ask about bat boxes. I've seen designs for them and they look simple to build too. I remember they stressed rough lumber so the bats could get their toenails in it. I might try some of them sometime. Thanks for the suggestion.
The bat box es I've seen (only a couple) were made from rough sawn western cedar. They had a flat piece of rat wire on the back. Right on the surface. Not sure if it went all the way to the top. They are dirt simple though. Seems like they'd be pretty popular.
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Quote from: Walnut Beast on July 07, 2020, 09:37:52 PM
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5 baby barn swallows getting along just fine in duct tape nest from last year
It works!!!
I am trying a thistle sock for the finches for the first time. I put it out and about 15 minutes later a yellow finch was on it. Might have to start keeping that full now. I keep black oil sunflowers year around out for the birds. We enjoy watching them. Orioles are still a coming. Wood peckers are enjoying the suet.
My wife yelled at me to come watch a few minutes ago. A big pileated woodpecker flew in and landed on a dying ash tree about 7-8 ft from the bluebird nest box and the parent bluebirds immediately attacked. He circled the tree several times dodging them, flew to a nearby tree then returned and they both attacked again and he finally gave up and flew off. He would make 8-10 of them but they rule the roost right now. I wish I'd put this box up 30 years ago when we first moved here.
In Kansas, we have the Big Brown Bat. you can look up the size space they like, and build this into your design. we made some years ago, but never got them up. at night we could see what looked like a drunk bird swoop down and get a drink of water from our pool when lit up. The kids had a "bat phase" and on vacation we went to the bridge in Austin, and saw the bats there from the bridge and a boat.
We had giant fruit bats with a rookery in a big mango tree in Douala Cameroon with many thousands roosting in it when I worked a project there. They were about the size of crows. The locals would shoot them with pellet guns and eat them. If you saw a big circling cloud in the middle of the day like a tornado it was usually someone had disturbed them. My free-lance photographer was visiting me one summer and I took her there. She has excellent Canon lenses and cameras and took a picture. She took it home and downloaded to her laptop and started blowing up the pictures. A yawning bat is pretty impressive BTW. She got to one picture and said "What are these things on these bats?" I looked at the picture and told her "There are male bats." Her lenses were good enough to tell the sex of the bats. She took a picture of a young harpy eagle in Ecuador from about 75 yards away. She blew it up to bigger than life size and said "Heck, I've got a spec of dust on my lens." She looked closer and said "No, its a fly." From 75 yards away she could clearly make out a fly 3' in front of the eagle.
Our local bats are small ones about the size of a walnut when resting. I saw designs for the big bats too. I will probably make a box or two to take with me to my show. I figure I'll make 15-20 more bluebird boxes as kits and not assemble them for space issues and likely do the same with some simple crates.
I've got to look into that screech owl box as we have them and I love seeing them. Very few people ever do.
that would be a good market to grandpas to put together with grand kids. we did 400 toolbox kits for a camporee for cubs scouts. pre-drilled some holes so the kids had better luck starting and driving the nails.
I've seen a lot of bat boxes being sold that I'm not impressed with; some were up on a building under a roof overhang and the bats would roost right next to, but not in the box. I build boxes for function, not beauty. You can take a rough-cut board ~8" wide and tack 1"x1 1/2" slats around the edges and leave a couple of 2-3" gaps on one side. Now fasten this board to a wide board so the slats are sandwiched between them. put it up on a barn/building under the roof overhang with the narrow board out and the wide board extending down. The bats fly up and land on the wide board and crawl up thru the gaps in the slats and get between the boards. Make it however long you like. On a bat and board building, I think you could nail a wide board over the existing bats and they would love it. Put it where you don't mind the droppings fallout below the box.
I've got at least 4 bats that stay in the eve of the barn. I see them go in the barn about 5:00 am every morning.
I have a bat box up at the woodlot, beside a beaver pond, so there is water nearby. It's been there a few years. First thing that happened was a bear wanted to climb the pole. I have monkey bears on my land, they all like to climb like cats and coons. :D
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Pretty sure we had six boxes of tree swallows fledge this year. No evidence of coon or grey fox pillage.
That is probably another 20-30 tree swallows that eat biting insects for next year, happy !
The blue birds left the nest yesterday sometime. I have not spotted any yet in the yard with the male. He is still around singing, probably looking for a new mate.
mom flew out and dad flew in. none to happy to get his pic taken. I was 10 feet back and zoomed in.
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Quote from: SwampDonkey on July 10, 2020, 01:58:35 PM
He is still around singing, probably looking for a new mate.
I guess he didn't learn the first time. ;D
I got lucky getting this picture. I hope it came out ok
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51cub, I'm fairly certain that your photo is that of a Broad-winged hawk. I am participating in the 3rd New York State Breeding Bird Atlas Project, a project to map the breeding range of all the species that nest in the state. While out looking for birds a couple days ago I found a Sedge Wren, which is very hard to come by in this area. They nest is fields of tall grass, weeds and sedges where the ground is usually wet. I was happy to find it.
Seems like I am feeding more birds now than I was this winter. ??? I tried a thistle sock for the finches. Never had one before, they like it!!
Thanks @KEC (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=40283) I hadn't really looked yet to see if I could figure it out what it was. I need to get an atlas or at least a field guide for the area. I'm no good trying to look things like that up on a computer. The big thing I'm looking uo now is if a picture I took a month ago now is a mason bee or not
Our first baby eastern bluebirds left the box on 25th of June but the mom and dad keep going in and out. I was going to remove the old nest hoping they'd build another - per the advice I had read on them. I began to wonder if there was a dead bird left in there or something so today I brought my ladder over and removed the top and looked in to find this.
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Either my bluebirds forgot the read the "All you needed to know about about bluebirds" by the renowned "Dr. I Knowital" (From the University of Alabama I think) or they are just being thrifty. Somebody told me the other day bluebirds will sometimes just build another nest on top of the old one if the box is deep enough so maybe this is what they did. Mama buzzed me before I could get out of the area. I wanted to take her picture but she had the sun behind her and it would not have come out. Anyway it looks like we have many more weeks of bluebird enjoyment to come.
Quote from: thecfarm on July 16, 2020, 06:54:13 AM
Seems like I am feeding more birds now than I was this winter. ??? I tried a thistle sock for the finches. Never had one before, they like it!!
We've had a flock of the goldfinches all summer. They like to sit in the oak trees. They are busy little birds and very vocal. I don't know when they have time to nest with them staying is flocks.
Goldfinches are just now starting to nest. They wait for thistles to go to seed and use the fluff to put in their nests and they feed thistle seeds to the young. Someone once wondered how the babies do so well on a seed diet, other birds feed the babies insects for protein. Turned out, the thistle seeds have insect eggs or pupae amongst them and the baby goldfinches get protein from them.
They'll be out of luck around here for thistles. I have a war against them and burdock with the Roundup jug. :D :D
There are a few type of thistles and there not all bad
Never had much trouble with thistles here on The Farm. But that burdock tried to get a hold on this place. We mow the fields now kinda like a lawn, that keeps out the junk stuff that way.
Can't say I'm overly fond of burdock, I saw a photo many years ago of a dead goldfinch stuck in burdock. On the other hand, the leaves in the summer (so I've heard) can be pressed into service as toilet paper substitute. And, the Wild Turkeys will devour the burdocks (which are full of seeds) in the wintertime. I know, you probably still hate the burdocks. I have picked them off my wool hunting coat, not fun.
So anybody have any suggestions for attracting birds that like to eat gypsy moths and caterpillars. I am having the worst infestation I have ever seen. Makes me wonder if someone near bye sprayed and chased them all to me
since I am very anti chemical I am hoping to attract some birds that are hungry.
we just put out food and keeps them coming. I am sure they prefer some protein as well. we do grape jelly for the Orioles. milo and sunflower seeds for the song birds, cardinals and bluejays.
Today is the first day I've seen the baby Orioles come in with their parents!
The baby just sits there fluttering it's wings and the parent gets a mouthful of grape jelly, turns and gives it to the baby!
Just takes a while I guess, for the little ones to learn to eat for themselves!
We have wood peckers feeding the young ones. The young ones are almost as big as the parents!!! Had a customer come into the store and tell me the same thing.
My Carolina wrens in the vase have hatched and the mom is tending there.
robin babies. there are 4 in the nest you can see when they are eating. cannot see them all when mom and dad are gone.
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Crusarius, There is really no way to attract them. But in the general area we have both Black-billed Cuckoos and Yellow-billed Cuckoos, both of which like to eat hairy caterpillars. These birds are notoriously secretive/hard to see but can be heard. They are thought to gravitate to areas with caterpillars. Do a search and you can listen to recordings of birds on Cornell's site. Search Black-billed or Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Most people have never heard of either.
Thanks KEC, I will try that.
Just before dark I heard a noise outside and looked out to see an old doe jumping the pasture fence at the gate here about 30 yards from my seat on the sofa. She ran another 20-30 yards and stopped and looked back like something had startled her. As near as I can figure she had walked under my bluebird box 7-8 yards from where I saw her and I assume the bluebirds sent her packing.
While I was stacking some heavy walnut slabs out at my pole barn yesterday I heard Sampson, my 13 lb drama queen rat terrier, yelp several times then he returned to my protection. I assume he made the same mistake. A snake bite would not have scared him any worse. Poor little guy - he's got a rough life. :D
Those are some gangland birds you've got there!
I heard a doe in the woods when the brush saw shut off for a fill up. She was snort'n and blow'n down in the woods, a piece that was thinned a few years ago. Possibly has a fawn.
A dog I used to have got the heck kicked out of her for fooling with a fawn. Cured her of bothering deer.
I checked the bluebird box again today and narrowly escaped with my life as I was buzzed by both mom and dad. :D It looks like all 5 babies hatched okay. My wife and I were discussing yesterday whether they will have time to raise another clutch after these graduate and leave home. It may be a near thing but we hope they do.
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"Don't Thread On Me"! ;)
I've heard of and seen a few very aggressive bluebirds before; the pair that nested here this year dive-bombed me. The downside of a fiesty blue bird though, is that some outdoor housecats learn to let the bluebird swoop at them and then snatch the bluebird right out of the air as it flies by. I watched a cat get a Tree Swallow that way once.
We had a litter of cats in Fla one time. One solid white, one solid black, one a black and gray striped tabby. We would watch them in the yard and a pair of mockingbirds would harass the tabby unmercifully in the yard and pay no attention to the white or black siblings 3-4 feet away. All we could speculate was the tabby was colored more like a native bobcat.
When I was about 8, my family had a long haired caleco cat that belonged to my oldest sister. The cat had an original name. Patches. Anyway, my mom witnessed Patches pull a swooping bird right out of the air like you described. It must have been the sight for mom! Even though she was raised extremely poor, she had never seen such a thing. Dad did not seem very surprised, after all, a Marine until the day he died. A sight to behold!
They'll have lots of time to grow. The first summer we had blue birds with two families and we are further north than you folks. ;)
And sometimes the birds come to you. If you live beachfront in NZ you can end up with penguins living under your house. :D
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/122235749/welcome-to-ames-st-where-humans-and-penguins-live-together-in-homes (https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/122235749/welcome-to-ames-st-where-humans-and-penguins-live-together-in-homes)
Whooooo ??
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I guess this guy could read and felt right at home. :)
to paraphrase the quote from Jaws, "I think you are going to need a bigger hole!"
I've had hawks sit on top of my bluebird houses. smiley_furious3 smiley_whip
I just walk towards the bluebird house.
Lynn,
He is welcome to come park on the front of my house and maybe he will keep the woodpeckers away. They come down starting right after sunrise and wake us up and make a final visit just before dark and throughout the day. When I get up and go chase them away they fly to the walnut tree 50' away and by the time I return to my seat on the sofa they are back. Its like it is a game with them.
I got out and took an updated picture of my bluebirds but it is hard to make out much more detail on them. I tried several times to get pictures of the attacking dad as he swooped within 6" of my head but none of my pictures came out with my little point and shoot. I may have to get out there with my wife and her big professional Canon camera and big, fast lenses and try again.
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Quote from: Magicman on August 01, 2020, 05:43:38 PM
Whooooo ??
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I guess this guy could read and felt right at home. :)
I bet he was hoping that the birds felt welcome and didn't notice him :)
I kept hearing a tapping sound and thought Sampson was scratching or moving something on the front porch so I started over to see what he was into. When I got up I noticed it was a male cardinal on the side window on the house. I guess he was having issues with that other bird in the window. :D
Sometimes I return to my truck at the boat launch, and find a seagull staring into the fender.
I was at a friends parents house that had a finished basement with a windows, a pheasant was standing in front of the window and started to tap on the glass with his beak so they figured it must see it's reflection but I said what's the first thing most people do when they look at a aquarium?
Tap on the glass.
Hilltop,
Yeah but that is to scare the fish into moving. Do you think the pheasant was trying to scare all of you inside the building? :D
I bought a cheap little solar fountain for the bird bath. I was trying out different nozzles, checking the spray, abut 8-10 inches high and a hummingbird flew in and kind of settled into the spray. Less then 2 feet from me, kind of kept an eye on me but just taking his shower. Spent abut 30 seconds in there and then flew off.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on August 03, 2020, 06:10:31 PM
Hilltop,
Yeah but that is to scare the fish into moving. Do you think the pheasant was trying to scare all of you inside the building? :D
We all turned to the window to look, so ya. ;D
I heard a whippoorwill last night!! I can not remember the last time I heard one. Was just about dark and I was coming into the house to get my head lamp.
This is a Kea, a type of parrot that lives in the Mts of the South Island. They are very inquisitive and intelligent, and will steal anything that's not bolted down.
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This guy just turned up when we stopped to check the view on the Milford Sound road.
A pair of Herron's in flight
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Once in awhile I see a pair fly past the porch toward a brook. Probably some beaver ponds.
I don't think I have ever seen 2 in flight.
About the oddest thing I ever saw was a heron taking off from a limb in a tree.
Chimney Swifts that nest and roost in chimneys never land on the ground, on water or wires. To get tiny dead sticks to build their nest they snatch dead twigs from the tops of trees as they fly by. I've seen this just once. One of my bucket list projects that I hope to do soon is to build an artificial chimney out of wood for swifts to nest and roost in.
Used to see them here to in old out buildings with chimneys not being used. I think if they were to come back they would be competing with starlings for chimneys. I get them every year in the chimney. I open up the door to the outside, then the stove door and they head for the sunlight. :D
When I did wildlife control I dealt with a lot of starlings in chimneys. I never found their nest in a chimney; they would go down a chimney looking for a nest site and could not get out. You're right that when you give them a way out they take it. Do a You Tube search on Chinmey Swift towers, I think you'll like it.
I don't know if they're still there, but Chimney Swifts used to congregate in the huge chimney at the Russell Town Hall!
They would come out a little while before dusk and feed on the flying insects then return to the chimney!
Lots of residents believed them to be Bats, because they made a kind of "chirping" sound as they flew, I've told many of them that you can't hear a Bat when they're flying!
Anyways, I'll have to check it out to see if the Swifts still use the chimney!
Hey, Chuck, Please do check it out and let us know, although they go South to South America early and may have already left. Only 1 pair will nest in a chimney at a time, but before nesting and after they're done nesting they flock together and the flocks will all go to one chimney to roost for the night. It would be great if some of those big old chimneys could be left alone for the swifts. Check out some of the U-tube videos of swifts going into chimneys.
Had an interesting day around my yard. Was woke up at 5:00 am by a Screech-Owl behind the house. A pair of Mourning Doves still have 1 nestling in the nest (one bailed out 2 days ago). This afternoon a vocal Merlin came into the yard and an adult Mourning Dove flew towards it to distract it away from the nest. I can remember when there were virtually no Merlins in this area, they've came back strong in recent years.
Some birds around the camp. A Ruffed Grouse and some Gray Jay's
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This morning my wife began opening the blinds and spotted a small hawk on the split rail fence behind the house, only about 12 feet away. She called me and we watched it for about 2 minutes. He knew we were there, didn't seem to care, hopping about 6 feet each way along the fence.
Finally hopped down to the ground and flushed out a towhee, chased it around the brush and finally cornered it and grabbed it and flew off. Unusual to see them that close for that long.
Guessing a sharp-shinned only because we have more here then others but could have been a cooper's, never quite sure which when I see one.
Two bluebirds, males, have been coming to the feeder!!
Never saw them at the feeder before. I only have black oil sunflowers, nyger seeds and suet.
I took these poor pictures (it was a long ways away and moving) of what I would say is a duck last May. I have never figured out exactly what it is.
Its hard to see in these pictures but it appears to have a bit of red on its face or upper beak.
Any ideas?
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Your duck appears to be a Wood Duck male. Regarding the Gray Jays, the American Ornithologists Union who give birds their common names, years ago named them Canada Jays. Then they changed it to Gray Jay, then back to Canada Jay which is the current common name. When on a moose hunt in Newfoundland in 1990 we were quartering up 2 moose and the Canada Jays came right up by us and helped themselves to some bits of fat. No doubt they evolved to come up and steal scraps from wolf kills with the wolve right there. Many people call them camp robbers; neat birds.
Yes, to the male wood duck.
Today I went behind the house on the neighbors' property to a grove of Black Willow trees. These trees seem to have a lot of bugs/insects and often attract birds, including migrating warblers. After a streak of not seeing warblers or their being hyper-active in poor light, I managed to see some that were reasonably cooperative. Saw several Yellow-rumped Warblers and one Black-throated Blue Warbler. They are now migrating through and if one has the patience and time to look for them they are neat birds. Alot of other migrants are moving too, including shorebirds.
A late night bird!
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Looks to be a Owl 🦉
Today I went behind the house to a grove of Black Willow trees, which tend to attract a lot of bugs/insects and birds. Saw several Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Many birds are migrating now and, although some are hard to see in the foilage and many are tough to identify they are a great pleasure to see. Around mud flats and shorelines there are many shorebirds to be seen that are headed South.
I am reasonably sure the owl is a Great-horned Owl by its' large size and horizontal barring on the breast and belly. If anyone wants to hear it, I have some owl stories that I think are of interest.
Yes, a Great-horned owl. It has selected an apple tree for its recent nights perch.
The Kingfisher waits on the boat dock's light before seeking some fish food.
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I have not seen a king fisher in years. Always kool to watch.
Today I had a very strange looking bird that looked and acted just like a chicken. It flew into the top of a dead tree and hung out a little. at first I thought it was pileated wood pecker but it acted just like a chicken. anybody have any ideas what it might be?
I couldn't get any detail on it since it was bright over cast behind it. When I tried to get closer he bailed.
Crusarius, You say the bird acted like a chicken. How so ? Pileated Woodpeckers cackle and sound chicken-like at times.
head bobbing and pecking the limb and leaves it landed on.
I have never seen a pileated act like that. But who knows, the fall air could be messing with their heads. I know my cats are crazy.
I've noticed over the past few days that the Eastern Bluebirds are flocking, so they must be pretty close to heading South!
I thought this was nice enough to share. Any of you bird experts care to ID the bird?
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phoebe?
May be a bluebird. Hard to be sure.
We started the day with a couple, maybe more, bluebirds going in and out of the bluebird box they used to raise 2 clutches of 5 eggs each this summer on the pasture fence and overlooking the front yard. We still don't know what they were doing going in and out of the house. Surely it is too late in the year for them to try to build another nest and raise some more. i told my wife I'd have to put a light bulb in it like I did in Sampson's small doghouse to keep him warm. I did not see them going and coming later in the day. Maybe they were just homesick and came back for a visit.
About midday I looked out my window to see a Towhee perched there looking at me about 2' away. I don't know what he was up to.
WV Sawmiller, Bluebirds occaisionally check out boxes at all times of the year. They will go in boxes to roost at night in the winter. I read once of someone who counted ~24 bluebirds that all went into a box for the night and it was just a standard size box! No need for a heat lamp there. I once discovered a chickadee going into the cross pipe (1 1/2" diameter) of a clothes line pipe. He would curl up inside that pipe and spend the night, safe from those pesky owls.
@KEC (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=40283) ,
Thanks for the info. That may be what these were doing although we did see them going in and coming out of the box. I just figured they were homesick. :D
Redtailed Hawk also likes the apple tree.
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Ron, So one works the night shift and one works days. Just not a safe place for mice and voles and such.
Local artist has hit a boring concrete wall on the walkway where the while fantail hangs out.
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So even if you don't get to see the bird, that's what it looks like ;D
Grouse feeding in the back yard this morning. A rather plump one to. There are three hanging around, saw all three the other day when carrying ashes out to dump. :)
https://youtu.be/av3mTP_F4m8 (https://youtu.be/av3mTP_F4m8)
I used to hunt and eat grouse, but now I just enjoy seeing them. Just to let you guys know, this is a good year for "winter finches", Crossbills, Pine Siskins, Pine Grossbeaks and Evening Grossbeaks. Keep your feeders stocked with sunflower seed. So far this fall I had a single Pine Siskin a couple of times.
When my daisies died back this fall the pine siskins were all over them for several weeks, maybe a couple dozen at a time.
We get a lot of juncos and goldfinch here in the weeds. We have only a small number of evening grosbeaks that eat seeds of the boxelders. Bluejays are always present, looking for a free lunch. They love peanuts by the way, they will have them all before a squirrel even knows they are there. :D
I thought my eastern bluebirds had migrated south for the winter but I sat in my lower shooting house today from about 1:00 pm till dark. Almost as soon as I got there I spotted eastern bluebirds getting the corn off the spinner of my deer feeder. For every grain of corn they took off the feeder they would knock 10-20 off on to the ground below. I assume these are the ones that raised here at the house since I was probably only 500-600 yards away. That brought back memories of when they did not want me near their house, even though I had built and provided it to them. Here they were eating food I had provided and wasting most of it. I remembered how they would attack and crap all over me but were now dependent on me and no doubt I will have to house them and their offspring next year too and it suddenly dawned on me - they must think I am the Federal Government. :D (Sorry - the devil made me say that. ::))
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Two in the frame - sometimes there would be 5-6. Just right of 6:00 and about 10:00 in the frame.
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Underneath the feeder picking up some they had already knocked out
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Raiding the spinner on my feeder. I wonder how often they are there when it goes off? I watched at my 4:00 feeding and a red-bellied woodpecker had just left about 30 seconds earlier.
They seem to return to the nest site when on migration. They do here, but it was earlier in the fall.
I had to chase off a hairy woodpecker the other day, he was trying to make a nest box hole larger. :D
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Believe it or not, we are still seeing Eastern Bluebirds here!
There was a bunch of them that left about a month ago, but now there's another "smaller" bunch of them here!
I'm in Southern Onondaga County, NY and I have been seeing bluebirds year round for years. Oftentimes I will hear them flying overhead. In winter they feed a lot on berries and Staghorn Sumac seeds. Watch the big clumps of sumac with the red seed clusters. WV Sawmiller, the birds in your photos are titmice. Nobody told some of the birds that they have to go South. Today I counted 59 Turkey Vultures in the trees by the Jamesville Post Office (near Syracuse).
I may have been watching the screen vs the birds and got the wrong ones when I snapped as it was a cloudy day and poor visibility and the birds were constantly going and coming. I know some of the birds I was seeing were bluebirds. There were also nuthatches which have some blue but are about half the size of the bluebirds and often walk upside down on the trees. I saw the bluebirds chase some of them off. I also have several species of woodpeckers coming including red-bellied, downy, and hairy and yes, we have titmice or is that titmouses? Occasionally a cardinal or blue jay come. The most problems are the dove and turkeys who wipe out the corn on the ground in short order.
I know what you mean about birds moving about and trying to sort them out or get a good photo. Today I had a bunch of chickadees and nuthatches (red and white-breasted) making a fuss by one of my Screech-Owl boxes. One Red-breasted Nuthatch stood right in the entry hole of the box and peered inside. As expected, at dusk a red morph Screech-Owl appeared at the hole. Most around here are gray morph. I enjoy your posts, WV Sawmiller.
One spring I thought I was seeing a flock of bluebirds out in the maple woods. Come to find out they were northern parula on there way north to the coniferous forest to nest in old man's beard moss. They are a slate blue with yellow chest. Never seen them before or took notice until then. :) They actually are smaller than bluebirds as it turns out. I knew very little about bluebirds back then as they were never here in this area.
Out for a stroll in the yard again. He's under the beech.
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It's been quite a while since I've had a grouse come around near the house. I drove around a high rent housing developement today as many of these places have planted River Birch and crabapple trees, which attract birds. Saw 3 bluebirds eating crabapples and several robins. Was hoping for redpolls and maybe Pine Grossbeak.
I was sitting on my couch watching TV and trying to stay warm a few minutes ago when there was a loud thump on the window 10' away from me. I walked outside and at the bottom of the porch steps I found this guy.
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A red-bellied woodpecker. Addled but still alive
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I put him back on the porch on Sampson's food dish where he was probably headed anyway. I'll check in a while. Hopefully he will feel well enough to fly away. They are a pain at times but I didn't have the heart to put him down. He's only doing what comes natural.
About once a week we will have some kind of bird fly into the large windows on the side of the house. usually they get right back up and fly away. Sometimes they take awhile to regain their senses and sometimes they don't survive at all.
The back wall of our house is generally double pane glass, and we get hits every other day or so. Bird feeders out and the guests fly in the wrong direction.
Saw a cardinal here the other day on my walk, flew into some red pine trees from the opposite side of the road. I can officially say I have seen my annual winter cardinal this year already. :)
My red-bellied woodpecker was gone when I walked out a few minutes later so either he flew or walked away. I think he flew because either he or his twin brother were on the porch rail this morning. I thought it was going to let me walk over and pick him up but when I was 4-5 feet away he decided to fly away.
A friend of mother's had a red headed woodpecker at her place all summer. Some birders went over to take photos and it is now in a 2021 calendar. They are a long way out of their ordinary range to be here in NB. We are seeing other birds creeping in here frequently, such as turkey vulture, crains (not herons), turkeys. I suspect an old fashion winter with -30F mornings will thin the turkeys out. :D Haven't seen -30F here in 12 years.
Swamp Donkey, Turkeys can be hardy. They are in the Central Adirondacks. Some years ago when New York and other states trapped turkeys to introduce in new areas I talked to a biologist who said that in very harsh weather the turkeys may not get out of a roost tree all day long. They would be up in a big Larch and sidestep out to where they would eat buds and go back over by the trunk. Made it tough to trap them.
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I was sitting in my upper shooting blind this morning and this pileated woodpecker came for a visit. He landed about 6' high on a tree then hopped down on the ground to a couple of roots and was down there a good 5 minutes or more. He was throwing leaves over his shoulders (Do birds have shoulders?) as far as an old turkey hen. I had a good time watching him then before he left he gave the famous pileated wood hen call before he flew up. We have several nest of them in various dead trees on our place. They are very impressive bird but I watched a bluebird make one circle a dying ash tree repeatedly last summer when he lit too close to their nest box.
Around a dozen eastern bluebirds and half a dozen flickers in the yard yesterday.
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Today I had a Brown Creeper by the house where I put suet and sunflower seed. I'm making some nest boxes for creepers for the coming nesting season. They normally nest under loose tree bark, but are known to use a box that simulates natural sites.
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Threw some sunflower 🌻 seeds on my enclosed trailer. Works pretty good for a bird feeder
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I read something interesting on our new calendar this morning. The blue of blue jay's feathers comes from melanin, which is brown. The cells in the feathers are specialized to diffract the light so that we see blue, neat.
Interesting. I was looking at one really close today and noticed his tail and back feathers are really a different blue than the rest of his blue color
So far as I know, the blue in Blue Jays, bluebirds and others is caused by light refraction. The feathers are somehow such that they reflect blue but disperse the other colors. If you take one of their feathers and hold in down in front of you it will reflect the blue and look blue. Hold it up so the light comes through the feather to you and it is just a washed out gray. I recall many years ago I was out birding with some friends and we went to see a pair of Blue Grosbeaks which are rare this far North. We found the grosbeaks in an old field along with Eastern Bluebirds, Blue Jays and Indigo Bunting, all of the birds found in New York that are blue.
saw this in the window feeder today. must be the flying variety, cause that is a bird feeder.
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I opened the side door of a bluebird house last year and a squirrel ran out that looked like it was wearing baggy pajamas. I think it was a flying squirrel.
We have 2 pairs of bluebirds visiting our feeder in the last 3 days now. They must be staying nearby.
I've got chickadees that will take seed from my hand if the feeder is empty by the house.
When i ski by the sugar shack and that feeder is empty I've had one on a couple occasions land on my hand atop the
ski pole for 5-10 seconds looking at me telling me they are out of seed. Now that I find pretty special !
The blue jays are quite the characters. Throw some peanuts, shell and all on the feeder. Don't worry about the squirrels, the blue jays own the peanuts. :D
A local musician, Ewan Dobson has birds come to his hand. :)
Ewan Dobson - Birds I've Known [2018-2020] - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aA1XJloUpQ)
Hard to beat that . Dude has more patience than me. I'll give em a minute or two and thats it.
Quote from: woodroe on January 12, 2021, 05:39:37 PM
Hard to beat that . Dude has more patience than me. I'll give em a minute or two and thats it.
Yep, I hear ya. :D
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Here are 4 Humming Birds perched on my hand.
Wow! That's awesome. I haven't seen a hummingbird in years
Believe it or not, as we speak, there is a Rufous Hummingbird in Baldwinsville just North of Syracuse and it has been there since October. I saw it earlier this month (January 2021). Some homeowners are keeping feeders up for it. Apparently, they are a relatively hardy hummingbird and summer in Alaska, arriving in the spring when it is still cold. It was uncanny to see it in the winter here.
The hummers buzz me often when I am out at the road and hard hat on. Plus the fact I hang pretty ribbons. :D Must be a few wild flowers around for nectar, but often unseen. I'm just looking at fir and spruce trees all day. :D
Magicman the hummer whisperer. ;)
Swamp Donkey, in some areas Ruby-throated Hummingbbirds will follow Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers around and pirate the sapsuckers' sap wells. Probably because heavily wooded areas don;t have so many flowers. I once watched a hummer feeding at sapsucker holes in an elm tree. I don't recall seeing elms with sapsucker holes, which are in horizontal rows.
@KEC (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=40283) Yes, I've read that before. I've never seen it. But we do have a lot of sapsucker buzzards around here. ;D
Had a red pine and a larch that were both being hammered by sap suckers in the yard. I've got other such trees and they never touch them like that. They do pick on basswood though.
I scratch my head sometimes, wondering why sapsuckers drill heck out of one tree and not others. A few years back they really worked over a mountain ash in my yard, then after that year they leave it alone. If you hoot like a Barred Owl near a sapsuckers' nest or babies the sapsucker will come in and say unspeakable things at you. And, sometimes they will have a hummingbird in tow as though towing it around with an invisible string about 4' long. Must see to appreciate.
I was out with the dogs a minute ago and heard a bluejay yackin. I looked up for him and found him going through a grey squirrel's nest looking for food I guess, because he flew from that one, to the next one just a tree away and started doing the same thing. Probably after the bird feed the squirrels hoard out of the bird feeders in the hood. I'd never witnessed a Bluejay raiding squirrel houses before.
Jeff,
Were those leaf nests the blue jays were raiding? I never knew the squirrels would store food in them. I know they will store it in knotholes and cracks and such. I think most of their food around here they bury and they must plant millions of trees and grapes and such every Fall digging a little hole 2-3 inches deep, dropping in a grape, acorn, hickory nut, walnut, beech nut or such then covering it up and repeating. They are frantic when the nuts are falling to collect and bury them all. I put a half a grocery sack full of wormy chestnuts outside in Quantico when I was in training up there and we watched one grey squirrel grab one, run 100 yards away, bury it, come back and grab another then go 6' away and bury it. I thought they buried them in the same area so they would know where to look later but this one had no rhyme or reason to where he planted them. He did not stop till he had that whole back emptied. It was fun to watch him. With their high mortality and such I bet the squirrels never retrieve 5-10 percent of what they bury.
Leaf nests. We see the squirrels raiding birdfeeders all the time milling their mouths with corn or sunflower seeds, then retreating back to both nests and tree holes. From my living room chair I have a great view of a bunch of squirrel infested trees.
Put out a handful of peanuts in the shell and see who gets them first. I bet it ain't the squirrels. ;D
Maybe the Blue Jays hid seeds in the squirrel nests, I'm quite sure that they take food and hide it for later as do some other birds. I've been enjoying having Common Redpolls coming to my feeders almost daily lately. A Cooper's Hawk is keeping the birds on high alert, especially the Mourning Doves.
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The birds found the seed that I threw on the snow pile that got covered by fresh snow. I found out a woodpecker is the king around the other birds. 14 Blue Jay can be around feeding and when he comes in they scatter
We've been getting a flock of tree sparrows this winter going from the tall weeds where they get seed then up by the front door where they pick up gravel. I keep it cleared off enough there for the sun to melt the snow and ice away. :) Stopped putting feed out here as there are about 30 pigeons around here that want to move in and leave their crappy card on the roof. So better to leave some tall weeds for the little birdies instead. ;D
I sort of fiqured out to leave some mature weeds around the yard as a food source for the birds too. And what's not to like about less yard work. Seriously, I'd like to see more people leave the weeds to go to seed for the birds.
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I reset my homemade box trap on the front porch to catch any possums or coons coming at night to steal Sampson's food. I heard the door drop a little bit ago and told my wife the birds had set it off. They come regularly and steal the dog food and I figured one had lit on the trip stick and set it off. Turned out this male cardinal had gotten inside and bumped the trigger stick. I took this picture and got a couple of nasty nips for my trouble then turned him loose.
He looks less than pleased. did you at least give him a snack? :)
Does a chunk out of my left pinkie count as a snack? :D
All depends if he swallowed it or spit it out.
My pain and suffering remain the same either way. ::)
I must remind you all that no Cardinals were harmed in the making of this photo - or thereafter. I cannot say that for the photographer. :( Actually, I feel no ill-will towards the bird who was just doing what comes natural when he was caught, photographed and released. (I may wear a glove if he returns. :D)
or a hard hat :)
A wildlife rehabilitator friend of mine told me that someone was holding onto an injured Great Blue Heron trying to help it when the heron drove it's bill right through his eye and into his brain and killed him. Can't be too careful. Critters have a strange way of showing appreciation when you help them.
Quote from: KEC on February 14, 2021, 04:12:52 PM
A wildlife rehabilitator friend of mine told me that someone was holding onto an injured Great Blue Heron trying to help it when the heron drove it's bill right through his eye and into his brain and killed him. Can't be too careful. Critters have a strange way of showing appreciation when you help them.
Rare incidents but yes things can happen
Got a flock of about 20 turkeys spending the night in my pine stand beside the field.
They were scratching around under the bird feeders late this afternoon and happened
to catch one in flight heading for the Pines couple hundred ft. away.
So with binoculars I could see 1/2 doz or more up in the trees getting in position for the night.
Don't see that very often .
They don't like crows either, seen some goings on in the field between them when the
crows are cleaning up table scraps and stale bread . Turkeys get aggressive with them, chase them off.
A list of other birds that like crows is a short list.
About turkeys, like many birds turkeys eat the seeds of Staghorn Sumac in the wintertime. It is always up above the snow. Bluebirds eat sumac seeds a lot. I've seen a flock of turkeys in harsh winter conditions where some were up in the sumac pecking at the seed heads and trying to balance on a swaying limb. The smart turkeys were on the ground below eating the seeds that fell to the ground.
Not only are the birds coming around and stealing Sampson's dog food and crapping all over my front porch ungrateful, they have a sense of humor. I just put on my rubber muck boots I keep out there for mushy weather use like we are currently having and I found another piece of dog food in the toe of my right boot. I can't remember how many times I have encountered that same situation. I could not tell if the culprit was sitting over on the walnut limb laughing at me or not.
I would bet that a mouse put the food in the boot. Get out some snap traps and put the mice you catch out for the crows, they love 'em. Did You Know, mice often get into houses up high.
Setting traps on the roof can tell you something. I once got mice out of someones home, but could not get them under control until I set traps on the roof and trimmed a tree branch or two that they were climbing to get onto the roof. I can't prove it, but I suspect that a Barred Owl was coming around and taking mice off the roof.
No sign of mice and I had put the food pan up last night so they could only get to it today. I have traps and glue boards out in the barn where they are a big problem. I even caught a couple of big rat snakes to put out there last summer.
Ravens seem to follow the crows around here. Where there are crows hanging around there must
be something to eat right ? Unlike crows though the Ravens are fussy about what they will eat, mostly carrion .
Dead Mice and turkey gizzards thrown out on the snow get picked up quick by crows and Ravens.
Had a mature Bald Eagle come down one day for some fresh turkey liver and gizzards, that was quite a sight 75'
from the house. They must be able to see red on snow a mile away.
I've had this thought for some time that a possible way to help moose with winter tick problems is to fiqure out how to condition some kind of birds to eat them like oxpecker birds in Africa. Then I saw a Utube video (do a Utube search for "crows picking ticks") and I felt compelled to talk with a moose biologist in Maine. He said this idea has been talked about and that Canada Jays are known to pick ticks from moose. Unfortunately, the ticks have already done the harm to the moose before the birds eat them. And that they have found as many as 73,000 ticks on a single moose.
On our last trip to South Africa we spotted a big cape buffalo with blood running down from his eyes and ears and we asked out guide if he had escaped a predator or such but we could not find any teeth marks or claw marks. We stopped to see a biologist friend of our guide and showed him the picture and he speculated it was an overabundance of ticks the ox-pickers had not gotten and the buffalo had scraped and burst the bloated ticks causing the blood to run down his face. Later on the same trip we were watching a buffalo and an ox-picker walked down his face and stuck his beak up the buffalo's nose and took a drink of the snot running down. Pretty gross but the buffalo seemed used to it.
I don't see how a moose survives those kind of tick infestations.
I know cattle egrets are common sights down in central Fla and I guess they are picking flies and horseflies off the cattle and catching grasshoppers and maybe even mice the cows kick up.
My FIL had a pond in his pasture and I loved to watch a cow walk out belly deep to keep her belly safe from flies. The bluegills in his pond would look like piranhas swarming. around the cow and I have seen them jump completely over the back of the cow catching a big horse fly up there.
This thread started with what people were seeing around their yard. Here is my list of birds around the yard today: Mourning Doves-7, Downy Woodpecker-2, Hairy Woodpecker-1, Red-bellied Woodpecker-1, Cooper's Hawk-1, Blue Jay-3, American Crow-5, Black-capped Chickadee-4, Tufted Titmouse-2, Red-breasted Nuthatch-1, White-breasted Nuthatch-1, Carolina Wren-1, Brown Creeper-1, American Goldfinch-2, American Tree Sparrow-2, White-throated Sparrow-6, Dark-eyed Junco-2, Northern Cardinal-9. A testament to how much money I'm spending on sunflower seed, cracked corn, suet and lard. Helps me through the glaciated northern winter. What are you folks seeing ? Also, I built 2 deluxe brush piles in the yard among the trees that many of these birds take refuge in from the weather and the Cooper's Hawks.
Here for regulars we have a big crop of chickadees 15-20 regulars and a dozen BlueJays at least.
Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, occasional pair of Cardinals, White and Red breasted Nuthatches,
Titmice , Crows come by daily looking for scraps and peanuts in the shell.
Ravens are always around combing the woods. See Bald Eagles overhead occasionally.
Seen one Shrike and one or two hawks. 2 Dozen Turkeys are regulars since last fall.
Been through twice as much black oil sunflower seed and suet this winter compared to last, working on our
4th 40 lb bag seed right now. Don't know the reason why but like the weather seed consumption varies
from year to year.
Instead of "camp" this year for Ms 8 the school had an "Activities Week". Today it was a bus trip out to a local nature reserve called Rotokare. What makes this special is that it's predator proof fenced, basically not even a mouse can get it. So native birds that have almost been wiped out by introduced predators are able to thrive in there. Some of our native birds have been able to adapt to the changes that humans and introduced predators have caused, and are still common, even here in town. So we see Tui and pīwakawaka in the back garden quite often. Others are more ground living or not predator wary, and get wiped out by stoats / rats / possums etc. These can really only survive on offshore pest free Islands, or in fenced reserves like Rotokare.
This is a piwakawaka (fantail). I'd say newly fledged by it's "fluffiness"
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This is what's called a "Robin" here in NZ.or toutouwai. There are really friendly little birds. Kick a few leaves away, and step back and they will be in there looking for bugs right in front of you. Guide said they are the most photographed bird in the reserve, because they will sit there 3 ft from you just watching. Hoping you will disturb some leaf litter probably. Anyway, their ground feeding makes them very vulnerable.
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Last one is the saddleback or tīeke. Like the robins the local population was wiped out by introduced predators over 100 years ago. Both have been re-introduced to the reserve and have been breeding successfully. In fact the Kiwi birds (which we didn't see as they are nocturnal) have multiplied so well that they are going to have to re-home ~100 of them. Adult kiwi are pretty feisty and can defend themselves from small predators, but the new hatched chicks can't, and have a 90% mortality rate in an unprotected environment.
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Saw 6 Robins yesterday, the first of the year. Spring is getting ready to sprung . 8)
I looked up yesterday and a pair of bluebirds were at my box right in front of our house. One was perched on the entrance hole and the other was on the limb above it about 6' away. I don't know yet if they were the ones who occupied it and raised 2 clutches of 5 eggs each time last year or another couple just out house shopping. I'll keep watching. If they are building a nest there will be plenty of activity the next few days. I did remove the old nest last Fall as advised. I am told they will not re-use a nest but nobody told my bluebirds last year and either they used the same nest both times or just built the second one on top as they never stopped using it from the day they brought the first twig at the start of the process till the last hatchling left home in the Fall.
I've had a Rain Crow calling here on the farm for the last 2 weeks. He should be in South America. Kinda strange to hear him talking when he is sitting in a block of ice. And I had a dead bluebird in my outdoor wood furnace a few days ago when I went to fire up. I don't know why they love that stainless steel pipe, but that thing is a bluebird death trap. I need to screen the top of it.
Wudman
Love to hear the rain crows in the evenings...
We always hated rain crows in Fla because they ate our catalpa worms we were raising for fish bait. I have heard and seen several here since we moved to WV.
I didn't know what a "rain crow" is, so I looked it up. Local name for Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Them and Black-billed Cuckoos are noted for eating hairy caterpillars such as tent caterpillars and gypsy moth caterpillars. Ianab, I'm thinking you might like e-bird. People report bird sightings and it goes into a huge database. You can see other people's reports and submit photos and view other's photos. Warning, it can be addictive. I enjoy your posts and photos.
Mourning doves are known by some in this area as rain crows. Sometimes local colloquialisms can confuse us.
Most of the crows seen in New York are the very common American Crow. For a long time Common Ravens were mostly found in the Adirondacks, they are now in Central New York too, but not in any big numbers. For a long time the Fish Crows were mainly near the Atlantic coast and up along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers; they are becoming more common in Central New York. Fish Crows are a little smaller than American Crows and have a nasal call somewhat like the call of a young American Crow just out of the nest that you hear in June and July.
I've probably posted about Kea parrots before, but these guys are pretty smart. They live high up in the Mts of the South Island, often above the tree line, even in Winter.
These birds haven't been "trained" to solve the puzzles, they work it out for themselves, how to open doors, cause -> effect and "tools".
That's One Smart Bird | Animal All-Stars - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W7hEUGtv4U)
That's one smart bird ! Reminds me of a book I read many years ago that told about a researcher doing similar tests to see how intelligent chimpanzees are. He tied a banana to a string and suspended it up in the air too high for the chimp to reach. He then gave the chimp a long stick, thinking that if the chimp was smart enough he'd knock the banana down with the stick. The chimp promptly stood the stick up and climbed up it and grabbed the banana, something the researcher hadn't even thought of.
And then not too far away from NZ are the tool making New Caledonia Crows.
Tool-Making Crows Are Even Smarter Than We Thought | Nat Geo Wild - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZM9GpLXepU)
My bluebirds are back. I assume it is the adults that raised 2 clutches of 5 each eggs last summer. They are building their nest right now. The only problem is the house is about 35' in front of where we park our 2 Dodge trucks and they have started landing on the passenger side truck mirrors and window sills before the fly to the house. Of course before they leave they have to take a crap on the glass and door sides. Talk about gratitude. They did not do that last year and I don't know what changed - maybe they have become Ford lovers. >:( I am either going to have to park somewhere else or spray the mirrors with WD40 or Blue Creeper so they can't get traction or such.
After being scarce for a while, I had bluebirds near the house the past two days. One day they were feeding on Staghorn Sumac seeds. Sumac is an important cold weather food source for many birds. They won't start nesting here for a few weeks. A lot of robins have been in this area this winter, feeding on sumac, grapes, crabapples and such.
We've had robins around for the last few weeks but not until the last two days have they been sitting on roof peaks at dawn and dusk announcing their arrival and describing their territory.
Also our first swallows showed up this morning, maybe a couple of weeks early this year.
What kind of swallows ? Much too early for swallows here, but a few Tree Swallows have been reported in the New York City/ lower Hudson River area.
Believe ours are tree swallows.
Grew up in Montana with cave swallows at the river behind the house. Up a little higher away from the water saw lots of purple martins.
Heard the first sandhill cranes today.
I was in the road through my cedar brake this afternoon cleaning up ice damage and had carried a load of limbs off the path into the woods when an owl hooted very close. I stood still and a second one joined in. I never saw them, but one moved real close and hooted again. I don't know what kind of owls they were.
Audobon society used to have a great tool for that. I am not sure if they still do, but it will play all the sounds of different animals. Really good sound clips to.
Mathmatical odds are they were Barred Owls, less likely Great Horned Owl.Google either and click onto Cornell's All About Birds, then click on "sounds". Love to hear back if you decide which owls they were. Barred Owls are the more likely to hoot in the daytime.
Thanks for tip, KEC. Right now I will go with Great Horned Owls. I hope I get another chance to hear them, it was definitely two birds, one with a deeper tone. I have heard them at night a lot, but farther away since I am in the house.
There is a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers that frequent our backyard. There are woods behind the house with several old snags.
OSF,
Try listening to these. https://www.bird-sounds.net/
I am also betting it is a Barred owl as they seem to be the most common and most vocal around here. They make dozens of calls beside the stereotypical one we mostly associate with them. Around here they get started and shake the woods with one on every ridgeline talking back and forth. They drive the turkey gobblers crazy in the Springtime when they get started.
Albatross are very graceful in flight, but when they land, sometimes not so much. :D
Albatross faceplants to fame on New Zealand livestream - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ephP7c1nKQA)
Ianab, that was funny, poor bird out of its' element on land. Old Saw fixer, Great-horned Owls are noted for "dueting" where one hoots and its' mate hoots back on a different pitch. They are nesting now and often nest in nests made by Red-tailed Hawks, Great Blue Herons and other big stick nests. When I was a kid, I found a pair nesting in a nest made the previous year by Red-tailed Hawks. I contacted a bird bander who came out and climbed the big beech tree with the nest and banded them. The babies are quite big with big talons. There were muskrat and skunk remains in the nest.
After listening to two sources of bird calls, thanks to WV Sawmiller and KEC, I changed my mind and am sure I heard a Barred Owl.
And the Barred Owl said "Who Cooks For You".
I have a couple owl nest boxes in my woodland. They are 2 feet tall by 1 foot square and pretty heavy. Need to use a hoist to get them up high. Being territorial they need to be far apart. They start nesting here late January into February. One nest box is across the pasture 18 feet up a big oak a little ways in from the tree line. I can see it (with binoculars) from a the yard. A Barred owl has been sitting on the perch, I assume it is a male with a female hiding inside.
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Rhodemont, That's really neat, I'd like to get a pair to nest in a box. I made a couple of artificial stick nests behind my house with Barred Owl or Long-eared Owl in mind; no luck.
Roady,
They do make that call often followed by "Who cooks for your too?" but they also make dozens of other calls too. Some sound like a chortle. Some sound like a cackle. Sometimes it is an abbreviated call just "Whoo". They are big and very vocal at times.
I have a story. Quite a few years ago, 2 Saw-whet Owls somehow got inside a big hardware store. A friend and I asked the management if we could try to catch them and put them outside for their own good and they refused. Lots of birders went to see them. You could actually see them fly down from the rafters and catch mice off the pallet racks. Turned out, people working there had set up a bird feeder on display and filled it with bird seed, creating a bonanza for mice. When people stopped seeing the owls I asked a store employee what happened to them he said "they took care of it." Hopefully, they didn't harm the owls. Saw-whets are hard to find but really neat.
Now I know where most of the 160 lbs of black oil seed went this winter.
Counted 25 Bluejays perched sunning along the treeline this very bitter cold morning .
Those guys can tear through some seed.
How many people know that Blue Jays are migratory? Near the southeast corner of Lake Ontario there is a migration funnel where birds that fly around the lake in the Spring turn North. You can literally pull up your lawn chair and sit and watch the birds go by, Eagles, hawks all kinds, vultures, waterfowl, and songbirds. I have been there and spent 3 hours watching the show and there was a non-stop steady stream of Blue Jays streaming by.
This is interesting to watch. Bird vs Fox
Eagle and fox battle over a deer carcass - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4avRY9H4rk&t=1s)
Definitely pretty cool video
Quote from: woodroe on March 15, 2021, 03:54:20 PM
Now I know where most of the 160 lbs of black oil seed went this winter.
Counted 25 Bluejays perched sunning along the treeline this very bitter cold morning .
Those guys can tear through some seed.
Absolutely it's amazing
Quote from: KEC on March 15, 2021, 10:12:27 PM
How many people know that Blue Jays are migratory? Near the southeast corner of Lake Ontario there is a migration funnel where birds that fly around the lake in the Spring turn North. You can literally pull up your lawn chair and sit and watch the birds go by, Eagles, hawks all kinds, vultures, waterfowl, and songbirds. I have been there and spent 3 hours watching the show and there was a non-stop steady stream of Blue Jays streaming by.
That would be quite a site to see. Lucky you
Just finished building a bunch of bird boxes or whatever wants to inhabit them. I feel bad for taking out a lot of the decaying stuff so I'm building them cookie cutter homes now 😎 I bet lots of flying squirrels will reside in them since I have lots of those guys.
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HemlocKing, Might I suggest that you make a way to open the boxes so when a bird is done nesting you can clean it out. A couple of drain hoes in the bottom and vent holes just under the roof too. If you put them in the woods you will get mice and flyers and some birds, but many birds prefer a box in an open area. Like to hear what uses them.
Quote from: woodroe on March 15, 2021, 03:54:20 PM
Now I know where most of the 160 lbs of black oil seed went this winter.
Counted 25 Bluejays perched sunning along the treeline this very bitter cold morning .
Those guys can tear through some seed.
Seed bandits is my term for them gorbies. :D
Quote from: HemlockKing on March 16, 2021, 08:00:28 AM
Just finished building a bunch of bird boxes or whatever wants to inhabit them.
You may even get some blue birds if on posts about 6 feet off the ground. :)
Quote from: KEC on March 16, 2021, 08:44:03 PM
HemlocKing, Might I suggest that you make a way to open the boxes so when a bird is done nesting you can clean it out. A couple of drain hoes in the bottom and vent holes just under the roof too. If you put them in the woods you will get mice and flyers and some birds, but many birds prefer a box in an open area. Like to hear what uses them.
I drilled 3/16 holes all over just cant see them in the picture! I did not build a latch though, next time! They shouldn't be hard to open back up just 4 finishing nails on the top
A couple days ago a bald eagle flew in front of me on the way to work. Maybe 1000 feet. Probably the same one I saw on the ice the day before that. Seeing more and more eagles around here. Growing up I did not see many.
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Quote from: HemlockKing on March 18, 2021, 11:01:29 AM
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Absolutely incredible and gorgeous picture 👍
I've been working on watering down the Red Squirrel population here. They eat the seed intended for the birds and later on they will eat bird eggs and nestlings. A few days ago I caught a squirrel and when I went to take it out of the trap a mink was trying to drag it away. He ran and hid when I got near but I left the squirrel (now out of the trap) for him and when I checked a while later the mink had taken his prize; likely under an old truck bed liner to eat in peace. A couple days later I put a squirrel out behind the house and the crows ate some of it. Then a Turkey Vulture started circling above, but before he could get any of it a Red-tailed Hawk scooped it up and flew off with it. Nothing gets wasted !
Quote from: KEC on March 18, 2021, 05:01:32 PM
I've been working on watering down the Red Squirrel population here. They eat the seed intended for the birds and later on they will eat bird eggs and nestlings. A few days ago I caught a squirrel and when I went to take it out of the trap a mink was trying to drag it away. He ran and hid when I got near but I left the squirrel (now out of the trap) for him and when I checked a while later the mink had taken his prize; likely under an old truck bed liner to eat in peace. A couple days later I put a squirrel out behind the house and the crows ate some of it. Then a Turkey Vulture started circling above, but before he could get any of it a Red-tailed Hawk scooped it up and flew off with it. Nothing gets wasted !
KEC, I have the same problems with red squirrel, feisty and curious little guys. I recommend having at least 4-6 bird feeders out but only put seed in 1 or 2 at a time and switch it up, the birds find the seed before the squirrel and by the time the squirrel figures out where it all was it’s gone. If that doesn’t work perhaps a pellet gun..
Hemlock, it looks like you left you truck in one spot for more than a month and it rusted in place, I try to drive mine once a week so that does not happen. ;D
Looking at your woods and it looks like it could be in my backyard, wondering what part of NS your in? I'm in Yarmouth county a few miles from the ocean.
Quote from: Hilltop366 on March 18, 2021, 06:13:42 PM
Hemlock, it looks like you left you truck in one spot for more than a month and it rusted in place, I try to drive mine once a week so that does not happen. ;D
Looking at your woods and it looks like it could be in my backyard, wondering what part of NS your in? I'm in Yarmouth county a few miles from the ocean.
Haha! That old chev has been there for 25+ years. I was gonna haul it out to the junk yard but... I kind of like it where it is. I am I'm shelburne county, neighbours! You ready for this mess of a storm?
Yes neighbours, thats why your woods look so similar, not much hardwood here until you get a few more miles inland.
I'm not even bothering to put the plow on the truck, I'm thinking most will melt when it hits the ground, I probably just jinxed myself.
My preffered way to deal with the Red Squirrels is to put a long 2x4 in the trees where the squirrels will find it to be a handy catwalk and leave it for a while. Then put 4 sheet-rock screw in at angles to create a holder for an Oneida size 50 bodygripping trap. No bait or lure and it is quite selective at catching squirrels and not other animals.
Quote from: HemlockKing on March 18, 2021, 06:46:08 PMHaha! That old chev has been there for 25+ years. I was gonna haul it out to the junk yard but... I kind of like it where it is.
Some fella's see a gold mine in old iron around the yard. ;D
What storm you guys get'n? It's a little cooler here today, but 40 and 50's and sun for the next week here. Be mowing grass April 1. ;D
Quote from: KEC on March 18, 2021, 10:41:55 PM
My preffered way to deal with the Red Squirrels is to put a long 2x4 in the trees where the squirrels will find it to be a handy catwalk and leave it for a while. Then put 4 sheet-rock screw in at angles to create a holder for an Oneida size 50 bodygripping trap. No bait or lure and it is quite selective at catching squirrels and not other animals.
Box trap with an apple and you'll catch every squirrel in the yard within a week. Or rat trap with peanut butter if you want to do them in. ;D
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Quote from: SwampDonkey on March 19, 2021, 05:47:10 AM
Quote from: HemlockKing on March 18, 2021, 06:46:08 PMHaha! That old chev has been there for 25+ years. I was gonna haul it out to the junk yard but... I kind of like it where it is.
Some fella's see a gold mine in old iron around the yard. ;D
What storm you guys get'n? It's a little cooler here today, but 40 and 50's and sun for the next week here. Be mowing grass April 1. ;D
That's right! ;D
Started out as rain last night then we got that cold north western wind and turned over night. Probably 5cm down and still going. Just a eastern NS event
2 days ago we had rain, sleet and big snow flakes. yesterday a bit cool but I was milling more cedar in a sweatshirt.
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they say if you do not like the weather in Ks, wait 5 minutes and it will change! :)
Same saying in AR!
SD, No doubt, you can get Red Squirrels with apples or peanut butter, though some situations call for a different method. Some RS are very neophobic and wary of bait and if they have an abundance of food they can be hard to catch in baited sets. You can also take a long board, turn it on edge, and cut a notch about 3/4" deep and as wide as the wooden base of a rat snap trap. Now take a rat snap with the big wide yellow trip pan and drill a 1/8" pilot hole through the base directly under the pan. Now put the trap in the notch perpendicular to the board and screw it in place so the pan is in line with the top edge of the board. Put the board where the RS will want to use it to move between trees; no bait. There is a place in the Rocky Mts. where there are no RS and the conifers have evolved differently, I think the cones are softer. And the crossbill birds are also affected by the lack of RS competing for seed cones.
This evening I went behind the house to look for displaying woodcock doing their courtship flight, which they do at dusk. Found two just behind the house and they put on a great show. If you like birds, you have not lived until you've watched woodcock in courtship flight, Wilson's Snipe doing their flight and "winnowing ", Upland Sandpiper showing its' stuff and read Aldo Leupolds' book "Sand County Almanac."
Yep, every spring the Wilson's snipe invade the wet areas of the woodlot and I have to keep from stepping on woodcock or nests in the late spring when laying out thinning. Between them and an aggravated robin about head high launching for flight out of a plantation spruce tree. :D
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Left this rotting pine up hoping one of these fellas would nest in it and look here! He's almost done he's burrowed our a nice den
Been one of them around the yard picking at some old spruce buts. Ants in them. :)
On another note, I seen the first grackle black bird arrive today. Soon be robins.
Quote from: HemlockKing on March 22, 2021, 03:12:14 PM
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Left this rotting pine up hoping one of these fellas would nest in it and look here! He's almost done he's burrowed our a nice den
Great picture👍. Dead trees are pretty valuable to many birds
Quote from: HemlockKing on March 22, 2021, 03:12:14 PM
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Left this rotting pine up hoping one of these fellas would nest in it and look here! He's almost done he's burrowed our a nice den
I don't know if he is making a den, we have have a bunch of those fellas around here and they go DEEP for bugs. I leave a few of these trees per acre when doing TSI as long as they are not a threat because it supports the bugs that support the birds that support.... If you clean everything out, then all the critters clear out too. You gotta have balance. Pretty doesn't mean good.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on March 22, 2021, 08:38:48 PM
Quote from: HemlockKing on March 22, 2021, 03:12:14 PM
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Left this rotting pine up hoping one of these fellas would nest in it and look here! He's almost done he's burrowed our a nice den
I don't know if he is making a den, we have have a bunch of those fellas around here and they go DEEP for bugs. I leave a few of these trees per acre when doing TSI as long as they are not a threat because it supports the bugs that support the birds that support.... If you clean everything out, then all the critters clear out too. You gotta have balance. Pretty doesn't mean good.
OGH, you may be right but I did witness him inside the hole and sticking his head out :)
They've got to nest in one, so maybe it'll be that one. Might be home to bats or flying squirrels, owl...........or. Animals share sometimes. They just recently found a group of very rare silver haired bats in one old hollow pine that broke off. It was 160' from the river edge. ;D They died I think, but were collected for the New Brunswick museum. There are hardly any of these in collections across the globe.
Rare silver-haired bat colony discovered in Fredericton old-growth tree | CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/silver-haired-bats-donald-mcalpine-new-brunswick-museum-1.5955064)
We're about 80 miles of Seattle. Just south of town, alongside the freeway a big field, maybe a couple of hundred acres, has been planted with a cover crop of some short. There are half a dozen fake bald eagles on stakes to keep the swans and snow geese out. Today driving by there today were 750 to 1,000 snow geese all munching down. Didn't seem to scare them much.
Robins and Killdeer have arrived here, robins yesterday, killdeer today. Lots of bare ground in fields opening up from the thaw this week.
Onthesauk, People sometimes put up fake owls to deter pigeons. I have seen pigeons sitting on top of one of those owls. I heard once of fish pond owners in the South who put out propane cannons to scare egrets away. They set off a blast that sounds like a shotgun blast every few minutes. Just before the blast it make a mechanicle "click." The egrets would perch on top of the cannon until they heard that click, then fly off. After the blast the egret would fly back and sit on the cannon til the next click and blast.
:D
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Appears he has finished boring out his home now he has been hanging around making calls for what I assume would be to find a mate
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The little chickadees are always present, at least around here. One fall, they were busy. I have ironwood (hop hornbeam) in the yard and they seed heavily. Those little buggers picked ironwood seed and stashed it in the blue bird boxes. :D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on March 27, 2021, 04:21:42 AM
The little chickadees are always present, at least around here. One fall, they were busy. I have ironwood (hop hornbeam) in the yard and they seed heavily. Those little buggers picked ironwood seed and stashed it in the blue bird boxes. :D
Chickadees are my favourite bird around here, year round here as well, I read somewhere they can remember up to 1000 hiding places for seed, pretty impressive. They are very social so once one decides he wants to land on you he lets the others know it’s okay and all the sudden you got a flock of chickadees landing on you :D
Nice picture of a bird in hand. ;D
Saw that eagle when I came home last night. Would like it to nest here.
Quote from: thecfarm on March 27, 2021, 08:01:48 AM
Nice picture of a bird in hand. ;D
Saw that eagle when I came home last night. Would like it to nest here.
I’m not sure if common in your area but DNR puts up forklift pallets on the top of power line poles for those fellas, pretty amazing their nest will take up that whole pallet. I’ve been seeing more eagles here in recent years. Most common predator bird I see is still osprey.
Chickadees each go to their own tree cavity at night to escape the cold and owls. At my old house one winter, a chickadee went inside the end of a steel pipe cross T on my clothesline at night. I would check on him with a flashlight and see 2 beady little eyes. Once, while deer hunting, sitting on a black willow blowdown near dusk , a chickadee flew up and went in a cavity about arms length from me. An Ohio woman/ homemaker years ago spent many hours watching and studying the Black-capped Chickadees in her yard. She recieved high acclaim from the scientific community for learning all about chickadees and their complex social order, things not previously known.
I looked out the window about mid day and saw four turkey hens and a strutting tom. He was putting on quite a display but the girls didn't seem interested. First time seeing a strutting tom this year. I took a smartphone pic, but they were too far for the phone to really pick them up. I need to get a tripod for my real camera.
The Eastern Bluebirds are arriving! :)
Just now, I looked out the window and there are 3 male Bluebirds out there, squabbling over which birdhouse to fight for!
We watched 11 hen turkeys and 2 toms fly up into the trees
just before dark last night.
They get a running start when they aren't spooked.
This morning first light they were back on the ground in the field.
After hanging around awhile one of the toms took to shagging a hen.
Gonna be some babies around this summer, cute when they are little.
Two flocks of turkeys out on the hills, these ones about 1/2 a mile from another field with some. Looks like a couple gobblers. This is digital zoom about 3/4 mile from the house. :)
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Been watching for blue birds to. The first ones came April 26th last spring, this is a warmer spring.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 06, 2021, 08:41:38 AM
Two flocks of turkeys out on the hills, these ones about 1/2 a mile from another field with some. Looks like a couple gobblers. This is digital zoom about 3/4 mile from the house. :)
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Speaking of turkeys, apparently we have them wild in N.S., I heard on the radio "Turkey stocks are healthy" and that the government was considering putting out turkey game licenses....the only place I have seen turkey is at the zoo/wild life park, If they were anywhere I'd suspect them to be near the valley.
A family of Sandhill Cranes aerating our yard.
Sandhill Cranes April 2021 (https://rumble.com/vff1nt-sandhill-cranes-april-2021.html)
Quote from: HemlockKing on April 06, 2021, 09:47:49 AMSpeaking of turkeys, apparently we have them wild in N.S., I heard on the radio “Turkey stocks are healthy” and that the government was considering putting out turkey game licenses....the only place I have seen turkey is at the zoo/wild life park, If they were anywhere I’d suspect them to be near the valley.
They have a season here in New Brunswick by lottery. They wanted to start last year, but DNR closed their offices down. May 10-22. There's all kinds of wild turkeys around here where I live. Started seeing them in 2014. There's some large flocks to. Counted 24 turkeys today already.
Province?s first wild turkey hunt to be held this year (https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2021.03.0244.html)
5 Toms vying for 7 hens this morning.
Hens are excited with so much attention, chasing each other around.
Quite a show with the Toms all fanned out.
swampdonkey, watch out for them flocks!! They are tricky little fellows. ;D We kept seeing a flock of 20 one year. Than that one flock grew to 2. :o We was seeing 2 flocks of about 20 and thought we only had about 20 here. ;D
Stepson and grandson have it made here. We tell them where the turkeys are and they set up a blind and call them in. Last year grandson came up to hunt and as his grandmother was texting him saying the turkeys are behind the house as he was taking aim at one. ;D Than he checked his phone to see why grammie was texting him!!!
Turkeys have been on my land for at least 10 years, maybe almost 15 now. Them critters multiply too. :D
I have 4 bluebird boxes on our property. We usually have bluebirds in 2 boxes at once. So far, this year we have only one box occupied. Yesterday evening I went to check the one box and a male bluebird was laying at the bottom of the tree dead and cold. Female came out of the box and watched me for a few minutes and went back to sitting on the 4 eggs. I have never seen something kill a bluebird. I know they are feisty little fellers. Hope mom and kids survive without Dad.
I have been watching the 9 boxes I put out for mostly songbirds and so far I have noticed 2 different white breasted nut hatches brings nesting material to each, nothing in the other 7 so far but I did see a couple chickadees checking them out but they did not return
Cats kill a lot of them and I suppose cold weather can kill a few. I found a pheobe last year after one of them late snow storms. He had been around under the porch because he started about 3 nests, or she did. Found it stone cold next morning after the storm was over.
Tree Swallows and Phoebes are back.
Mortality rate for Tree Swallows in the nest was high last year not sure why.
Cleaning out the boxes a month ago found 3 boxes each with a couple well
developed birds that didn't make it.
I had an adult tree swallow die last spring from exposure I assume. I noticed it when I seen something odd. The blue birds were investigation the box but would just poke there heads in. I said something is up, opened it up and found the dead swallow. The swallows had moved on to the other box and occupied it, then disappeared after fiercely defending it for 2 weeks. That was why the blue birds went to the other with the dead bird in it.
No tree swallows or blue birds yet. It is quite warm here now for early April, you could harrow the field here beside the house, the ground is firm and moist, not muck. The field down the road 1/4 mile has 3 springs that don't dry up until later. That has a big artesian aquifer feeding them. Where the well was dug for the house down there, it spurt out that like a geyser.
I put up 4 new birdhouses yesterday, I think that makes a total of around 16.
Today the temps got up into the 70's, so I thought about it, and took a barefoot walk around the yard and found that even though the temps were up, the ground is still cold.
My two Amish neighbor families have been working and planting their fields, also tilled their gardens!
Thinking about driving my JD 1023 to the back end of the neighbors field and check on the leeks, they should be popping now!
Local news.
They are releasing Kiwi birds from the fenced Rotokare reserve into the Northern part of the National Park. As a kid I can remember hearing them calling at night, but introduced predators eventually killed all the new hatched chicks, and they died out. An adult kiwi bird is pretty strong and fiesty, and able to fight off a ferret or feral cat, but new hatched chicks aren't, and 98% of them get killed.
Once the introduced predators are controlled, the Kiwi can breed normally, and the Rotokare reserve now has too many for it's area. Hopefully the pest control in Kaitake ranges has been good enough, and can be kept up.
Kiwi coming back to Taranaki's Kaitake Range | Stuff.co.nz (https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300273282/kiwi-coming-back-to-taranakis-kaitake-range)
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 07, 2021, 05:39:52 PM
Cats kill a lot of them and I suppose cold weather can kill a few. I found a pheobe last year after one of them late snow storms. He had been around under the porch because he started about 3 nests, or she did. Found it stone cold next morning after the storm was over.
Bobcats in particular, they are EVERYWHERE here, I seldom see them because they are sneaky but always see their tracks right after any snow.
A Loon was squawking this morning at the local pond, more sounds of spring. Ice is out on the pond.
Trees budding, birds mating, warm temps, hard to complain.
Looking forward to the thrushes piping in !
Quote from: woodroe on April 11, 2021, 05:44:55 PM
A Loon was squawking this morning at the local pond, more sounds of spring. Ice is out on the pond.
Trees budding, birds mating, warm temps, hard to complain.
Looking forward to the thrushes piping in !
I wish I lived on a lake. I love to hear loons calling Into dusk. I am greatful for my little pond full of peepers though ;D
Regarding the bobcats, A relatively high bobcat population is probably nothing compared to the number of feral and free-roaming house cats there are per square mile in many places.
Quote from: HemlockKing on April 11, 2021, 06:38:31 PM
I wish I lived on a lake. I love to hear loons calling Into dusk. I am greatful for my little pond full of peepers though ;D
Peepers just getting going here and a Blue Heron flew over last night.
I Probably couldn't afford the taxes to live lakefront here, nearby is good though.
Did spend the winter at a lakefront camp way back when, froze my azz off, like living in a freezer
with 2-3' thick ice beside ya down in a basin to boot.
Amongst other birds I seen this weekend (Eagles, Kingfisher, Downey or Harry woodpecker) I did manage to get a picture of what I think is a Northern Harrier and Swamp sparrow.
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Hilltop, Nice pics. Adult male Northern Harrier. They cruise low over fields hunting and tend to maintain a certain distance from the ground following the terrain. They tend to hold wings tilted upward. These habits make them fairly easy to ID at distance.
My woods have been plenty full
With birds lately, juncos, swainsons thrush, grackles(they make the weirdest calls), and finally some white breasted nut hatches which have decided to reside in one of the nest boxes I made. Seen my first chipmunk yesterday too, he seemed all dazed and confused, must have just woken up from hibernation :D ;D
Been hearing lots of barred owl activity at night(they hoot at each other), I ended up
Seeing one in daytime but he was so camo my phone couldn’t really get a good picture
Quote from: KEC on April 26, 2021, 10:10:23 PM
Hilltop, Nice pics. Adult male Northern Harrier. They cruise low over fields hunting and tend to maintain a certain distance from the ground following the terrain. They tend to hold wings tilted upward. These habits make them fairly easy to ID at distance.
Thanks
Yes often see them flying over the grassy areas across the river, this guy took a detour part way across the river to check me out (second pic) then made a hard right turn back to continue hunting when I lifted up the camera. (first pic)
Quote from: HemlockKing on April 27, 2021, 02:10:30 AM
My woods have been plenty full
With birds lately, juncos, swainsons thrush, grackles(they make the weirdest calls), and finally some white breasted nut hatches which have decided to reside in one of the nest boxes I made. Seen my first chipmunk yesterday too, he seemed all dazed and confused, must have just woken up from hibernation :D ;D
Been hearing lots of barred owl activity at night(they hoot at each other), I ended up
Seeing one in daytime but he was so camo my phone couldn't really get a good picture
These pictures were taken on the Tusket river system in East Kemptville, so not too far from you as the crow flies, I did see one squirrel (usually see lots). The barred owls were "hooting" Saturday night as well as a sawit owl making that "whistle/hacksaw on sheet metal" sound.
Quote from: HemlockKing on April 27, 2021, 02:10:30 AM
My woods have been plenty full
With birds lately, juncos, swainsons thrush, grackles(they make the weirdest calls), and finally some white breasted nut hatches which have decided to reside in one of the nest boxes I made. Seen my first chipmunk yesterday too, he seemed all dazed and confused, must have just woken up from hibernation :D ;D
Been hearing lots of barred owl activity at night(they hoot at each other), I ended up
Seeing one in daytime but he was so camo my phone couldn't really get a good picture
These pictures were taken on the Tusket river system in East Kemptville, so not too far from you as the crow flies, I did see one squirrel (usually see lots). The barred owls were "hooting" Saturday night as well as a sawit owl making that "whistle/hacksaw on sheet metal" sound.
Do you guys get much pileated woodpeckers in your area? I have probably 8-10 in my woods lol. Tusket is beautiful love the Tusket islands!
We have some pretty harrier hawks around here to. I think one sex is more grey and the other more brown.
No blue birds or tree swallows here yet. But seen some tree swallows 30 minutes south of here along the river.
We've had 50 juncos here up around the front of the house. They like to pick in the clover and scratch like chickens. :D
Lots of turkey gobblers every morning making their presence known. I here a couple, one on each end of the farm.
Quote from: HemlockKing on April 27, 2021, 12:29:59 PMDo you guys get much pileated woodpeckers in your area? I have probably 8-10 in my woods . Tusket is beautiful love the Tusket islands!
I don't see pileated woodpeckers very often, I did see two fly across the river last summer. My camp is quite a ways inland from the coast just down river a bit from Trout point lodge or a few kms from the tin mine if you are familiar with the area.
The Tusket Islands are quite nice, my wife use to spend summers on Harris Island growing up, two of her siblings have camps out there and my sister's family ended up inheriting a small island there. I usually get out there once or twice a summer.
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I was delighted to hear Bobwhite calls again yesterday, and last night a whippoorwill was calling. There is a Blue bird nest in the satellite dish pole, and a wren's nest in a flower pot on the porch window sill. Also hawks, buzzards and wild turkeys around. Very restful!
The big blue heron flew by the porch the other day, saw one tree swallow this week. Also heard the first white throated sparrows this week in the woods. We forget with this crazy weather, it's early.
The environment around the house changed when the woods behind the house were cleared. We now have a wider variety of birds, finches, buntings, 4 species of dove, more bluejays then we ever had, and more.
Quote from: Texas Ranger on April 30, 2021, 11:11:28 AM
The environment around the house changed when the woods behind the house were cleared. We now have a wider variety of birds, finches, buntings, 4 species of dove, more bluejays then we ever had, and more.
I bet, song birds, jays etc love forest edges, especially the jays. I opened up my yard a bit and stuck up some more feeders at one point had 4 different families of jays and probably 25 in total I’d say. It was getting out of hand :D I couldn’t keep up with refilling the feeders they were EVERYWHERE
They tell all their buddies. :D We have 4 crows that pretty much are fixtures around the yard and 2 others come in the morning. There is an old dead cherry they all sit on in the morning to discuss things. :D
Any time I fed the blue jays I had at least 30 and the potato field grew sunflowers the next summer. :D A 50 lb sack lasted 1-1/2 months maybe. :D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 30, 2021, 04:37:31 PM
They tell all their buddies. :D We have 4 crows that pretty much are fixtures around the yard and 2 others come in the morning. There is an old dead cherry they all sit on in the morning to discuss things. :D
Any time I fed the blue jays I had at least 30 and the potato field grew sunflowers the next summer. :D A 50 lb sack lasted 1-1/2 months maybe. :D
Seriously!!! Same
Here I put old compost out for them sometimes like old bell peppers etc. They sit on a old cherry tree and watch me every morning and "discuss" . The other day for giggles I decided to play crow sounds loud through my truck speakers, that sent them off the edge! All the sudden they were swooping down near me trying to get a look at who was on their turf :D :D
To be honest I'm more a fan of ravens
One of those crows has developed a habit of doing the window fly by when looking for a snack. He's out there tonight in the rain, he might get some lasagne. ;D
Just witnessed wood ducks enter the pileated woodpeckers home! He certainly lives there too I see him daily! He is out looking for insects right now and these 2 ducks are thinking they just found the perfect roosting spot! Drama is about to happen when mr woodpecker returns.
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As close as I wanted to get, here is one of my best boxes that 2 white breasted nut hatches have taken up, the last 2 weeks they have been working hard, I believe the female is incubating the egg now since it only seems the male leaves , Yesterday I seen activity from them I never before, they both came out side the box and stood on top of it bobbing and weaving their heads for about 5 minutes? I assumed they had just mated? Anyway was a first for me :D
I'll keep a close eye on that woodpecker home for the next while I'm curious to see how he reacts when he unexpectedly finds 2 ducks inside.
HemlocKing, Just off my driveway is a big hard maple with dead limbs, numerous woodpecker holes. So recently, a saw a Downy Woodpecker working on creating a hole, presumably to nest in. Saw that a couple times, then shortly after a Red-breasted Nuthatch was working on the same hole. I'm very curious as to how this will play out. Many birds, during courtship the female will beg food from the males with wings aflutter just like a baby bird. Yesterday the female Red-breasted Nuthatch was doing that near a feeding station.
Quote from: KEC on May 02, 2021, 11:23:48 AM
HemlocKing, Just off my driveway is a big hard maple with dead limbs, numerous woodpecker holes. So recently, a saw a Downy Woodpecker working on creating a hole, presumably to nest in. Saw that a couple times, then shortly after a Red-breasted Nuthatch was working on the same hole. I'm very curious as to how this will play out. Many birds, during courtship the female will beg food from the males with wings aflutter just like a baby bird. Yesterday the female Red-breasted Nuthatch was doing that near a feeding station.
Those red nuthatches are around here too, I've actually had a couple land on my hand, although they are much more suspicious than the chickadees which I can basically get to land on my hand at any time, they seem to know me now. Nut hatches make those "beeping" calls and I That's how I know they are close lol
So the woodpecker ended up returning...I did not see the ducks around though? woodpecker went back inside his hole like nothing happend....but get this, today those 2 wood ducks returned and went inside AGAIN, I couldn't sit around long enough to watch much unfortunately, to be honest, I have a lot of pileated wood peckers around, these wood ducks were something I dont see much ;D
I saw the first Hummingbird (Ruby Throated) at my feeders on the 4th, yesterday he was in about every 5 minutes or so.
I'm pretty sure that there's only one so far, because if there's 2 or more they fight over the feeders!
Found a few Robin eggs out in the back yard, on the ground!
I'm thinking the early spring has them screwed up and they're laying their eggs before they even get their nests made!
Robins are one of my least favorite birds because they seem to want to make their nests where I don't want it!
Quote from: Chuck White on May 06, 2021, 08:33:51 AM
I saw the first Hummingbird (Ruby Throated) at my feeders on the 4th, yesterday he was in about every 5 minutes or so.
I'm pretty sure that there's only one so far, because if there's 2 or more they fight over the feeders!
Found a few Robin eggs out in the back yard, on the ground!
I'm thinking the early spring has them screwed up and they're laying their eggs before they even get their nests made!
Robins are one of my least favorite birds because they seem to want to make their nests where I don't want it!
I don't mind robins, they aren't very social and like being away from humans though :D.
Pileated woodpecker has been still living in his home. No idea where the ducks went. Now that I know they are around though I will make some bigger nest boxes to hopefully attract them, they were quite a sight to see.
our orioles are back. lots of singing, calling this time of year.
I put a new iron pot hook up suspended from overhead from an uncovered wooden beam on the south porch. It will hold a new hummingbird feeder. Won't be any hummers for a couple weeks, but plan to put sugar out first day it hits 70F. :)
Well heard the white nut hatches going nuts... whut do I see? Porcupine thinking he's going up my red spruce to de bark it. News for him(in .22 caliber). I'm so sick of these things destroying all my trees. Especially oak and pine.
I saw 2 adult barred owls today in the woods, together. A real surprise. I was driving through a stand of fir and all the sudden I saw big wings and then one landed on a fir and I saw his owl face. ;D
And I also saw a northern harrier chowing down on a turkey he must have killed earlier.
No photos though. :-\
Quote from: SwampDonkey on May 07, 2021, 04:31:56 PM
I saw 2 adult barred owls today in the woods, together. A real surprise. I was driving through a stand of fir and all the sudden I saw big wings and then one landed on a fir and I saw his owl face. ;D
And I also saw a northern harrier chowing down on a turkey he must have killed earlier.
No photos though. :-\
I seen one early this morning! Heard them hooting at each other all night, they were arguing over territory I think! He did a low fly over me
There was a bunch of Tree Swallows that flew in yesterday!
They weren't here very long before they were fighting over birdhouses!
Still hearing the Quail, I hope they will make a come back. They have been gone for several years...
I heard the brown thrasher this morning at day break, coffee in hand on the porch. :)
Brown Thrasher Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Thrasher/overview)
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Watched this guy go to work on some logs I had sitting. I could hear the bugs inside chewing the wood, CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH(anyone know the specific insect that does this? Logs been dead awhile)
He showed up and I got to see his work up close, these guys are crazy efficient! Within 5 mins he had 3 different bore holes way opened up dug in a inch, just enough so he could reach them and gobble them up.
Someone will know the the exact name, But them critters have about 2-3 inch antennas on their heads. ;D
My Father and me cut some pine here. On yea them noise makers attacked the limbs we left behind. Could even see the sawdust coming out of the limbs at times. :o I have no idea where they come from or how they know that dinner was ready for them. ::)
I believe that is a Pileated Woodpecker and the bugs he/she is searching out are pine beetles. I find when I hear them working on a dead log that as I approach, they feel my footsteps and go quiet and wait for a while until it's safe. They probably do the same thing for birds.
Yup, Pine Beetles and their larvae are doing the chompin. Its quite the chorus when a bunch of em
are gnawing away.
I split some pine firewood rounds cut last year recently that were loaded with
them although they seemed to be still sleeping from the winter.
That’s a American (downy)woodpecker. Pileated woodpeckers are much bigger.
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on May 13, 2021, 06:08:18 AM
I believe that is a Pileated Woodpecker and the bugs he/she is searching out are pine beetles. I find when I hear them working on a dead log that as I approach, they feel my footsteps and go quiet and wait for a while until it's safe. They probably do the same thing for birds.
Some times I give the log a tap and they stop chewing :D . I always see these woodpeckers but it had just dawned on me then that they also locate the bugs through the sound of chewing
Saw the first of the season, Baltimore Oriole yesterday!
Got some grape jelly out there, but he must have been just scouting the area, we'll see if he comes back today!
Quote from: HemlockKing on May 13, 2021, 05:25:47 AMI could hear the bugs inside chewing the wood, CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH(anyone know the specific insect that does this? Logs been dead awhile)
My guess either Spruce beetle or Brown spruce long horn beetle.
https://novascotia.ca/natr/forestprotection/foresthealth/sheets/spruceb1.pdf (https://novascotia.ca/natr/forestprotection/foresthealth/sheets/spruceb1.pdf)
Lots of good info here.
https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/pdf/Woodlot-Field-Guide-to-Pests-of-the-Acadian-Forest.pdf (https://novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/pdf/Woodlot-Field-Guide-to-Pests-of-the-Acadian-Forest.pdf)
I got orioles, catbirds, hummers and redbreasted woodpeckers all at the jelly feeder, guess I better stock up on grape jelly.Saw a male and female rose breasted grosbeak yesterday . Woodpeckers like the hummer feeder too ,don't take them long to figure how to hang on and drink .
Birds are pretty cool. Our pileated woodpeckers are huge! Like chicken sized and they sound just like Woody Woodpecker. There are probably 5 or so that hang around my yard a lot. We've also got lots of blue jays, robins, some very pretty blueish/purple thing, owls that I mostly only hear in the morning, occasionally I get lucky enough to have heron or ducks in the pond, and a lot of some kind of bird who's song is like 60 different noises, lots of cardinals, occasional yellow birds of some type, hawks, turkey vultures, crows, whatever the little woodpeckers are, hummingbirds are just coming in and we'll have about 30 that hang around before too long (fighting each other like mini fighter planes!)... I'm sure I'm missing more. I love watching them.
To the point of woodpeckers being efficient... I have some oak stumps along my driveway that were cut off at ground level a couple years back. They are/were low enough to mow over without worrying too much about them but after about a season of woodpeckers they've managed to grind a few of the 5 or so stumps down to dust. It's beautiful!
In my immediate area I have about 7-8 pileated woodpeckers, they are everywhere! I love hearing their calls!
Sawyer beetles larva doing the crunching and also I get bark beetles, those tiny ambrosia type beetles. They make brown powder and pin sized holes. By the gazillions. ;D
Whitespotted sawyer (https://tidcf.nrcan.gc.ca/en/insects/factsheet/900)
Spruce beetle (https://tidcf.nrcan.gc.ca/en/insects/factsheet/2819)
The woodpecker in the photo looks like a Downy Woodpecker. Hairy Woodpeckers are nearly identical, but bigger. Downies have a little stickpin of a bill and hairies have a decidedly longer/larger bill. Both very common in the Northeast.
I can count the pileated wood peckers that I have seen on one hand. But I have seen the trees that they have peckered. ;D
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tecfarm, That's Pileated and classic pileated work. They are the bane of carpenter ants.
Ovenbirds can be heard but really hard to see.
Ovenbird Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ovenbird/overview)
I did spot one on the ground beating feet one day, only one I've ever see but
hear them plenty.
Bobolinks and brown thrashers are around, tree swallows are nest building today. No sign of a bluebird. :-\
woodroe, If you see an Ovenbird running along the ground near you with wings drooping, it is doing a distraction display to lead you away from its' nest. I have a pair of bluebirds near the house with eggs and a pair near the house with babies. The nest with babies had eggs during recent cold and wet snow and I never thought they would pull through; temps are now warm.
Quote from: KEC on May 16, 2021, 10:27:54 AM
woodroe, If you see an Ovenbird running along the ground near you with wings drooping, it is doing a distraction display to lead you away from its' nest. I have a pair of bluebirds near the house with eggs and a pair near the house with babies. The nest with babies had eggs during recent cold and wet snow and I never thought they would pull through; temps are now warm.
Ah yes, the broken wing trick, seen partridge doing that.
Thrushes are back and filling the air with their flute like songs.
Now to learn the difference between the wood and hermit thrush songs.
Its quite a chorus out there this time of year. Being surrounded by mixed woods forest
in a 3 acre opening helps.
I have never even heard of an Oven bird.
Quote from: thecfarm on May 18, 2021, 06:13:24 AM
I have never even heard of an Oven bird.
Bet you've heard them though Ray.
Teacher Teacher Teacher
Or cheeka cheeka cheeka
Haha! Please, from now on, we should be phonetically writing the noises the birds are making! Hilarious!
I've got the one that makes a million different noises as 'cheep, cheep, cheep; car alarm noise, car alarm noise, car alarm noise; weeooh, weeooh, weeooh, prtrprtr, prtrprtr, prtrprtr, ree, ree, ree'
DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE
R2D2 bird
Bobolink Sounds, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bobolink/sounds)
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Anybody recognize this bird? I first thought it was a pair of purple martins but it does not look like the ones on line. Is it some kind of swallow or something? A pair has taken over my bluebird box from last year. I can tell you it is small enough to use a 1.5" diameter entrance.
Tree Swallow.
Woody,
Thanks. Are they good eating? (Sorry - I just had to ask. :D)
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on May 18, 2021, 05:16:39 PM
Woody,
Thanks. Are they good eating? (Sorry - I just had to ask. :D)
At 3/4 OZ with bones and feathers , probably not worth the effort ;D.
You guys want a good laugh? Do a you tube search for " Lyrebird mimics construction sounds".
:D :D :D
My wife used to train (Schtzhund) dogs with a guy near here in southern WV who had a small baby. They also had a parrot and it would cry like the baby. When we first visited we kept wondering what kind of parents they were to just sit there and let their baby cry and they did not even go check on it. We found out the baby was out with her mom and it was just the parrot.
Many years later we were in Peru and we were staying in an Indian village with the family of our boat handler. They had a 16 y/o daughter with an infant and they also had a parrot that came and went at will between the house and the surrounding jungle. The parrot would also fly in and light in the rafters of the palm thatched house and cry like the baby and my wife and I would get alarmed only to the see the baby was sound asleep or nursing on his mom in a hammock at the other end of the house.
Oh yeah - I just remembered. On a project in Jeddah Saudi Arabia our Project manager lived down the street and they had an African grey parrot who would loudly bark like a dog and startle people walking on the sidewalk in front of the house a few feet way. He sounded like a very big dog and they would jump and look around then the parrot would laugh hysterically. You can't tell me birds don't have a sense of humor.
Quote from: KEC on May 18, 2021, 07:23:43 PM
You guys want a good laugh? Do a you tube search for " Lyrebird mimics construction sounds".
I've never heard of those birds, I watched a few videos and am astonished!
That Lyrebird has a extensive vocabulary. :D
That Lyrebird is incredible! I've seen like an episode of Planet Earth or something where, like mentioned above, chainsaw noises, car alarms, a camera taking photos, all kinds of neat stuff. With as smart as some birds are it makes me wonder how smart they all are. Especially after watching some solve puzzles and some repeatedly fly into the same piece of glass 2 seconds after it flew into the same spot on the same piece of glass...
I am content to listen to the pair of Mockingbirds that are nesting in our yard.
Mockingbird sounds: mimicking & singing song - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvEttTGPkpc)
I wonder if that's what I was trying to describe @Magicman (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=10011) , it sounds like some similar noises! I seem to have a shrub with one in it that is up and squawking at about 4am. It's usually the only bird I hear that early. It may have to do with some big flood lights in the neighbor's yards.
Yes I am certain that it was which is the main reason that I found that clip. You will see the white on it's wings when it flies.
Pileated woodpecker who has been living here for a couple months has finally found a mate after weeks of hammering his tree and making calls in the search. The female seems much bigger I'm not sure if that's common in woodpeckers, it can't be another male because they don't share the same home. White breasted nut hatches are still keeping on, female hardly leaves the box for the last 3 weeks. Pretty sure the eggs should be hatching any day. Can't wait to meet their offspring.
Mockingbirds immitate at least 30 other species of birds. They will go after anything that gets near the nest or young. They also sing at night; a few years ago one sang by my neighbors' house at midnight-2:00 am. I have bluebirds with a nest that survived our recent cold and snow. Babies now nearly ready to fledge and temps in the 80's.
Quote from: KEC on May 21, 2021, 02:06:25 PMa few years ago one sang by my neighbors' house at midnight-2:00 am
Reminds me of camping on the river and having a sawit owl start up 20 feet behind my tent, they make a sound that is somewhere between a whistle and a hacksaw on sheet metal up to 100 to 200 times in a row and then stop for 20 seconds and start again over and over and...... then I scared it away.
Heard the bittern yesterday around the beaver pond.
There have been local bluebirds sighted within 5 miles, just not at my boxes yet. Tree swallows have claimed one box.
I believe the white nut hatches have some eggs that have hatched, male and female are coming and going often, when female does go inside, stays near the hole opening.
I saw a scarlet tanninger (sp) the other day. was very happy to see him eating the stupid gypsy moth caterpillars. to bad that was the only time I have seen him and he couldn;t have eaten that many.
Well, this morning the bluebirds arrived here.
I only see a scarlet tanager once maybe every few years up here, they love the thickets like alders. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/bluebird-May24-2021.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1621856698)
Love watching the birds. We have several well stocked back yard feeders...and a full compliment of local and transient feathered friends. Humming birds are a favorite. Bluebirds, cardinals, gold finches, titmice, juncos etc. Been trying to get Orioles to stop by with grape jelly feeders, but no luck so far.
My most memorable bird memories are from the days my folks had a camp on a big lake in Ontario. Sometimes I would wake on a quiet night to the sound of Whip-poor-will's in the woods around us, and Loons out on the lake. Loons sound so mournful.
Whip-poor-will's (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIxfVSS_65o)
Loons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ENNzjy8QjU)
I've had very good luck with this Baltimore oriole feeder.
Baltimore feeder (https://www.parisfarmersunion.com/FEEDER-BIRD-CLEMENTINE-ORIOLE-p/6533376.htm)
I go to dollar general and buy their brand of grape jelly. We had 2 coming at one time last year. I bought one feeder but one would drive the other off to feed. So I bought another feeder to stop that. Would have 2 at one time. For some odd reason they would not eat the oranges. ??? I guess they liked the grapy jelly better.
Female pileated wood pecker has been visiting showing up every morning around 730. A squeaky call, not typical pileated call. After these calls the male that lives in my yard will slowly start "thumping" inside his house to lure her his way. They have done these for the last few days. I did see them both inside yesterday morning.
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this is an example of ones we make, using little plastic cups from WM. metal stove cover for a lid, Libby off behind the fence scratching. we have several orioles this year. I am told they will reuse a nest from year to year.
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Hi bud!!
SD, Learn to recognize the song and call note of Scarlet Tanagers and you might be surprised at how much more often you find them. They spend a lot of their time in the canopy of tall trees in the woods. The song is similar to robin, but very burry sounding. The call note is a sort of Chip-burr.
Quote from: woodroe on May 18, 2021, 06:08:50 AM
Quote from: KEC on May 16, 2021, 10:27:54 AM
woodroe, If you see an Ovenbird running along the ground near you with wings drooping, it is doing a distraction display to lead you away from its' nest. I have a pair of bluebirds near the house with eggs and a pair near the house with babies. The nest with babies had eggs during recent cold and wet snow and I never thought they would pull through; temps are now warm.
Ah yes, the broken wing trick, seen partridge doing that.
Thrushes are back and filling the air with their flute like songs.
Now to learn the difference between the wood and hermit thrush songs.
Its quite a chorus out there this time of year. Being surrounded by mixed woods forest
in a 3 acre opening helps.
Search Results for hermit thrush | All About Birds All About Birds (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/search/?q=hermit%20thrush#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=hermit%20thrush&gsc.page=1)
we have the Hermit Thrush
or maybe the Swainson's Thrush
sounds more like the Hermit. my favorite bird song, especially when it echoes
Hermit Thrush Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hermit_Thrush/)
Quote from: DDW_OR on May 26, 2021, 10:52:25 PM
Quote from: woodroe on May 18, 2021, 06:08:50 AM
Quote from: KEC on May 16, 2021, 10:27:54 AM
woodroe, If you see an Ovenbird running along the ground near you with wings drooping, it is doing a distraction display to lead you away from its' nest. I have a pair of bluebirds near the house with eggs and a pair near the house with babies. The nest with babies had eggs during recent cold and wet snow and I never thought they would pull through; temps are now warm.
Ah yes, the broken wing trick, seen partridge doing that.
Thrushes are back and filling the air with their flute like songs.
Now to learn the difference between the wood and hermit thrush songs.
Its quite a chorus out there this time of year. Being surrounded by mixed woods forest
in a 3 acre opening helps.
Search Results for hermit thrush | All About Birds All About Birds (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/search/?q=hermit%20thrush#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=hermit%20thrush&gsc.page=1)
we have the Hermit Thrush
or maybe the Swainson's Thrush
sounds more like the Hermit. my favorite bird song, especially when it echoes
Hermit Thrush Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hermit_Thrush/)
I have lots of Swainson a thrushes. They are a very curious bird, when outside they will stalk me, follow me around, land on the ground close to me and stare at me lol , anyone else notices this with this bird?
They have a alarm chirp that very much sounds like the chirp the downy woodpecker makes, also sounds like a red squirrel, I'm finally developing the ear for each 3, although hard, they really do sound the same.
Quote from: HemlockKing on May 27, 2021, 07:26:59 AM
I have lots of Swainson a thrushes. They are a very curious bird, when outside they will stalk me, follow me around, land on the ground close to me and stare at me lol , anyone else notices this with this bird?
none do that here.
more evidence that i have the Hermit
the only animal that follows me is the cat, when he is not hunting.
Could be that when they're at their winter migration location, people started feeding them, and that's what they are looking for now!
Quote from: Chuck White on May 27, 2021, 05:50:07 PM
Could be that when they're at their winter migration location, people started feeding them, and that's what they are looking for now!
It could be but I don't get that impression honestly, they are very cautious, and won't get too close, but try to be lurking in bush maybe 25 ft away, fleeing if you go towards them.
could be they are looking for what you scare up as you walk
Quote from: DDW_OR on May 28, 2021, 01:46:50 AM
could be they are looking for what you scare up as you walk
Some insect eating birds make a habit of hanging around large animals to catch the insects they stir up. The local fantails and swallows will congregate around a herd of cows in the winter when insect food is scarce. You or your farm bike is just a different looking cow, and fantails will land if you are still and quiet. The swallows are faster flying and just swoop past.
We were out at a local reserve which is predator fenced and has some of the rarer native birds living there. The NZ robins (they look nothing like a Nth Hemisphere Robin, but that's their name) are pretty fearless and will sit 3ft away from you hoping you disturb something. Scuff up some leaves with your shoe, take a step back and there are in there investigating. :)
Excavation company I worked for once was doing dirt work for the Cabelas store here . Hawks would circle above the track hoes waiting for something to get flushed out, was neat to see how fast and accurate they are .
Red-tailed Hawks will hunt over hayfields while mowing, raking and baling, as will coyotes. They mainly are after Meadow Voles but also rabbits and birds that ran afoul with the mower.
Seems to be an off year for Tree Swallow nesting. Not sure whats going on but of
6 bird boxes only seem to have 1 box occupied and can hear some chirping from it at times.
Last year they were all full. Anyone else seeing this ? I'll have to have a peak in the boxes
to investigate further.
We've seen a few BarnSwallows here lately!
Nowhere near what there will be in another 3-4 weeks!
Barn swallows are back above my big overhead door and built another nest after the one they had fell down and I duct taped it back up until it fell and I figured they could build a new one and they did when they came back. Might have to run some duct tape around it again. The slick tin is not the best for adhesion when they get a crew of five in there
Caught a young hawk admiring my truck a few days ago. We have well stocked bird feeders that the raptors like to keep an eye on. Looks like this one was still learning to fly.
Hawk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbF2cBOh4N0)
So took the tops off 5 of the 6 bird boxes, knew one was occupied with Tree Swallows.
3 others had Swallows sitting on eggs keeping their heads down, trying to hide, the other
one has 4 baby bluebirds and an egg unhatched. She stayed in the box till I pulled the top off.
One box completely empty, no nest material at all.
All is well after all. Guess when the birds are incubating eggs there is not much activity around the box.
I'm pretty sure the white breasted nut hatches are about to emerge from the nest. Ma and pa have been going non stop to feed em. They are loud when begging for food! I can hear them up to 100 ft away from the box!
Hopefully they stick around I could use more wildlife that takes out bugs :D
A pair of bluebirds look like a couple of drowned rats sitting in the basswood tree in a steady hard rain and 45F air. ;D :D
I walked out the back door this morning and got scolded by the local Pileated woodpecker.
We are consistently being scolded as well as serenaded by Mocking Birds. There are at least 3 pairs nesting in our yard. The Granddaughter's cats are having to stay undercover to prevent being dive bombed.
Quote from: Old saw fixer on May 31, 2021, 12:32:16 PM
I walked out the back door this morning and got scolded by the local Pileated woodpecker.
I was in a thumping match with my resident a few days ago, he seemed to attribute the sound of my swinging a pick axe into the ground as a "turf war" and so every time I swung the axe he would do his drumming inside his home ;D :D
I'm not a woodpecker there guy!
Had the unusual pleasure of seeing a Northern Mockingbird today.
Probably a 1st for me. This is the northernmost range of their breeding grounds
and saw it next to the Portland Head lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth.
Was carrying on pretty good perched on a tree oceanfront cliff trail.
Had to look it up to get a pos ID on it but the wing flashes when it flew off was the
best identifier.
Have had 6 Bohemian Waxwings hanging around for a couple days feeding on an abundance
of wild strawberries..
Not very common here, bright yellow tipped tails.
Mowing the field for the first time and saw a bird fly up from some young saplings.
Stopped to investigate and found a ground nest with 3 blue green eggs, Hermit Thrush .
Glad I saw her fly up, got to spare a few eggs from getting crushed.
Had this happen once before years ago, they seem to like grassy brushy growth for nesting.
Tree Swallows been fledging here, Bluebirds are about ready too.
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He's real active this morning with his drumming
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Mallard ducklings. She only has 3 now. I suspect ravens and bobcats
White breasted nut hatches have all left their nest box home, no sign of the parents either, I did notice them as a noisy bunch a few times in the trees but haven't seen them in the last couple days, they are missed.
Quote from: Walnut Beast on May 30, 2021, 08:48:50 AM
Barn swallows are back above my big overhead door and built another nest after the one they had fell down and I duct taped it back up until it fell and I figured they could build a new one and they did when they came back. Might have to run some duct tape around it again. The slick tin is not the best for adhesion when they get a crew of five in there
in the winter, remove the nest then add a strip of 1x for them to build on
maybe make the strip and L shape?
Swallows and Bats are good to have around for bug control
That reminds me, I still have to build a BAT-HOUSE!
Thanks
I was in the barn one day and saw were a pair of barn swallow was starting to build a nest on the truss . It was dry and I didn't know were mud was coming from, so I dumped a pail of water just out side the door to make some mud. They soon made use of it some times dipping material in the mud and taking it to the nest other times just a bit of mud. It took 3 days to complete.
They are setting now and I see they take turns, hope they raise a family, there are not as many here as other years
All my best boxes are empty now that the white breasted nut hatches have grown up and left, the parents don't return either. The rest of my boxes are chickadee seed stash houses lol . I put up 10 but it was still worth it for the white breasted nut hatches. Hoping for more next spring.
Well, nothing special going on yesterday, so I made the bat-house!
Made it 18" high X 15" wide with 1" sticker between the front and back!
Now just need to get my niece to paint a bat on the front!
Quote from: Chuck White on June 18, 2021, 09:07:36 PM
That reminds me, I still have to build a BAT-HOUSE!
Thanks
PM me
i have a free plan from Woodworkers Journal
I get two free plans a month in my E-mail. so far i got 320 plans. some are duplicates so maybe 300 total?
some are very simple and some are very complex, like a 4 seat lawn glider swing with canopy
Not sure that the bats need a swing with their canopy :D.
I've been getting a violotear humming bird every evening around 6:30, with the window open you can hear them coming lol
OK. I give up. What in the heck is a vilotear hummingbird ?
Violetear - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violetear)
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
Two birds that I have no use for are the European Starling and Mourning Doves!
I like doves for their calls. Always had that sound in my woods. Wouldn't be the same without them weeping.
Quote from: HemlockKing on June 24, 2021, 06:19:48 AM
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.
HemlockKing, A Violetear Hummingbird is a very noteworthy find. Would you be willing to have someone over to see it to document it?
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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.
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!
Adult brown thrasher in the yard, the babies just fledged this morning.
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The nest of baby blue birds is busy and every time the adults land on the box you here the babies chirping. :)
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!
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.
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
I find red wing blackbirds work well keeping crows away.
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.
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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
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.
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
Interesting!!!
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. ::)
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
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.
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Quote from: Hilltop366 on July 12, 2021, 08:51:39 AM
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.
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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
It’s good therapy feeding the birds lol . If I’m feelin a bit grouchy or whatever I can get distracted pretty quickly by interacting with the wildlife.
I don't see the grey jays around home, only when I head inland and not every time just once in a while. This guy seemed to like peanuts. Mostly seemed to be putting as many as possible in it's mouth and stashing them somewhere.
Here's another shot I got that's probably better than the first I had posted
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Anyone ever seen a potoo bird?
Check it out, pretty creepy/cool https://m.youtube.com/shorts/nX0hz18QiP0 (https://m.youtube.com/shorts/nX0hz18QiP0)
That guy looks like he needs a long nap or cup of coffee !
We have been seeing up to 5-6 Orioles at the feeder, at the same time, off and on all day up until about 5-6 days ago, now I only put feed out once a day!
I went through 5 jars of Grape Jelly, so we had lots of Orioles!
Must be that now the little ones have hatched and flown the nest (they came to the feeder with mom and dad) and most of them have scattered!
No orioles at my place. :( Last year I had to put another feeder because 2 would be there at the same time, never saw more than 2 at one time.
Wife saw one the first of June. Put out the feeder, it never came back.
They are around. I work at a hardware store, we sell bird seed. I ask customers and some have them.
Seen a few of these while out paddling down the river yesterday.
After some looking on line I'm thinking it is a Solitary Sandpiper.
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RE: MANAGING FOREST FOR TIMBER & BIRDS
Guild Gathering in Lake States: Simultaneously Managing Forests for Timber, Birds, and the Future
3 & 4 August, Ford Forestry Center
More Information (https://foreststewardsguild.org/event/guild-gathering-in-lake-states-simultaneously-managing-forests-for-timber-birds-and-the-future/)
Register (https://secure.foreststewardsguild.org/np/clients/forestguild/eventRegistration.jsp?event=172) ($50, $25 for students)
Location: Michigan Technological University's Ford Center (Alberta, MI), with field tours throughout Houghton County
Society of American Foresters and The Wildlife Society Continuing Education Credits will be available – amounts TBD
Hilltop, Yes, I think it is a Solitary Sandpiper. Many shorebirds that nest in the arctic are heading back South in July. As soon as their young are old enough to fend for themselves the adults head back South. Those young birds head South a little later and do not have the benefit of going with the experienced adults. They rely on instinct to know when to migrate and where to go.
Thanks KEC, the bird would stay at least hundred feet or so ahead of us flying from rock to rock, once it landed it would dip it's head down every 5 to 10 seconds.
Quote from: KEC on July 19, 2021, 09:51:39 PMMany shorebirds that nest in the arctic are heading back South in July. As soon as their young are old enough to fend for themselves the adults head back South
Some of those birds migrate from Siberia / Alaska all the way to NZ, and back every year. Seems excessive, but that's what they deal with.
There is a shorebird called the Bar-tailed Godwit that nests in Siberia and Alaska and winters in New Zealand. It migrates North to Asia and up through Korea and that area to Siberia and some cross the Bearing Sea to Alaska. They nest and as soon as the young are able to fend for themselves the adults go back to NZ, the young are on their own to fiqure out when to leave, where to go and how to get there. A researcher a few years ago caught one in Alaska, put a GPS unit on it, and released it. Very shortly after, the bird started winging its' way to NZ, straight line over the pacific. Mind you, GPS can track its' exact location and travel route, etc in real time. That bird flew non-stop for 11 days averaging ~25 MPH through several prevailing winds zones (had to compensate for wind drift), no stops and touched down in New Zealand. A distance of over 7,000 miles. All this ability is in its' genes.
I have been watching bluebirds light on the TV cable behind the house for weeks but today i spotted one going in the birdhouse on the gatepost there so today I checked it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_2671.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1627679646)
I hung this birdhouse last year. I already removed one nest earlier this year from a bird that had already nested there.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_2672.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1627679646)
Hard to see in the shade but there are 4 featherless baby bluebirds in the nest right now. Hopefully they will have time to raise another clutch of eggs after this one.
Nothing much to report on bird sightings, haven’t put out bird seed lately as the chipmunks are making a comeback after reducing their numbers already. They find it really fast, squirrels and chipmunks take cues from where the birds are, where there are birds singing there is likely food, and especially squirrels are curious buggers.
The chickadees still show up and I will hand give them a small fist full of seed but that's about it for awhile lol . Blue jays were getting carried away too. Best let the birds live reality every now and then so they don't forget how to find food for themselves lol
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The 4 little bluebirds are nearly fully fledged now but I can't see the distinctive colors on them yet. I guess they will be leaving the nest box in a week or so.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_2698.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1628472542)
Here's dad taking a break on the cable line since dive bombing me several times. He'd swoop within 6" of my ear while I photographed the kids.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_2702.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1628472649)
Meanwhile out at the barn in a feed sack I hung next to the feed box and filled with old haystrings a Carolina wren has established a nest. About half the time when I open the feed box to get the horse his dinner the wren flies out past my right ear.
I recently found an Eastern Kingbird nest in a roadside hawthorn tree. They incorporated some strips of blue tarp plastic in the nest.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/DSCN1728~0.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1628475741)
I've been noticing bats recently around just before dark each night
I looked out in the front yard early afternoon and we had a great blue heron in the nearly dry creek about 35 yards in front of the house. He was cleaning up the chubs, minnows and crawfish in the deeper pools where I catch my fish bait. I opened the window and my wife got a picture or two then before i could get my camera ready he had walked upstream and was below the bank out of sight. I love to watch them fishing.
I seen one on Monday while out canoeing, it was hard to get a decent picture of it from the canoe.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0227.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1628716120)
MissouriRound 2 of Nuthatch Reintroduction to Begin This Month (MO) (http://sm1.multiview.com/t/gcH1AAkbaBPWJZX8QJK0rCFT8DGnaKrDVU4maaaaRdBQR4PXraa?j=B_tDx~amp;n=Vyhoi3U1xBr~25Eqre3ckYv.Syc~amp;v=2v~amp;n=)
News Tribune, Aug. 17, 2021 Officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation said the Brown-Headed Nuthatch was likely made extinct in Missouri in the early 1900s following removal of shortleaf pine woodlands across the Missouri Ozarks. Millions of acres of pine woodland existed in the state prior to widespread logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today's regenerated forest is dominated by oaks and hickories that replaced pines after their removal. Following extensive restoration of pine woodlands in the Mark Twain National Forest, the necessary habitat now exists for Brown-Headed Nuthatches to live in Missouri. READ MORE (http://sm1.multiview.com/t/gcH1AAkbaBPWJZX8QJK0rCFT8DGnaKrDVU4maaaaRdBQR4PXraa?j=B_tDx~amp;n=Vyhoi3U1xBr~25Eqre3ckYv.Syc~amp;v=2w~amp;n=) |
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The E-Forester
I'm seeing a group of birds lately that I haven't a clue what species. They are mostly on the ground and feed on flying insects and such, they do crazy maneuvers to catch them in the air, much like a thrush, they twitch their tail feathers quickly when perched. They are the size of a chickadee roughly and their peep calls sound like a chickadees, they have a creamy yellow chest and underbelly with a brown top/head and wings, any ideas thank you.
HemlockKing, Just based on the fact that the birds you are seeing occur in a flock and spend a lot of time acting like flycatchers, the bird that comes to mind is Cedar Waxwing. Look it up and let us know if it's a match. They especially like to catch insects over water at a pond, lake or stream. They also eat a lot of berries.
KEC, that is not the one unfortunately, beautiful species of bird though!
I tried getting a picture but I couldn’t get close enough to make them out, when I get one I will post
Have not seen the blue birds for a couple days, but once the young left the nest a few weeks ago they hung around the yard here flit'n around.
Quote from: HemlockKing on August 20, 2021, 02:25:25 PM
They are mostly on the ground and feed on flying insects and such, they do crazy maneuvers to catch them in the air, much like a thrush, they twitch their tail feathers quickly when perched.
They are eastern phoebes. ;)
Saw 4 great blue herons in the creek last week, same time. A couple took to flight and one let go a stream that would cover a windshield. And yes, they flew a bit down the road corridor ahead of me. :D
What did grandma say when ask 'where did I come from?' A bird ..... you while flying. :D :D
Thanks SD, I think that's the one, although some of the google images show a slightly different colour bird, but This image I found is what I'm seeing, so there are slight color variations between them?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/65126/E3DF8567-DC08-4346-B474-43D35C1CF5F2.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1629537572)
I must say they are a new favourite, I love watching them do their kung fu maneuvers and I'm pretty sure I seen them take out a few deer flies too
Our number of 'Hummers' is increasing. We have had 1-2 and now it is probably 5-6. Maybe they are early migrators or this year's hatch??
The phoebes come around the buildings more so right now for the flies. We get a lot of stable or house flies on the house and porch screens in Aug until freeze up.
I was outside with my coffee the other day when a chickadee landed on my cup, looked at me and flew away. It happened so fast I had no opportunity to grab the phone. Cute little beggar, I seldom see them this time of year but they are plentiful in winter.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on August 21, 2021, 11:41:20 AM
The phoebes come around the buildings more so right now for the flies. We get a lot of stable or house flies on the house and porch screens in Aug until freeze up.
They sure are fun to watch!
Quote from: sawguy21 on August 21, 2021, 11:54:35 AM
I was outside with my coffee the other day when a chickadee landed on my cup, looked at me and flew away. It happened so fast I had no opportunity to grab the phone. Cute little beggar, I seldom see them this time of year but they are plentiful in winter.
Chickadees have a soft spot in my heart. They are our most common bird here, most people take them for granted, they have my full respect, they are tuff and friendly little buggers. And yes in the winter they will stick around and form groups with mostly red nuthatches and other chickadees, they work as a team, but hatches work the bark, chickadees the branches and twigs, alarming each of predators and such as well. The forest wouldn't sound the same without the background noise of chickadees
I have a few chickadees that will land but one in particular is always visiting me, he has a distinct sound he makes when he's ready to fly down and visit me, it's a "peep peep peep" sound very low pitch peeps and in a quick order. When I hear this, I can count on putting my hand out and having em land
HemlockKing, Your phoebe sure is quite yellow, maybe the light. Each spring the phoebes come to claim my porch as their nest site, nesting up under the roof overhang. They like to nest in old barns and sheds, making a nest out of green moss and mud.
Had a bunch of these birds flying around catching flying insects today.
Looked like starlings to me.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0314.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629604464)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0324.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629604465)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0323~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1629604982)
Last spring there was a phoebe under the porch nest building. We had those freak late snow storms in May and I found her dead one morning on the ground under the nest. Last 3 springs the tree swallows had a nest in a box and the female would be found dead in the nest or on the ground. They come earlier than barn swallows.
Still just two hummers here at the feeder. The feeder is made of glass, even the fake flower looking feeding stations. Has a rubber stopper and hung with iron. Barn swallows will disappear this week for the flight south.
Just wanted to put in writing here I have actually since seen swainsons thrush, I thought they went south with the grackles 1 month ago, but have noticed them in the woods, much less vocal, much more shy and covert, but still around in numbers.
Quote from: KEC on August 21, 2021, 06:08:53 PM
HemlockKing, Your phoebe sure is quite yellow, maybe the light. Each spring the phoebes come to claim my porch as their nest site, nesting up under the roof overhang. They like to nest in old barns and sheds, making a nest out of green moss and mud.
They are all very dominantly yellow on the chest, not the light! They guys go around in flocks too, most photos I see of phoebes are not yellow, but there is a odd picture of a yellow one like above, I wonder maybe they are just a sub species yet to be identified?
Seen grey jays today! Haven’t seen one around here before
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Our snow geese showed up this week in the Skagit Valley!
A few of these flying around here lately.
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk?
It was having a hard time landing in a tree in the wind, it gave up and flew to another tree on a lower / sturdier branch.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0590.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1637260467)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0596.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1637260525)
I saw the first snow buntings yesterday. Last night we had snow. ::) :D
Seen a red tailed hawk today trying to mess with the chickadees, I like red tailed hawks but I shooed it off lol .
I was sitting on the front porch this morning when I heard a weird "phwonk, phwonk, phwonk" off in the distance, then I saw these two white birds fly past. I assume swans?
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I think those are snow geese.
I think the Snow Goose has a much higher pitch voice than the Canada Goose.
Snow geese could make sense... They certainly had a goose look to them and they were flying north, where, presumably, it's snowier.
Snow geese should have black wing tips. Swans have black beaks and skin around the eyes-quite striking when viewed up close. I can't make out either of these details in the pic but maybe lean a bit toward snow goose.
I'll say the black wing tips seems likely, I think I see them on there. This picture was taken on the fly with my phone from probably 600 feet away, maybe more.
Oh yeah! Taking the kids to school this morning, we were driving by Carillon Park, in Dayton, and I see a guy on the river side of the road with a camera with a lens that was about a foot long. I looked over to the park side and there at the top of a tree was a bald eagle! I wasn't fast enough to take a picture but I've heard about them hanging out over there frequently.
I can't say for sure, but I think those are swans. Mute Swan, Tundra Swan or Trumpeter are in the East. A lot of things are moving right now. Yesterday I had ~300 Snow Geese go over and I heard at least one Sandhill Crane . A flock of 90 cranes and another of 53 reported yesterday near here. Lots of the arctic population of Canada Geese are moving through. Winter is not far off.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10046/IMG_4769.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1640120814)
The eagles are here for the winter.
Always a nice sighting seeing a eagle. And I'm always amazed how big they are close up. Seen one eating a dead coyotes in the median of the highway not long ago and it was nearly as big as the thing
Awesome picture👍
Nice pic, I seen one flying over the lake today it was a long ways away so not near as good of a picture.
There was a pair of them on the side of the road dining on road kill. One flew into the field and I got a few pics of it in flight but nothing like the pic of the other one. He stayed for a little bit and let us pull right up close to him. I just got lucky and managed to snap a good pick with my phone trough the windshield. He was close enough when he flew past that you could feel the wind from his wings through the open window.
Yes, to a great picture. Great American symbol!
This might be of interest to some here.
Several rare sightings of a Steller's Sea Eagle on this continent .
Rare Steller's sea eagle spotted in midcoast Maine | newscentermaine.com (https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/rare-stellers-sea-eagle-spotted-in-midcoast-maine-audubon-russia-five-islands-georgetown/97-52cc6511-fd40-47c1-a027-2ec00619d92b)
There was one spotted in Nova Scotia in November. Perhaps the same one?
Good chance it was unless there is more than one.
A bird with an 8' wingspan can cover a lot of ground.
Haven't been posting here for awhile but just for fun, I'll list the few birds I have seen lately, chickadees obviously, nut hatches ae still hanging around, the juncos are always near by in some bush, not too many blue jays but they're around, still haven't seen a grey jay again since that time I did last fall.
Woodroe, thank you for sharing that link! Amazing!
You are welcome Roxie. Pretty cool event really.
Honestly had never heard of a Steller's sea eagle before this.
Even more interesting was how far people were willing to travel to attempt to see it.
Tennessee and Maryland were mentioned.
Seen Ravens doing these aerobatic stunts but this takes all.
Eagle Barrel Role Attack - Steller's Sea Eagle (rare footage) - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQrRyA3ytYI)
I think a female merlin in the white birch. It's color and tale were right when it flew. Thought I was seeing a grouse until it flew.
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Here's Tim, I've named him and he is the only chickadee I can recognize from the crowd. How I can tell is he has a tiny white patch in the rear of his black cap. He is always a first customer when putting out seeds.
I have a couple
Grouse living here and that's what thought from The picture SD.
They end up scaring the crap out of me when I'm walking my trails
We've had 3 grouse here that show up every fall or winter the last 4 years, but have not seen them since fall. It being a white birch, that was my first guess until it flew around the back yard and over into a yellow birch. Long narrow tail in flight.
I see the chickadees, snow buntings, juncos, and pine grosbeaks when walking. The grosbeaks seem to like the spruce cones out on the woodlot. I don't feed them at the house because the darn pigeons invade and leave their deposit everywhere including on the roof. Juncos get gravel out by the front steps, I shovel the snow and ice down bare there so we don't break our necks.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 24, 2022, 05:02:01 PM
I see the chickadees, snow buntings, juncos, and pine grosbeaks when walking. The grosbeaks seem to like the spruce cones out on the woodlot. I don't feed them at the house because the darn pigeons invade and leave their deposit everywhere including on the roof. Juncos get gravel out by the front steps, I shovel the snow and ice down bare there so we don't break our necks.
Juncos are loners(they dont group with other species it seems), I hardly see them but always hear them chatting to each other in bushes just feet away... You dont got no nut hatches there? them and chickadees stick together during winter months
Yeah, I see those nut hatches up the road sometimes in the maples, high up. There are 24" sugar maples there by the road. On mill ground. Could be the odd one in the back yard, but not so much. They never came to the feeder when I tried feeding the birds and not the pigeons.
Get vireos in the summer in the back yard. One last summer musta had a nest close by, sang all day long.
I never mentioned blue jays because they are as common as robins up here. You stick a sack of sunflower seeds out and watch about 40 come by within a couple days. :D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 24, 2022, 05:15:35 PM
Yeah, I see those nut hatches up the road sometimes in the maples, high up. There are 24" sugar maples there by the road. On mill ground. Could be the odd one in the back yard, but not so much. They never came to the feeder when I tried feeding the birds and not the pigeons.
Get vireos in the summer in the back yard. One last summer musta had a nest close by, sang all day long.
Nut hatches and chickadees work together so well because chickadees work the twigs and branch tips, nuthatches work the trunk and main stem of the tree, I'm not sure what they find there but in the summer lots of insects :)
I had 2 white breasted nut hatches take up home in my nest box this past spring, they had a family, hopefully they return this spring. The parents are still around and I know it's them because these 2 are very trusting with me, they wont land on me, but they will get within a foot or less when near the feeders. Im still working on getting crows to land :D
I had a tiny little house wren take over a blue bird box and they are a nasty little bird, will drive a blue bird or a swallow off. Never had one before.
Nuthatches and chickadees have caches in tree bark....or bird houses. I found a chickadee cache in a nest box, full of ironwood nuts. I had noticed them coming and going from the box.
There's a fellow down in Millville, a musician from Newfoundland, he gets lots of birds to come to his hand. Takes hours of patients and finally they come. Even blue jays, I never thought a blue jay would be enticed. Grey Jays, yes, they aren't as bright. :D
SD, do yourself a favor and search up "Leslithebirdnerd" on youtube, a newfie lady that has all sorts of birds land, including jays.
There's a guy not far away that has some crow friends, patients is right!
I figure they are like chickadees though, get one to land, since they are social others will see and be fine with landing..
The BLUE JAY | Complex, Fun and Smart - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpp7oa4QiB4&ab_channel=LesleytheBirdNerd)
SD, You might be happy to know that the American Ornithologist Union that assigns common names to birds changed the Gray Jay back to Canada Jay. I'd bet that those ironwood seeds were put in a nest box by mice and the chickadees were helping themselves to the seeds.
KEC, chickadees are known to cache. But can't rule out the mouse cache either.
Lost a Blue Jay to a hawk this week, under the feeder.
Had seen the hawk hanging around at a distance a few days earlier.
No red breasted nuthatches this winter, a few whites though.
Yellow finches are getting on my nerves dumping seed on the ground one by one from the feeder till its empty.
Makes the Squirrels happy though.
Quote from: woodroe on January 25, 2022, 08:01:36 AM
Lost a Blue Jay to a hawk this week, under the feeder.
Had seen the hawk hanging around at a distance a few days earlier.
No red breasted nuthatches this winter, a few whites though.
Yellow finches are getting on my nerves dumping seed on the ground one by one from the feeder till its empty.
Makes the Squirrels happy though.
I think when the finches do this, they're looking for a seed that will be easier to crack!
The dropped seeds really don't go to waste, the ground feeders will find them!
Probably right about that Chuck.
The Juncos and Bluejays along with gray squirrels do clean up. Moles or voles too.
You would think after going through thousands of black oil seeds dat after day the finches
would give up trying to find a seed easier to crack and just move on.
Here is a fairly complete list of birds seen near the house in the past 3-4 days: Canada Geese-60 flew over, Turkey Vulture-1, Red-bellied Woodpecker-2, Hairy Woodpecker-1, Downy Woodpecker-3, Mourning Dove-13, Blue Jay-4, Crow-3, Black-capped Chickadee-3, Tufted Titmouse-3, Red-breasted Nuthatch-1, White-breasted Nuthatch-2, Starling-1, Carolina Wren-1, House Finch-7, American Goldfinch-5, American Tree-sparrow-2, Dark-eyed Junco-8, White-throated Sparrow-2, Eastern Bluebird-3, Song Sparrow-1, Northern Cardinal-3. This is a testament to how broke I'm going buying sunflower seed and suet. Also had a Gray Fox by the house a couple days ago.
Through a typical year, I go through about 300 pounds of blackoil sunflower seed!
Not so much in warmer months, mostly in Winter!
I've had a 20lb bag for a couple months now, I only put out a few handfuls every day or 2, just enough to keep them around often but not so much they are entirely dependent on my feeding them. If we have a big dip in temperature I try to especially put out a little for them since I know they need the fuel to stay warm. It seems to be a good balance, I dont dilute or disrupt nature much(artificial population boost), they still come by everyday, keeps the squirrels at bay, and it saves me money :)
I'm on my 2nd 40 lb bag of the black oil seed.
They started feeding late this winter
probably due to milder temps.
Definitely hitting it hard now. Forgot to mention the Tufted Titmice
being regulars here. Seen a Cardinal on occasion too.
woodroe, ever try Nyjer seeds for the finches?
I finally did, they really like it, for a while. ::) Than they seem to stop eating it. ???
I find there is a lot of seed in those mixed bags that birds aren't even interested. They high grade the sunflower seeds. I've even tried to feed seed eaters millet or flax by itself. They don't touch it. If a stalk of lambs quarters is standing, or thistles, or nettles, they will fleece it. You can't force a bird to eat what we eat. Well sometimes if it's a pork rind or piece of salmon. :D
Quote from: thecfarm on January 27, 2022, 07:51:39 AM
woodroe, ever try Nyjer seeds for the finches?
I finally did, they really like it, for a while. ::) Than they seem to stop eating it. ???
No haven't tried that Ray. Bulk Black oil and suet blocks is all I can afford.
woodroe I use the same, except for the nyjer.
I tell customers my Father fed black oil sunflower seeds and so do I. We have a poster board of birds. I show the customers what birds they will get with black oil and they still want the mixed seeds as swampdonkey said. He is right about them not wanting some seeds.Black oil is the cheapest and it works!!! Been around it my whole life. But I guess 60 years don't count. ;D ::)
Black Oil Sunflower seeds have high fat/calories content and less shell by weight than the old striped seeds. It is attractive to many birds; the Gray Fox was just outside my basement door last night eating black oil seeds. Yes, seed companies put cheap filler seeds in the mixes. White millet is attractive to sparrows. Cornell looked at seed preferences by birds. Interestingly, in western states birds seemed to be less fussy. Black Oil is the best bang for your buck. I buy suet and also pour fat pan drippings into a bowl and chill it, then scoop it out and put it in a feeder I made for it. The woodpeckers, chickadees, Blue Jays, nuthatches and titmice eat it. And birds, like animals and children all go to the foods at the top of their preference list first. Let 'em get hungry enough and they will eat what's available.
A pair of crows perched along the wood line this morning patiently
waiting for a snack. There is usually something for them, stale chips or bread.
They aren't fussy and will clean up just about anything. A 3rd one showed up and sharing with the bluejays
is always fun to watch. Bluejays have to be fast.
Crows will sometimes pursue a bluejay until it drops its snack then grab the snack.
Simple entertainment at its best..
Nesting Pair of Sandhill Cranes feeding Brood. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/hPAcc0Om9As)
My eastern bluebirds are back to building a nest in the box they used 2 years ago to raise 2 broods. They moved in 2 days after I put the box out. I am thrilled to see them back. I love my bluebirds.
Last year barn swallows moved in and raised a clutch or two, had one dead one in the box when I cleaned it out and the bluebirds moved to the box in the back yard about 100 yards apart.
Oh yeah, my 2 big turkey gobblers are back for at least the 3rd year in a row. They were strutting around a flock of hens in the pasture 75 yards from the house a couple days ago. These gobblers are in their prime with beards dragging the ground and can really put on a show.
One of my son's has big floodplain woods behind his yard. Very large black willow stub, top long busted out, has featured great horn owls nesting last. few years....followed later each year by a goose family that then uses the nest.
WV, If swallows nested in your bluebird box they were most surely Tree Swallows. My neighbor and a friend and I went out back of the house a few evenings ago and watched the woodcocks doing their courtship flights, always a great show.
I agree KEC, I have a lot of houses out and they get claimed/occupied by both Bluebirds and Tree Swallows, depending on who gets there first.
The bluebird will not fight for a home. :(
Same thing at my place.
went and got sunflower seeds couple days ago went from twenty dollars to thirty two 50lbs
Bricklayer - that is still a lot cheaper than cat food. (I call it the self-help program. ::))
This morning I looked out and some little bird is building a nest on the center beam of our log home. He had found about a 16" piece of monofilament fishing line I had no doubt cut up somewhere and was using it for nesting material. I laughed at him for several minutes as he was on my bannister and he tried to position it in his mouth to use. He looked like he was jumping rope sometimes as the line would twist and flip and get wrapped around his feet and he'd step out of it and start over. He is about the size of a Towhee but I don't recall what kind of bird he is.
For anyone who is concerned about Tree Swallows using their bluebird boxes, there is a guy in NY who used to have hundreds of bluebird boxes that fledged hundreds of bluebirds some years. As he said, bluebirds start nesting earlier than tree swallows and can hold their own. The swallows nest once a year; bluebirds nest 2-3 times and often times use boxes after the swallows are done with it for the year. WV, is the bird building a nest on your house an Eastern Phoebe? Inquiring minds want to know.
This year it is eastern bluebirds again. The bird skipping rope with the monofilament may well have been a Phoebe but he is building on a house beam and not the bluebird boxes.
I can't find where I posted the picture (I thought it was here) last year but someone suggested it was a swallow and that matched the pictures I saw on line. They did raise one clutch and one of those young died. I probably should have cleaned out the old nest sooner but the bluebirds had nested in the next box in the back yard about 75-80 yards away and that may be too close for 2 pairs to use the same territory. All is good this year and actually the swallows were neat to watch too.
Quote from: Bricklayer51 on March 23, 2022, 03:46:15 PM
went and got sunflower seeds couple days ago went from twenty dollars to thirty two 50lbs
Same here 29.99😂
Two weeks ago I picked up two 40 lb bags of Black Oil sunflower seed and was surprised it was $62.00
Like most things, if you like it enough, it'll cost you, and I get lots of birds!
Chicken food has gone way up too, well any grain has. :o
Took the bird feeders down last week.
Over run with squirrels, 4 grays, 4 reds hanging around.
Its the red ones that cause trouble.
Had a red squirrel baby fall down into my truck cab air circulation fan
last year. What a racket that made and spent an hour getting it out. Never did find the nest
so a smell lingered for some time. Rotting babies maybe ?
So when I see them hanging around
now I remove the attraction quick.
Birds can fend for themselves in the spring. Insects start moving.
I am a volunteer working on The New York Breeding Bird Atlas III, a project to map the breeding ranges of all the birds that nest in New York. Mostly, volunteers go out and look for birds and evidence that they are nesting, but some birds can be very difficult to find. I would like to hear from anyone on the forum from NY that knows of any nesting owls, especially Barn Owls. which have become rare in NY. Right now, Great-horned Owls are nesting and they oftentimes use nests made by large hawks. You might see the owls' head with ear tufts sticking above the nest. Thanks for any help with this.
I noticed this morning that the Gold Finches are changing from their green winter to the yellow summer plumage.
Saw my first Hummingbird of 2022 this morning. We spend a lot of money on sugar for them. Love watching them.
We saw a pileated woodpecker last Wed. It was beside the road chewing on an old tree. Stopped to get a picture, it went on the back side of the tree. As they always do.
I saw a pair of bluebirds this morning in a maple, sitting on lower limbs in a neighbour's yard, when I was out walking. I was 20 feet away so no confusing them with their blue feathers. ;D A little early, but not by more than a couple weeks I'd say.
There was hummingbird sited up here in the capital a couple weeks ago. No idea what they were eating that early, no flowers here until the end of the month. Maybe sap from sapsucker holes in maple?
A hummingbird up in your country 2 weeks ago is highly unusual. Maybe something other than a Ruby-throated.
Yeah, very unusual. It was reported by birders. I've never seen one around here until May. I'm guessing the only way it could survive is on maple sap, even then I would think it would freeze to death.
A neighbor the other day pointed out an eagle's nest in the crotch of a white pine, on the bank of the small river below here. We see an eagle fly up this way once in awhile throughout the year. This winter they had a dead cow carcass to chew on not far from here. But it's cool to see one fly across in front of the big dormer window of the house. :)
Been geese here for 2 weeks, they do fly byes as well. ;)
The Hummingbirds usually show up here between the 7th and 11th of May.
I saw a Male Bluebird on the backporch rail just a few minutes ago!
That's telling me to make sure the birdhouses are cleaned out!
A couple years ago a Rufous Hummingbird showed up near Syracuse, NY in early winter. A couple residents keep feeders up for it and it was around in December and, I think, January before it disappeared. These hummers summer in Alaska and return early and can survive cold temperatures. I went to see it and it and it was uncanny to see a hummer with snow and cold.
Tappan Adney wrote of the Rufous hummingbird up on the Klondike in Yukon Territory in the warm season 1897-1899, where it is now said to be rare up that far. I doubt it was that rare, if one could see one from their log cabin. At a time when a town was just born, not a town that was around 300 years. He has a chapter in his book "The Klondike Stampede", where he talks of the wildlife and birds. He's buried 30 miles from here in Woodstock, NB. He was from Ohio I think and his wife is from up here, they met in university in NY city.
I forgot to mention that hummingbirds go into a state of torpor at night, their body temperature drops, breathing and heart rate slows like a mini-hibernation. Helps to explain how they can survive cold. I know that ruby-throats pirate sapsucker sap wells and sometimes they tag sapsuckers wherever they go. I suspect that maybe when it is cold the hummers find insects in bark crevices.
Ever notice hummingbirds have mad eyes? Videography of one working a flower...always notice those big dark eyes Must be one of the largest eyes to head size ratios of all animals.
The better to see you with. Probably important to be able to look for danger when they are reaching deep into some trumpet shaped flower.
It's nice to hear the birds singing!!
my favorite bird song is the hermit thrush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0mATRdzZSc
I hear them a lot when marking pre-commercial thinning ground.
There have been Robins for three or four weeks, I have been seeing cormorants and herons since the weekend. Not birds but there have been peepers for a few days now too.
There's 50 robins around the yard here all day long. More robins than there was last spring. A couple stayed here all winter.
I heard the killdeer this morning.
I saw swallows this morning for the first time this spring.
I was sawing up some dead ash near one of my bluebird boxes yesterday. I had seen some activity so when I finished I opened the top to check and sure enough there were 4 eggs in the nest. The parents did not attack as usual but I hope I have not disturbed them too much. This is the 3rd year I've had the box up. Raised 2 clutches the first year, swallows last year and bluebirds back this year.
I've seen a few male bluebirds buzzing around and checking out available housing, but no females yet.
I cleaned out all (16) of the birdhouses around the yard, one had an unhatched egg, and another had a dead baby bluebird.
I usually have a population of half and half, bluebirds and tree swallows, of course there will be one or two house wren nest boxes!
My yearly mallard visits started today. Of course, they were met by the 1 year old cat that loves to hunt :) They were laughing as the cat was sitting on the bank of the pond testing the water :)
A few bird photos I have taken recently.
A red tail hunting in the front yard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0884.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1649721361)
Geese splash down at the camp.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0005.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1649721553)
Eagle across the river at the camp.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0033.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1649721674)
Psycho Bluebird.
He is bouncing off 1st and 2nd story windows. Starts at 1st light and continues for hours. Sees his reflection in the window and thinks its another male evidently. Seen robins doing this on lower windows but this is a first for a Bluebird.
That and he shits all over the sills which is a turnoff too.
Anyone want a crazy Bluebird ?
Hilltop, nice photos. Woodroe, if you splash some soapy water on the outside of the window, it might help. A friend and I went down near Ithaca, NY a few days ago to see an active Peregrine Falcon nest on a high cliff. They nested there many years ago before Peregrines became rare. It was neat to see them on a natural site. You pull off the road and park, walk all of 30 feet and look at the nest at eye level across a huge ravine.
For the psycho bluebird, eventually the cure is #8 shot. Weed out the ones that do that if possible. Same with the occasional robin. Over 50 years, has happened three times.. Sorry
Quote from: beenthere on April 16, 2022, 10:53:03 PM
For the psycho bluebird, eventually the cure is #8 shot. Weed out the ones that do that if possible. Same with the occasional robin. Over 50 years, has happened three times.. Sorry
Agree, It is rare to have this happen. Its still early here and no nest building going on yet so took the boxes down.
The nuisance bluebird will move on then and I'll put em back up.
But that kind of activity can make someone do something extreme, LOL.
I had started throwing some 1" firewood rounds at him.
Yesterday and the day before I had a Pine Warbler at a feeding station eating bits of suet that fall when the woodpeckers work the suet. Few warblers come to feeders so it was neat to see one out the window ~10 feet away at below eye level. Yesterday we woke up to 6-8" of snow so the feeders did a brisk business. Snow didn't last long. All told yesterday I tallied 26 species of birds around the yard. A pair of crows have a nest in the front yard and they are strickly enforcing a no-fly zone in the air space for the Turkey Vultures and hawks and other crows.
KEC has lots of bird activity.
Think I've been to that river gorge in Ithica where you saw the Peregrine Falcons.
Son went to college there for a spell so we got to explore the area.
We had a rare appearance from a Palm warbler recently, a pretty bird never seen here before, passing through heading for Eastern Hudson Bay I think.
Warblers passing through will escape most peoples' notice. You have to be looking for them. I look for them and still miss seeing many of them.
I was working nearby so I took a peak in the box and found my bluebird eggs have hatched and the chicks were all hunkered down wondering where the roof of their house went. I am going to be giving them lessons to stay away from BT's windows. >:( ;)
A pair of bluebirds checking out the 2 bird boxes in the yard this morning. The ground is froze this morning, 30F and north wind. Don't get in too big of a hurry. :D
Years ago when glass windows were pretty thin and not great quality, a ruffed grouse went through a neighbor's kitchen window one morning, ready for pluck'n. ;D
sd had one last fall darn good eating
Got a pm from @Cedarman (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=100) . He had interest from a guy in some cedar, and he was from Elsworth, Ks. It is 1 hour north of me, so I agreed to have him come to my place as he only needed a small chunk 8 x 8 inches. His name is Don and he does Falconry. He has a white falcon, and wanted the red cedar for contrast and beauty. He makes and sells a few on ebay. He origionated in Ca. moved to Co, and then to Ks just for the prairy chicken huntin. they have contests, and much of the hunting involved dogs, and falsons working together. We found several pieces large enough to make several of these Arab blocks.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/51041/6F6D1425-08D5-47B0-B128-158B1CF0EA86.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1650663539)
I forgot to get his pic, but he was a character. I did not know what we would find, so had not thought about payment, but was excited to be able to give 5% to the FF, if not all. When he asked price, I ask him to make an offer (to see what he thought of the wood he got) and I would make a counter-offer. He offered 50 bucks, and I said how about 20. He took out a check book, and I thought "surely you have a twenty". That is when he told me coming from CA, He never carried cash. He had shown up early, and my wife had lunch waiting in the house. After he left I thought about his hat that I thought had to do with the birds, but it said 101rst Airborne. I confirmed he was former military. and my dog promptly ate his check. He is appreciative. He is about 70. He promises to send pics. Thanks Richard.
Interesting!
Doc, I am glad you two got together. It is more fun to talk with people with unique qualities then converse by e-mail. I know it kills time, but to me one of the pleasure in life.
The author C J Box has one of the main characters as a falconer in Wyoming. Fascinating what those birds can do.
Hope to see the pics of the "Arab blocks".
Tree swallows have joined the bluebirds to see who gets which nest box. :D
Up here in the land of tax and regulation, we can't hunt with falcon's yet we can with dogs. I see no logic. :-\
Seen a few Tree Swallows here!
They always compete with the Bluebirds for the birdhouses.
The Stork brought something.
The Stork brought something to the pond. - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/q6TakqWjVSQ?feature=share)
Stork fishing. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/Ergd3y3y-dY)
There is a lot going on in that pond.
The Otters have been back everyday. I think their activity is drawing in the birds. :)
Some birds just gravitate to ponds by their nature, as do otters, beaver and alligators....and leeches. :)
Sandhill Cranes - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/QTnwXkonEDc?feature=share)
Edging your walk way for you. :D
Had an interesting encounter with a Palm Warbler yesterday.
Was by the firewood pile edge of field and saw it in a young tree nearby.
Gave it a couple whistles and he came over and landed on the woodpile 10' away.
Pretty little fellah with his bright yellow belly and curious too. He must have sat there for a good minute checking me and my whistles out . Second sighting of one in a week.
Palm Warbler Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Palm_Warbler/overview)
Bluebird has been on eggs this week. Probably 5 eggs.
1st batch of tree swallows fledged 2 days ago, 3 batches to go.
A house wren took over the empty box yesterday and was house
cleaning.
Spent an hour tossing the feathers and other non desirable
materials out.
The whacko bluebird we had moved on after I took all the houses down
for a spell. 8) When I put the houses back up the tree swallows were waiting
and watching me. I got 20' away and they were on them and in them.
Wow that is early for swallows. They have only been nest building here. Last 2 years they died from cold. Adult dead in the nest.
I checked my bluebird box yesterday and confirmed all 4 hatchlings have graduated and left the next. I removed the nest so they can build another as I understand they do no tlike to use the same one although they did before. I need to knock down several nests on the eaves and boathouse where the young should already be gone.
There was an Eastern Phoebe nest under the porch eave when I got to camp. I think this is the 4th year they do this. The hummingbirds were buzzing me wanting the feeders I hadn't put out yet. I got to the store and got some along with another feeder a couple of days later. We had 3 right away but this morning there was at least a dozen of them just going nuts. We had to cover a fire extinguisher inside because they kept banging into the window. If they don't sort it out we may have to move the feeders away from the camp. The Eastern Phoebe isn't happy.
I walked to the mailbox a little while ago and a family of Carolina wrens had just left the nest and were fluttering around making little flights of 10-15 feet. The young were distinctive with their shorter tails. I love to see them when they first learn to fly like that.
I watched a pair of eastern bluebirds lighting on the fence and posts of the back pasture fence then to the front yards catching grasshoppers and such. They raised 4 in a box in the front yard a few weeks ago and I removed the old nest in hopes they will build another and repeat.
A big old Yellowhammer (Great Northern Flicker) lit by the creek and hopped around in the yard and my wife saw a shadow pass then walked over and scared a big crow off the porch where he was stealing Sampson's dog food from the dish there.
For those of you that haven't tried to add a little technology to your birding, I highly recommend the Merlin BirdID app from Cornell. It's free.
It's absolutely amazing. It helps you ID birds by color, location, behavior and size. Very helpful, especially when traveling away from your home area. But what is even more incredible is it's ability to ID birds by birds calls. The Sound ID feature has you hold up your phone, push a button, and just let the birds sing. It's so sensitive it picks up calls you would describe as too faint to make out. You certainly don't have to be right next to the bird to get an identification. Really cool app.
Thank you for that heads-up.
Will give it a go.
I'll miss ya @SwampDonkey (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1009) , Im downloading the app!
Bill just identified what I call my Beeper birds as white throated sparrows. I hate to trade him in, but the app fits in my phone
Does the app require data/internet to operate once down loaded?
I don't have data and there is no cell service where I canoe.
the tree and plant ID apps do require internet, so one could assume.
App works great.
And I identified the phoebe that was sitting on the blue bird house this morning.. couldn't without the app and the phoebe's are not a usual bird around the house.
Thanks for that tip.
Pheobe's have been nesting around the house here for the last two or three years. Which is very odd, I usually only hear or see them in deep woods. In the fall when the house flies are looking for a place to winter, and are around the siding and doors, the pheobe's are bad for leaving doodoo on the hand rails when resting after picking flies. :D
Is the app by Cornell? I always go there for the bird songs.
Yes, the app is from Cornell.
I don't know the answer regarding internet service while using the app
Swamp-
Down in my neck of the woods, Phoebes are known for nesting under structures. Eaves of houses, rafters of open sheds. I had one nest every year under a wooden dock at my pond. Had about 1.5 feet of clearance between the water and the dock.
Apparently there is a way to use it off line.
Set Your Location So You Can ID Birds Even Without Internet
Merlin is designed to help you identify birds no matter how deep into the forest or field you are. This is important when you are traveling off the beaten path, or even if you have spotty Internet around your hometown. You don't want to be stuck not knowing what bird you are looking at just because you can't connect!
The key to using Merlin Bird ID when you're offline is to set your location ahead of time. Tap on Explore Birds, then look for the filter icon in the top right of your screen. Tapping this will open up a panel where you can set your location to whatever your destination is. When you are off adventuring, those locations you set will be available in the history of locations, and will work completely offline.
I small bird found her way into my shed and she has made a next in a paper trash box in the corner.
Someday soon we should have some chics.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10095/20220525_115613.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1653520613)
Jim Rogers
SD, Phoebes are partial to being around human habitation. I would venture that the flycatchers you say are in deep woods are more likely Eastern Wood-pewees. There are several flycatchers that are similar in appearance but different in song. Least flycatchers are found in wooded ares too. Jim Rogers, the nest you found may be Carolina Wren.
Quote from: KEC on May 25, 2022, 11:24:43 PM
Jim Rogers, the nest you found may be Carolina Wren.
Yes, but she is too fast for me to snap a picture of her right now.
Jim Rogers
A week or so ago we were sitting on the front porch listening to the birds. My wife spotted a reddish-brown bird through the trees on the opposite side of our driveway. She used her iphone with a 12x zoom.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/28664/83324.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1653592363)
Screech owl had its back to us sitting on a branch at the edge of the woods. She caught this picture as it turned its head.
I would love to put out bird feeders, but we have black bear in the area and I don't want to encourage them. We've had the bear on our front porch at the door and at our basement slider. This is in the Virginia Blue Ridge mountains south and west of Roanoke Va.
Thanks KEC, I think you're correct, sounds like the ones in the spruce plantations.
Quote from: doctorb on May 25, 2022, 05:47:20 PM
Swamp-
Down in my neck of the woods, Phoebes are known for nesting under structures. Eaves of houses, rafters of open sheds. I had one nest every year under a wooden dock at my pond. Had about 1.5 feet of clearance between the water and the dock.
@doctorb (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=10176) Never had them here nesting before recent years. Usually it was robins and barn swallows taking over any shelf space. :D
Around here, the phoebes like to nest up under long roof overhangs, inside old buildings with open doors/windows and under bridges over streams on bridge beams. They will also still nest under overhanging rocks along cliffs along streams. They love to sit on a limb over a stream and dart out to catch insects on the wing and fly back to the perch and eat it, then wait for another insect. Nests are easy to ID, made with mud and green moss and on a ledge just under overhead shelter.
Wonder if the Phoebe is expanding its range? Global warming?
A while back there was discussion about birds expanding their ranges northward. Some said it was more of a range shift as the northern edge of the range was moving North and the southern edge of their range was also moving North.
We have some bird species that are now considered "native", that didn't live here in pre European times. They are considered separate from the species that are known to be introduced, mostly from Europe by early settlers. For some reason they decided we needed sparrows ???
But other birds like the Welcome Swallow found their own way here about 70 years ago. Probably stowed away on a cargo ship, but that's not the point, it's now classed as a native bird and protected. Waxeyes are another small bird that self introduced sometime in the 1800s, and are considered native by everyone.
So like plants, birds do change their range over time, especially if weather patterns gradually change.
A lot of the native birds lost out due to changing land use and introduced predators. Some have handled it OK and are even common in city gardens. Others have unfortunately become extinct. Others, like the iconic Kiwi, only do well in predator controlled reserves or Islands. They aren't currently endangered, but without the various conservation efforts they would be by now. They have been able to reintroduce Kiwi into the Kaitake Ranges, near where I grew up. As kids we would hear them calling from the bush, but the new hatched chicks are easy prey for ferrets etc, and eventually they died out in the area.
Conservation Dept and local volunteers have been trapping and wiped out most of the predators, allowing some birds from fenced reserves to be released, and they seem to be doing OK (and multiplying). But the pest control is an ongoing thing. The local fenced reserve (mouse proof fenced - yes that's a thing), is large enough to house about 200 kiwi, but they were getting up to ~300, and then they start fighting for territory and food. So they were relieved to be able to safely re-home a few out in the wild again. They have several other native species that had become extinct locally, but were able to be reintroduced from other reserves. Some are very people friendly and easy to see, others? They aren't really certain how many of some they have, because they are so hard to find. ;) I've Heard a fernbird, but never seen one. ;D If you go walking there at night with a red filtered torch you can see Kiwi birds, providing
This is a short video about the reserve.
The Story of Rotokare Scenic Reserve on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/128216932)
https://www.rotokare.org.nz
I know we have brown thrashers here now, never seen one years ago, just catbirds. Also, we are getting bluebirds now, never saw one in my life until about 10 years ago.
Eastern Phoebe eggs this morning.
They look store bought. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/20220527_092142.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1653660306)
Rockin Robin
How to train your Robin to Rock. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/xF2Y7kOU_9g)
Good stuff. :)
I never stepped close by any woodcock nests this spring, but I was on a block running lines that was full of woodcocks.
This past winter I bought a wireless remote for my DSLR so I can take a picture up to a 100 yards away from the camera. I can pre-focus or just set it on auto. Been doing a little practice on Humming birds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10125/DSC_2838.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1653794306)
I see the boys in the morning but the light is wrong to get a good picture. The light is good in the evenings but all I see than are the girls. The boys must be taking a nap or at the tavern in the evenings. :D
Larry, looks like you got it figured out.
If you have exposure compensation you can add a stop or two to get better exposure on the subject, raising the camera up and pointing it down will get more dark in the background which will help too, you also may get better results on manual exposure.
And/or could try putting a piece of white piece of Bristol board to one side of the camera to reflect light back at the humming bird.
Hilltop, thanks for the suggestions. I just tried changing the camera angle and it was a great improvement. I'll give your other suggestions a try also. Thanks again.
My wife bought this birdhouse at a yard sale last year and I put it on a 4x4 over by the garden. It's got a nest this year and momma is working hard. :)
I'm not sure what it is yet. A Tree Swallow?
You can hear the brood.
Swallow - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/sOkujTeBlpA?feature=share)
We're having a blast watching the family of Eastern bluebirds. The adults are watching over the young. The offspring make short hops from the ground to the limbs of nearby trees. We watched 5 of them flitting around the front yard a couple days ago. One of the young ones was on the cable line about 10' from the back bathroom window this afternoon. I hope they raise another clutch or two. The bright blue colors are spectacular.
Moose, you definitely have Tree Swallows nesting in the birdhouse!
The Tree Swallow and the Eastern Bluebird are good for your comfort, they eat mostly flying insects like mosquitos, black flies, gnats, etc.
If you want to get rid of more biting bugs, put up more birdhouses!
Enjoy!
I've got a bunch of wood ready to go. Just have to get started. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3136.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1654732184)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3137.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1654732183)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3135.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1654732173)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3134.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1654732173)
Here are a few pix of one of my eastern bluebirds from out of my upstairs bathroom window about 20' away. I did not see any other members of his family. Mostly he sat on the cable line preening his feathers. At one point he turned around, darted to the ground and grabbed a bug and returned to the same spot on the wire but I was not quick enough on the draw to get a front picture of him.
I noticed movement in a wild sweet (Blackheart) cherry and spotted a big old fox squirrel up there stealing my ripe cherries. I guess he saw me moving and ran up to the top and hid before I could get his picture too.
I love these brilliant colored bluebirds and have another box about 30 yards from where this one was perched. They raised a clutch in it last year but I have not seen any using it yet this year but I keep hoping.
MIRANDA LAMBERT – "BLUEBIRD
How fitting Bluebird! https://youtu.be/nUB8ogvze_8 (https://youtu.be/nUB8ogvze_8)
2 Eastern Phoebes have hatched and momma is hauling out the egg shells. The dad has been hanging around now also.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/20220609_135934.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1654800177)
Yep, tree swallows. I have one box here with tree swallows and the other is bluebirds. ;)
Quote from: doctorb on May 25, 2022, 08:22:24 AM
For those of you that haven't tried to add a little technology to your birding, I highly recommend the Merlin BirdID app from Cornell. It's free.
It's absolutely amazing. It helps you ID birds by color, location, behavior and size. Very helpful, especially when traveling away from your home area. But what is even more incredible is it's ability to ID birds by birds calls. The Sound ID feature has you hold up your phone, push a button, and just let the birds sing. It's so sensitive it picks up calls you would describe as too faint to make out. You certainly don't have to be right next to the bird to get an identification. Really cool app.
Thanks for this post doctorb, my wife and I downloaded. It works great on her iphone 12. I have an older Android and was not having much luck so I removed the app. I will reload to see if it was something I did loading it. The first time she tried it in Va. she had 11 birds hit. I was in the evening just before dusk. Some of the birds I had not hear of or don't think I've seen. Some of the new ones ID'd were Redeyed Vero, Wood Thrush and Oven bird.
I love the merlin ap its work great. My wife has 37 birds verified. I missed out on getting the owls the other night.
Thanks for the link!!!
Glad you both are enjoying it. I am currently on Cape Cod and have never seen so many Baltimore Orioles (except maybe at a baseball game). My wife and I used the oriole's call from the app to draw in the birds. They didn't like their territory infiltrated and flew to a neighboring tree. It was real fun.
I am going to have to try that. That sounds fun :)
I thought we had orioles for so long then I found out they are scarlet tanager. Beautiful birds only difference is a little black
Barn Swallows took up residence in an old Eastern Phoebe nest from last year in my workshop.
Barn Swallows - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/HUohDXmn_FA?feature=share)
Merlin app is very cool. Thanks for that info.
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I was mowing beside the pasture fence and when I got to the gate where I have Bluebird box #2 I stopped and pulled the cap/top off and checked. We have been seeing bluebirds lighting on the cable line behind the bathroom above this box. Sure enough there were these 5 little ones inside. Last year a pair raised a clutch of 4 in this box. This or another pair has already raised a clutch of 4 in the box in the front yard. I love my bluebirds.
Tree Swallow on guard.
Tree Swallow guarding nest - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/jRVFVB87zOI?feature=share)
Eastern Phoebe chicks sleeping.
Eastern Phoebe chick's sleeping. - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/BIJYxkt2lms?feature=share)
I have tended nest boxes for bluebirds, tree swallows and other birds for a long time. A baby songbird goes from a new hatchling to a fully feathered juvenile capable of flying in around 2 1/2 weeks. During the time in the nest they go through several stages of behavior. When first hatched they are clueless and know only to hold their head up, open mouth and get fed. Then they will respond to something coming around by food begging. Then they respond to an intruder by feigning death. Then they act afraid but just sit tight. It is best to leave them alone just before they leave the nest as they will oftentimes panic and jump out of the nest. Once out, they usually will not stay in even if you put them back. It is best when they leave when they are fully developed and can fly up into the trees for safety. I try to be especially careful not to spook the baby phoebes in the nest right by the door to the house so they don't fledge prematurely.
Feeding time for Eastern Phoebes.
Eastern Phoebe feeding time. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/rVmxWUM2y88)
Nice video there, Mooseherder. No finer insect control than nesting phoebes.
I took my wife out today for a bluegill fishing trip at the local COE lake. We were on the water less than an hour before a hard thunderstorm soaked us and chased us home but in that time we saw 3 bald eagles and my wife was pretty sure she saw another one further up the mountainside. The first looked to be this years young and was black and brown white mottled feather. He still had black feet and a black beak. The other two were several hundred yards apart and were both mature white headed/white-tailed, yellow feet and beak adults. The first adult flew but the second had no intention of leaving his perch.
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This one I saw nearly 2 weeks ago in the same area and I'm guessing is about 3 years old with some mottling in his chest but white head and tail and yellow feet and beak. I don't know where their nest is but all this is around a campground accessible only by boat that has been shut down due to water fluctuations from work on the dam nearly a mile downstream. This is the most I have seen in this area. I usually see them a couple miles upstream.
They hatch here in February/March so the young one is less than 6 months old. Many people confuse them with hawks because of the lack of white head and tail. Some people think they are Golden eagles but are just immature bald eagles.
Have a little wood duck family on the pond. Mother and five little ones
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The bluebirds started another nest in the other box that had swallows. Both the swallows and the first brood of bluebirds were successful. I see 4 new eggs in the nest. :)
Saw a couple bald eagles on my trip up river today and saw a blue heron this morning fly past the porch. Another thing, saw a hawk on the highway fence when going up river and 2 hrs later he's still on the fence when I came back. Not sure which kind, it was mainly brown, but not a huge hawk, medium sized. :)
I checked my bluebird box yesterday while mowing and my 5 baby bluebirds were all gone and hopefully they are some of the ones flying around the yard. I forgot to remove the nest but will take it out in a day or two and hope they reuse it for another clutch. They have plenty of time to raise another and I thought I saw a pair mating in the walnut tree in the front yard this afternoon.
SD, Just a guess, but maybe you saw a Broad-winged Hawk. They are likely common in your neck of the woods. WV, what kind of perv spies on a pair of birds being intimate? :D
Mid-June I saw a Bald Eagle fly up from a side of a river not too far from our place.
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There was a pickup in front of me on a narrow 2 lane that runs beside the Little River. It flew up in front of him. I assume it was off the riverbank, it flew into a field on the opposite side of the road from the river and settled in the field. I stopped in the road and fumbled to get my phone and snap a shot before it flew. Sorry the picture is not that good. Before I could zoom and get a better shot it exited. They are such a majestic bird. I have seen them in this area before and not too far down river. The river is not too large here as it is not far from the head waters but does have some aquatic life as well as beaver. The fields near by will have mice, rabbit, ground hogs and other critters.
KEC,
I think they were just old hippies, free love and all that trash. Trust me - they were not embarrassed. I did see a bluebird flying into my old box in the front yard so I guess the mating was successful and they are already setting up housekeeping. I am happy to see I will have at least a 3rd clutch raising this year.
I have a pair in the front yard and a pair across the road on eggs; they both successfully raised babies this spring. I have other boxes that I haven't checked in a while. A male House Sparrow killed my baby Tree Swallows in 2 boxes. I haven't seen him to get him with the air rifle. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time as a volunteer with the New York State Breeding Bird Atlas Project to map the breeding ranges of the birds in NY. Yesterday my wife and I were sitting in the living room and a baby Song Sparrow flew up and landed on the screen in the front door. So I "confirmed" Song Sparrow as nesting here while sitting in my recliner. Low-impact "atlasing" at its' best.
Hi KEC, I think our atlas was updated here in 2016 for Atlantic Canada.
We often have two blue bird clutches a year, but for the last 2 years only one. Also the previous 2 years the swallows never made it. I found a dead adult in the nest each year. Probably hypothermia, it's cold here into June. Well, 60 for a high or 40's in rain is not all that hot. :D
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This is my second clutch of 4 eggs in this front yard box. The box in the back yard just graduated 5 within the last week or so. These boxes are less than 100 yards apart and both have been used but never at the same time so I wonder if the same birds are alternating. This box is higher than I can see into so I hoisted my 5 y/o grandson up and asked him what he saw. He said he saw 4 eggs but I was doubtful of his count. I came back with his 3 y/o sister and showed them to her and stuck the camera up for this picture. I love my bluebirds. I cleaned out the backyard box yesterday so hopefully I will get another clutch in there this season.
i was looking at the inside walls of the birdhouse
is that mold or mildew?
maybe adding some 1/2 inch holes in the bottom to promote air flow by convention
holes in red
i know to do this when they are done with the box
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I'll have to get a ladder to get access to it but I spotted that too. When I add the bottoms I knock the corners off when I build the boxes and they rarely fit tight so there is lots of ventilation in them for that reason but it can't hurt to wipe it down with bleach after the next clutch hatches and leaves.
The white stuff is whitewash, AKA bird excrement. My cleaning of boxes usually just consists of scraping out what I can with a stick, from upwind.
My wife and I paddled kayaks up the river about 2 miles from our camp on sunday, on the way back down a duck jumped out of a tree into the river and did the "follow me" trick to lead us away from the nest so I decided to try and get it's picture to see if I could id it later, it would keep flying ahead so when it got around the last camp before ours I got the camera out and took it's picture but after I noticed something else going across the river that I thought was a bear (there was more of a silhouette in person) but after cropping and adjusting the exposure the pictures it was a coyote.
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Did you know? Its a Federal offense removing a barn swallow nest during nesting season
1 the nesting season for enforcement purposes. During this period, completed nests cannot be touched without a permit from the U.S. Wildlife Service (phone 916-979-2675). Nests can be removed without a permit before or after the nesting season.
(http://data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAAAAAA6mKC9AAAArklEQVR4AYXPIQzDIBAFULxPfc0S5HxSWVNfg643KCy2DlOv8A0+DQaNQ1VgpiowKLgdWSa2LNmZ//PUfVK+7gdAfbUK2CpCvErOWC/rEuRM3Mi8FKkmfu9HbTw55c2K/oRovJrpEglsN6foA7LluzhSbbALGhOoZZtCLQ3sSs2sGX9D7zYabFimVYSEcHSMdweA6QYlTftUMy08YE6DvCoClPYhZk6YH1sa/1/7BE7jztoRysr3AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC)
I can understand some people not wanting the mess that the Barn Swallows make with their droppings. But, yes it is illegal to disturb active nests. Someone once watched a Barn Swallow nest with young in it all day. The adult birds made over 300 trips to the nest to feed the nestlings and they carry multiple insects each trip. What better way to keep the insects under control without spray.
Our experience with most barn swallows, not all, the adults were good at removing defications to the outdoors. It's expelled by the young in a sac. Thus no poop all over things. Like humans, some birds keep a tidier nest. ;D
Barn Swallow Nestlings Fecal Sac - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMQ8FvmkgDs)
Yes, many birds remove the fecal sacks from the nest, but the last few days before the young fledge the adults slack off. The young will back up to the edge of the nest to go. Very recently I was surveying an area for a bird atlas and someone pointed out a Barn Swallow nest with young above the entryway to a rather expensive home. There was quite a mess below the nest. When I was a kid, my oldest brother and I would find Red-tailed Hawk and Great-horned Owl nests and call a bird bander who came and banded the young. He would tell us to let him know when the tree trunk below the nest was streaked with excrement because that was indicative that the nestlings were at a good age for banding. A "baby" Great-horned Owl is impressive for its' size and the size of its' talons.
Doesn't bother me the Barn swallow family above my overhead door. It cleans off the concrete easy enough. They are pretty clean until after the kids are born. They like to fly in the building through the doors when they are open and fly around and let you know they are there 😂
Hand sprinkling some plants in the yard today and had a hummingbird come in and got a shower, flew off and sat on a branch for a few seconds and then came back and spent about 20 seconds under the water. Have see video of it before, never had it myself before.
You would have missed that watching TV!!!!
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I lifted and had my grandkids check this bluebird box 11 days ago and there were 4 eggs so I checked it today and see 3 babies and an egg. I'll wait another day or so and see if the other egg hatches. There was already one clutch of 4 eggs here in this box earlier this year and 5 in the box about 80-90 yards away. I love my bluebirds.
RE: FORESTRY FOR THE BIRDS
Over three years ago, a group of natural resource professionals started working on an initiative titled Forestry for Michigan Birds. These professionals were interested in improving the knowledge of landowners and other natural resources professionals on the topic of bird habitat and forest management. By taking inspiration from other states, such as Vermont (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/vt.audubon.org/conservation/foresters-birds*:*:text=Foresters*20for*20the*20Birds*20is,timber*20and*20songbird*20habitat*20management.__;I34lJSUlJSUlJQ!!HXCxUKc!0JSXF5varMhZubJBlgEmt_6nxS3p9zlO5huxpacL9rNRTHLPLOfQwi2CyQsSv9m5QphkHml2zzpXql8n$) and Maine (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/maineaudubon.org/projects/forestry-for-maine-birds/__;!!HXCxUKc!0JSXF5varMhZubJBlgEmt_6nxS3p9zlO5huxpacL9rNRTHLPLOfQwi2CyQsSv9m5QphkHml2zzJfSnqI$), this group in Michigan began working on a toolkit that could be used to either start or further encourage landowners and professionals to think about bird habitat while conducting forest management around Michigan. After a lot of work and back-and-forth discussion, I am proud to be able to share this wonderful toolkit and information with all of you!!!
All the tools and information about Forestry for Michigan Birds can be accessed through this link: Forestry for Michigan Birds - Michigan Audubon (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.michiganaudubon.org/our-conservation-impact/forestry-for-michigan-birds/__;!!HXCxUKc!0JSXF5varMhZubJBlgEmt_6nxS3p9zlO5huxpacL9rNRTHLPLOfQwi2CyQsSv9m5QphkHml2z2TJSyrc$). We've provided two guides: one geared towards landowners and one towards forest managers. The landowner's guide provides basic information to help landowners have some information they can used when talking with professionals. The manager's guide delves deeper into the topics discussed to provide professional land managers with information they can use while talking with private landowners, the general public, or to help create long-term forest management plans with bird habitat as a factor.
The amount of excitement and support that we've already received is very encouraging! I hope you are all able to take some knowledge away from this work, and please share this info wherever you see fit! if there's anything I can do to help provide further guidance and information, please don't hesitate to reach out to me and ask any questions!
Go forth and do good work!
Michael Paling; CF
Michigan Forester
American Bird Conservancy
780 Commerce Drive, STE D
Marquette, MI 49855
Phone: 906-251-3065
Have been seeing some juvenile bluebirds in the yard. Probably the first brood from the box this year. :)
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I've been watching the adults going and coming feeding the babies so today I walked out to check to see if the last egg hatched since I last check 4 days ago. It appears it did. The mother was in the box when I approached and flew out when I was about 30-35 ft away. (Have I mentioned I love my bluebirds.)
My wife looked out our kitchen window and saw this baby bird about 8' away. The mother came down and fed him a moth while we watched.(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3224.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1659106845)
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Evidently he has just left the nest on the ridge beam of my house above. It was drizzling rain and he was not happy with that and finally flew to the chain link fence about 20' below and away. It was a struggle for it to fly that far so he obviously has not had much experience at this flying thing.
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This is the mother on the fence a few feet away. As near as I can tell she is a Phoebe but I won't swear to it.
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Droppings on my porch right at the edge of the overhang. I'll give them a few more days then knock the nests (there is a second one 2' away) down to reduce the chance of mites.
That is a phoebe.
The number of eggs in bluebird nests usually decreases through the summer. Usually start at 5, then 4, and, in my experience have 3-4 in their final July nesting.
Sawmiller-
There are a lot of sticks in that nest. Bluebirds usually make their nest from grass. I have never seen a bluebird nest look like that. Are you sure that's a Bluebird nest? Did I misread the sticks and are they actually dried grass?
Doc,
I will check more closely if that is grass or sticks when I remove the nest after the current clutch "graduate" and leave home but I am absolutely 100% positive it is eastern bluebirds. If I think about it I'll get some more pictures of the parents coming and going but I watched one male bluebird (Dad or big brother) fly in about 8:00 pm today with that beautiful royal blue back coloring. They are flitting all over the yard and lighting on the power lines in the front yard catching bugs then going to the nest box with their catch.
Our bluebirds abandoned their eggs. I have seen the adults around and the first babies. I checked the nest and the earwigs invaded. The nest material was alive with them. Just another bug spread by unkept greenhouses. Never had them 20 years ago.
Some visitors this morning.
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https://youtu.be/QZU-RO7BQ0s (https://youtu.be/QZU-RO7BQ0s)
We had no turkeys here until about 15 years ago.
Mother said the turkeys were back early this morning for a stroll across the yard. Yesterday the chicks were in one of the old apple trees giving them a taste test. :D That was earlier before I took the photos and video. I have the garden fenced, or they would have been rolling in the dirt if they had a chance. :D
A few years ago some hens and poults came around regularly and spent time in my garden. Yes, they dust bathed in the dirt, but they probably paid me several times over by eating insect pests. I'm guessing that they eat slugs and snails so they are welcome here.
I never had slugs in my garden. Even before the turkeys came.
But have many customers come into the store needing something for slugs.
It's been dry here so slugs are not a problem. In a wet year they are a real pain and they like tomatoes. Sometimes, when it's wet we get Brown Snails. Frankly, I don't know if they are harmful.
Never gets that dry here, so it's slug central :D
Found these guys trying to get in the back door one misty night.
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I did some looking around on the computer and they say that turkeys eat snails and slugs. One site showed a photo of a turkey crop that a hunter harvested and cut open; it was full of snail shells. Other sites by state ag departments said that Brown Garden Snails damage fruits and trees. Hey Turkeys, stop in anytime.
One thing for sure, they eat earth worms. One of the chicks snagged onto a big fat night crawler Sunday morning and quickly consumed it. :D
I don't have a snail issue here, I do have an earwig issue. The earwigs like to eat romaine type lettuce and they also eat basal. The turkeys can eat those if they want. ;D
The biggest slugs (banana) I ever saw were on the Haida Gwaii Islands. :D
Ariolimax columbianus
Here we are talking about turkeys and I was just out behind the house and I came up on 3 hens and an estimated 14 poults, great to see. At 4:38 am today I had a Great-horned Owl hooting near the house. I'd like to see the turkeys at my garden; the garden pests would be in real danger. I saw some slugs in Germany that were as big as a mans' middle finger.
pacific northwest banana slug
over 6 inch
Well tonight I am minding my own business, well after dark, and I hear this strange call. Never heard it before. My guess was a screech owl. I checked, and sure enough, that's what it is. SO I heat this bird calling really regular, about every 15-20 seconds. after about 20 minutes it moves south, but I can still hear it. I tried calling it back by mimicking the call ( I may have been in a lower key). Sure enough, in another 15 minutes, it is back in a tree in my yard. I listen for a while longer, then think I hear another answering cal. I stepped out side, and yeah, to the east, there is another bird answering, but a ways off. Apparently each is asking to other to 'come here' and the other is saying 'No, You come here'. I dunno. What I do know is we have a lot of barred owls around here and I hear them all the time and love them. Puts me to sleep late at night In the 35 years we have lived here I have never heard a screech owl. For me, this outdid netflix and anything our lousy cable could offer. It's quite the audio show for sure and still going on. I hope one of these owls 'gets lucky' tonight.
Had to help this little guy out that fell out of his nest 16' up outside the overhead door and was in the shop. Accidentally noticed him! So I got the ladder out and put him back up there. Seems like all is good now
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Tom,
Very few people ever see a screech owl or recognize their call. I love them and they remind me of a grumpy little old man. I don't believe they are over 6" tall if that. I have thought about making some nest boxes and putting on the upper parts of the barn to see if I can attract any. I think the nest boxes have to be placed from 10' to 30' high.
Good luck with yours hanging around and entertaining you.
It's the first time I have ever heard them at all. It lasted for over an hour. Apparently my poor attempt at mimicking the call was good enough to get the one to light in a tree in my yard, but try as I might, I could not pick it out against the dark blue sky at night. The barred owls you can hear fly, even when they glide, the wind over their wings makes a distinctive noise but it has to be very quiet in the area to hear it. I had one glide over my head one time and it was spooky.
Hopefully the pair of screechers will nest up in the area. Next time I will try to record it. I texted my neighbor to go listen, but turns out she is in France now and couldn't make them out. ;D
I love that screech owl scene in "My Cousin Vinny". :D
OG, If you put up a couple of screech-owl boxes, they may use them in the winter to roost in. Fifteen feet up is sufficient and place them where the afternoon winter sun will hit them. They will sit in the entry hole on cold sunny afternoons and may use a box to nest in. If you have reason to be in the Syracuse area, I have some boxes free to a good home. One of the challenges is to keep the squirrels out of the boxes.
Until a couple weeks ago, I had not seen or heard any screech-owls here since December 2020. Just in the past 2-3 weeks, I've been hearing them at night near the house. Hoping that they will roost in my boxes this winter. And eat lots of mice.
Weekend Bird pics<
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Nuthatch enjoying the new pine cones.
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Pheasants in a row.
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Red tailed hawk in a dead spruce.
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All my hummingbirds are gone, At one time I think I had 14+.
I feed the hummers and was going through a little more than a quart per day all summer. From the internet their was a calculator that based on the amount of food I was serving up I had around 150 of them. On September 5th 140 took off for Mexico and I suppose 10 stayed behind. I expect those will be leaving in the next couple of days.
I haven't seen any Hummers in over a week now!
Through the Summer I figure there were around 20-30 that frequented the feeders!
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I was just sitting here reading on the FF and this blue heron flew in and lit on my well house roof about 15 yards away. I have no idea why he chose this spot to land.
I remember I posted with Danny (WDH) Hamsley last month telling him UGA was going to replace their mascot from a bulldog to a loud blue heron. Maybe this one was looking for Danny. I sure gonna miss him.
I put some blue bird nest boxes out about 30 years ago and had 1 pair nest that year and have not seen one nest here since. This year 3 pair nested and raised about 11 young. I have not seen a blue bird since July 7, when they left. Until Thursday, when I saw 7 around a box in the garden.
They where flitting around the box some going in and coming out, it was like they were having a last visit before they head south. This box had been home to 5 young this summer.
In my experience, bluebirds will raise a family and move away (figured went north). Then characteristically will flock back through and hang around the nest box area for a couple days, usually in October here. Have seen up to 30 bluebirds around some times when they do that. Assume heading south.
The Bluebirds have left this area already, but it seems odd that usually in the middle of November we'll see them flocking again and then all of the sudden they take off and we don't see them until next spring!
Some bluebirds do migrate South, but here (Onondaga County,NY) I see and hear some bluebirds year round. This past winter I saw fair numbers. They check out the boxes in my yard now and then all winter. Bluebirds will use boxes to get out of the cold at night in the winter. I once read an account of over 20 bluebirds that all went into a standard size box for the night. I had an Orange-crowned Warbler here a few days ago.
A spoonbill looking for breakfast.
Spoonbill - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/Re-_ye7g33Y)
The spoonbill came back today.
Spoonbill fishing. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/vZqK724Ae9k)
I often see eagles flying above our house and sitting in trees near the river, but occasionally I will see them no where near water, like this morning. This guy was sitting in a tree in someone's front yard not far from my house. This is about 5 miles from a river, but there are some small lakes closer. I drove past and saw him and then backed up to take a pic. He was not concerned at all. Not bad for pictures taken thru my windshield with a cellphone.
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Nice picture of the eagle.
Flock of geese flew over the yard this morning, west to east, came from the direction of a corn field cut yesterday. I think most geese up this way have gone south by now. Dec 1st tomorrow.
ffontheside. Critters have certainly come back since I was a kid. Remember seeing my first and only turkey as a teenager there at St. Claire, never saw another one till some 30 years later and the walmart in Jefferson City was feeding a flock of 20 or more beside the store in a wooded area.
Speaking of St Clair, there is an eagle nest visible from Hwy 30 right at the Meramec River just before you get to St Clair. I see eagles there often. Yesterday I drove thru there and saw an immature eagle.
What do you guys know about bluebirds winter habits?
My wife and I were just watching the bluebird box in front of the house. It looked like a whole family of bluebirds stopped by and several were going in and out of the box, lighting on top of the box and the fence and weeds/limbs nearby. There were at least 4 of them flitting around. I would not be surprised if it is a family that raised there earlier. We had 2 clutches raise in it last summer and 2-3 clutches each summer for the last 3 years it has been there. I can't imagine them setting up a nest and raising young this time of year. I don't know if the bluebirds migrate south or over-winter here.
The same thing happens in this area.
I have 12-15 Bluebird/Tree Swallow houses up around the yard and it seems that late in the fall it's like a huge Bluebird family reunion in the backyard.
They'll hang around the area a few days, up to a week then all of a sudden one day, they're gone!
I believe they return to their previous nesting box each year, and the young come along in search of a home of their own.
Here in the Champlain Valley we see a lesser number of bluebirds right though the winter. Usually on our gravel drive or boulders we have scattered about. I have been unable to attract them to our feeders - those mealworms blow right out of the tray (and cost a small fortune). I'm guessing that like their cousins the robins, some birds will migrate one year but not the next.
Must have been a good breeding year for them - there have been good numbers of them around.
Same here, they leave the boxes, come back early fall and then off they go until April or May. I've read or have seen video on them doing this. This fall was 70 degrees the first week of November, but they was gone by first part of October. I'm way north of you guys.
They started a second brood here this summer but abandoned the nest. Maybe the female got eaten with all the neighbor's cats around here. Not in the nest but on the ground. I have critter deterrent on the post, a prickly mess screen nailed on.
I was wondering if they have a Bluebird BNB listing somewhere that tells them where they can stop over for a few days on their travels south. :D We are glad to have them. I love my bluebirds.
Last winter there were bluebirds all over my area. I see them year round. In winter a good place to see them is around stands of Staghorn Sumac, the seeds of which are an important cold weather food source for many birds. The seed clusters are up out of the snow. I've seen turkeys during harsh winter conditions up in the sumac eating the seeds, spindly branches swaying. The smarter turkeys were on the ground eating the seeds that fell down. Adult bluebirds will return to nest where they nested successfully the following year. Usually, young birds disperse and do not return to where they were hatched. I once banded a female and the following year she nested in the same box. They also eat a lot of wild grapes and other fruit in winter. It's a little pricey for me but stores sell suet bricks which, I think, have corn and peanut butter mixed in that bluebirds really go for, according to my son and his wife.
A few days ago 6 female Evening Grosbeaks came into my feeding area for sunflower seeds. This was a common thing in the 70's and 80's; much less common in recent years. The arctic breeder Canada Geese have been moving through and yesterday a flock of about 250 Snow Geese went over. A sure sign that winter is about to lower it's boom. This is a time to keep an ear to the air; you might even see/hear Sandhill Cranes, which are at the Eastern edge of their range.
Out on the mail run today.
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We had turfed out the nest a couple of times, but those starlings were persistent. There is about 5 chicks in there now. Fortunately the address has two mail boxes, so we are just chucking stuff in the other one.
Maybe they want to go "Air Mail" :D'.
This one was even closer to home. Stopped on the bridge over the river to get this shot. As I was taking the pic another eagle flew by. I was hoping it would land in the tree too, but it continued on down the river.
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Very Majestic
FFOTS,
Around here the eagles are starting to lay their eggs. The chicks will hatch in January and February per my understanding.
Interesting. I thought they hatched in later winter. As far as I know, the nearest nest to here is about 15 miles away as the eagle flies.
Bald Eagle Eggs: Appearance, Egg-Laying, Incubation, and Egg-Hatching - Avian Report (https://avianreport.com/bald-eagle-eggs/)
Thanks Beenthere, I found that same article when I searched about it. It doesn't list Missouri or anywhere close in the list of times that they hatch. I guess they don't think eagles nest in MO. I found a different article which suggests that eagles in MO don't lay eggs until March or April. If incubation time is about 35 days, hatching in MO should be April-May.
We have a nest in a big sycamore tree here locally on the tip of an island in the New River along route 20. It is right below a scenic overlook and you can pull off and look down into the nest and see the adult birds head sticking up. When the chick(s) hatches you can look down and see when it/them reach up for food. My wife set up one day there with her camera and tripod several years back and got a neat shot of dad flying home with a 4-5 ft long snake it dropped in the nest. Often you will see the adults sitting on nearby limbs.
WV, That's great to have that view at a public overlook. Did you know that New York did a Bald Eagle restoration program in the 1970's ? They got eagle nestlings from nests in Alaska, put them in artificial nests (cages on tall poles), fed them without imprinting on humans, then released them at the appropriate age. Fish were put out for them after release until they were hunting on their own. There was no net loss of eagles in Alaska because most nests would start out with 2 eggs/2nestlings, but usually only one lived to leave the nest. Taking one actually meant more food for the other. Win-win.
I knew they have "Eagle cams" around the world and sometimes school classes log on to watch them in science class and such. All is great while the adults bring in fish or rats or snakes but when the eagles bring in a cute baby rabbit or even worse, a fluffy kitten, the grammar school kids can be very traumatized. ;)
Had some crows harassing a eagle yesterday.
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Some years ago a bald eagle was found dead in a park in Kirkland, across the lake from Seattle. When they examined it they found the remains of 6 crows in it. Kind of understand why they hate the eagles so much.
I read recently that in some areas, Northern Goshawks prey on crows for much of their food.
The Duke Farms Eagle Cam is showing two eggs already this year
Quote from: KEC on January 19, 2023, 08:36:48 PM
I read recently that in some areas, Northern Goshawks prey on crows for much of their food.
They do ruffed grouse for sure, seen it in real time. They'll eat your chickens to. Thus the name chicken hawk.
A year ago I saw a large hawk with a young turkey, must have been a red tail.
Have lots of large hawks around here we watch. Eagles fly by the porch every once in awhile. When someone had shot a moose in a field and abandoned it, the eagles moved in, the ravens and crows kept their distance. Our ravens here are big birds. We toss stuff out for the crows here almost daily. They never touch a garbage bag on garbage day here.
Ravens don't come for scraps at all and the crows are very skiddish, they even watch the windows to see if you're around. Most other birds don't look in windows, or not scared of what they see anyway. :D
NZ used to have a species of eagle that preyed on the moa birds. Basically it was the apex predator, and probably the reason the moa birds evolved so big (and many other birds became nocturnal)
They died out some time after 1300 AD when the first Polynesian settlers arrived here, and basically ate all the moa, leaving the eagles with no prey. But old Maori legends still tell of birds that could snatch young children, and that might not have just been a legend.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poukai
Remains found suggest they weighed up to 33lb and had a 8-10ft wing span. But as their main prey was 500 lb chickens, they had to be large birds. Because they are relatively recent extinctions they have been able to do DNA analysis on remains (they aren't fossils, just "old") and find they were closely related to some smaller eagle species from Australia. But that is only a 2 lb bird.
Wild America (1987) | S9 E2 'The Grouse and the Goshawk' | Full Episode | FANGS - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7XQUzBKq1E)
SD, Nice video. Recently, by use of nest cameras, it was shown that fishers raid goshawk nests. As to ravens, I operate a crow take-out behind the house. I put a Red Squirrel out there yesterday and a Gray Squirrel today. Two ravens came in and worked on them, though they don't come in nearly as often as the crows. Crows and ravens both are cautious when they come in, however I have seen some crows that seemed to fiqure out that my yard is crow friendly. One year a pair nested in a Blue Spruce 52 feet from the corner of the house.
Yes, the crows nest out behind the house in the older spruce trees. You can't find the nest either, well hidden. Those black feathers blend in well with the dark green needles. :D
When the crows nested in a spruce in my yard it took me a long time to find the nest, near the top in dense boughs. By sitting at the top of a 10' step ladder and reaching up holding a camera I got a photo of an adult and 1 nestling. One adult stays at the nest while the other goes for food and the nestlings are surprisingly quiet. I would post the photo but I'm having problems posting them. Not a FF issue.
A pair of Bald Eagles dropped in for a meal yesterday.
Cleaning out the freezer and found a 14 lb turkey several yrs old
so thawed it and donated it to the wildlife fund.
Within an hour they were here. Course they could probably spot the blood red organs from the cavity bag from a mile away or more . They had eaten 1/2 of that turkey before they flew off. Was impressed at how easily they tore it apart.
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Brother picked up some sunflower seeds last week price down 10 bucks 40 lbs
The pair of Eagles were back this morning to finish up the turkey but before they could finish a Fisher came loping out of the woods and took off with what was left. All pretty exciting.
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<br
Never know what will stumble out of the woods for a bite to eat. :D
Yes SD, everybody loves a free meal.
Threw that Fisher pic up
in this Bird thread because they interacted with each other. The Fisher put the Eagles
up in the trees and stole their food . That all happened in less than a minute so was lucky to catch it on camera even though the pic wasn't the best.
I may have posted about this before, but a while back I tossed a Red Squirrel out behind the house. In short order 2 crows came in and were working on it. Then a Turkey Vulture was flying around preparing to land, but a Red-tailed Hawk swooped in and snatched the squirrel and flew off with it. Lately, the competition is keen between the crows, ravens, vultures and red-tails. The ravens are skilled at snatch'n grab when the hawk or vultures are on the meal eating. Better than watching TV and no commercials.
Got a few pictures of a owl that has been hanging around the yard lately.
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It was sitting on a branch of a fallen poplar tree looking at the ground.....
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Then it almost fell off. :D
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Great photos of a Barred Owl, Hilltop.
It was being very cooperative, I walked past it (it was 50' off the edge of my driveway) then got my camera and drove back to it and took a few pictures on my way out the driveway.
Great pictures!
I saw two barred owls one early morning over a year ago on my way to work. Leaving a field and into the woods in my truck, the owls flew out of the fir tops. This was just after sunrise. It was a small patch of mature fir trees.
A couple of eagles around this week, this one landed too far from the house to get a decent picture so I had to go across the yard for it.
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Quite a menacing stare and the talons look ready for business. Its how nature says to keep away.
Beautiful pictures hilltop!!! You seem like a photography pro!!
Thank you, It's a hobby but I started young, I have been at it for over 40 years off and on.
Great picture!
Here in west central Ohio flat farm country and the small farms are about a thing of the past. Every farmer around here all have a track hoe and bull dozer so creek banks and fence rows are being torn out . We have lost our travel routes for wildlife and song birds are far and few between. I have feed the birds for years but the price has went so high that next year I am only going to buy cracked corn at the feed mill. Fifty dollars for forty pounds is just to much suat I will make with lard. Only thing we have when it comes to birds is eagles, red tail hawks and turkey buzzards. Have seen one turtle dove and sparrows I do have different woodpeckers on the suat. Pretty sad we have lost box turtles and springers in my neighbor hood I dug a swamp in my woods and have gotten frogs back. Not a big deal to most folks but first the critters go then the humans.
hilltop,yes nice picture!!
I have fed a steady diet of suet this year. I buy it by the block, a couple pounds in a packet. I cut it up about an inch thick. It fits is the feeder that way. Most times I only have to cut it one way. Seems it never too wide. Then I freeze it.
sunflower seed dropped 7 bucks for 50 lbs
A couple days ago I went to a place near Sherburne, New York to see a Barnacle Goose. Mostly they winter in the Old World, but a few will show up in Eastern North America in winter. It was in with a few hundred Canada Geese. Took some time to pick it out of the crowd. Distance too great to get a photo.
Its a little odd to see Bluebirds this time of year but despite the 20* and 3' snow
a pair were out at sun up this morning checking out the bird boxes.
I saw that on the news!!!
None checking out my bluebird houses.
Some immature eagles, ducks (common merganser and black duck) and geese around the camp this past weekend.
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If you look at the immature eagle's feet it kind of looks like he is "flipping me the bird"....I guess that is the immature part? ;D
Saw one the other day fly past the dormer window, and main porch.
More nice photos, Hilltop. Yesterday I drove out to Geneva, NY to see a Tufted Duck, an old world duck that sometimes shows up in North America. You would have surely gotten good photos if you were there. The sun was at my back, but so bright that I couldn't see it in the viewfinder and it kept getting lost in a crowd of scaup and other ducks. But I got good views with binos. Also there were Redhead, Greater Scaup, American Coots, Bufflehead, and Fish Crows.
I had seen a couple of eagles around the house earlier in the week, there were two following a hawk around in the wind for a bit then parted company and went their separate ways. I got a picture but not a very good one. I must have been older than these ones because it is starting to get white on it's head and a yellowish beak.
21 turkeys just now moved in where they plowed around dad's old barn.
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Some of 18 in the back yard from the other day.
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There's something they like over there. ;)
That something is bare ground. Around my yard there are patches of bare ground where the snow melted off and the robins and starlings are on those patches getting earthworms and winter cutworms.
Quote from: Autocar on March 03, 2023, 06:53:44 PM
Here in west central Ohio flat farm country and the small farms are about a thing of the past. Every farmer around here all have a track hoe and bull dozer so creek banks and fence rows are being torn out . We have lost our travel routes for wildlife and song birds are far and few between. I have feed the birds for years but the price has went so high that next year I am only going to buy cracked corn at the feed mill. Fifty dollars for forty pounds is just to much suat I will make with lard. Only thing we have when it comes to birds is eagles, red tail hawks and turkey buzzards. Have seen one turtle dove and sparrows I do have different woodpeckers on the suat. Pretty sad we have lost box turtles and springers in my neighbor hood I dug a swamp in my woods and have gotten frogs back. Not a big deal to most folks but first the critters go then the humans.
I definitely don't like to see that happening!! It's been bothering me a little about cutting some of my big Walnut trees down and know the Owls and other wildlife use the trees plus how old they are. But thankfully there are plenty of trees of all sizes on the creek for the wildlife
Yeah, I think several flocks of them turkeys have amassed at my cousin's camp just down the road. There's been 40 or more around there. I think his boy might be feeding them. But they also plow around the camp as if they are making a parking lot, so there is bare ground around the place. They like to pick around on bare ground. I doubt they find many bugs in winter, maybe under a leaf. They eat a lot of burdocks. I did see a separate flock a few miles away the other day to. And a flock hangs out near the neighbour's chicken barn up the road. I've counted 12 there.
The other day snow shoeing in the woodlot, I looked up in the top of a birch, because I do look for partridge that way, and sure enough one was eating birch catkins. He was on alert because he froze. I waited for him to fly off. When he flew he went 50 yards and headed for the ground under the fir trees. They are a lot more wild around the settlement than they are back in the wilderness. :D
I "subscribe" to "Birds of the World", an online resource available from Cornell Universitys' Laboratory of Ornithology. You can find a lot of info on birds there. Just recently I read that grouse are big on eating those birch catkins this time of year and there is a lot of nutrition in them. Just a few days ago, I watched a robin probing into the lawn exposed when I blew the snow along the driveway. Most of the ground was covered with snow. I was amazed at how many winter cutworms and earthworms that robin pulled out of the ground.
The Cornell Lab has a smartphone app called Merlin Bird ID that has a real-time sound identification tool and other resources. I'm not very good at IDing the small birds, especially by sound.
It's amazing how terrified turkeys get if a eagle 🦅 is in the area
Speaking of birds, time to put up the bluebird box for nesting.
A flock of robins showed up today, must have been a dozen flitting in the trees close to the house. And the Canadian geese are gathering on the frozen ponds in anticipation of claiming a nesting site.
I usually get bluebirds here any time after April 10th. I've seen them as late as the 23rd. I've seen robins here once in awhile all winter, not flocks, just a bird or two. They were around old crab apple trees on the fence row until mid January. But not flocks yet, won't be for 3 or 4 weeks. No bare ground up here yet. As soon as we have a patch in a field with water the killdeer arrive, that'll be next month to. Their numbers are very low in recent years compared to 30 years ago.
Grouse in a birch for context. ;)
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Robin when still lots of snow. I guarantee no worms are in that snow. ;D
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Best I could do through a window screen and the break of dawn. One ruffed grouse in the photo in a cherry tree and 2 others have flew over to a neighboring tree. I was wondering where the trio was this winter, been seeing 3 in the back yard for the last 4 winters.
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There is a big old yellow birch near there full of catkins.
I went out back tonight at dusk and saw at least 1 woodcock that did its' courtship flight. Killdeer are back, as well as Song Sparrows.
Cardinals, Blue Jays, Pileated Woodpeckers and other woodpeckers are back in my 8 acre timber stand.
sandhill cranes are back
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The yardbirds are getting pretty sizeable around here. I looked out the window and spotted one this size in the pasture and some others back by the woodshed then noticed this one had landed in and gotten trapped in the back yard and was running around trying to figure how to get out.
This one and his sibling (?) have been coming around about this time of year for the last 3 years. Their beards are dragging the ground. They have 4-5 young gobblers with them from time to time. They feed across the road then they jump up and fly a few strokes then land in the pasture or if a little short in the yard. This is the first one I have seen in the fenced yard. I let Sampson out and he finally spotted this one and took off after him. When he got close the turkey jumped up and flew over the front fence then over the lot and circled around and landed by the barn and up the pasture from there to to join the other 4-6 waiting for him in the woods.
In my mis-spent youth this turkey might have fared considerably worse than just getting chased off by a dog half his size.
Definitely a nice beard
His partner has a match to it. There are 2-3 with 6-8 inch beards and a couple of jakes with 3-4 inch beards with them most of the time.
I saw Canada geese here on Friday in the creek. I knew I heard geese the other night, thought I was crazy. No bare ground around here.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on March 21, 2023, 02:11:50 AM
Grouse in a birch for context. ;)
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Robin when still lots of snow. I guarantee no worms are in that snow. ;D
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Had a few robins around all winter here. Seen a "suicidal" grouse on side of road yesterday wasn't worried about cars driving by 3-4 foot away from it, but if you come within 20 foot of them in brush they will scare the jeebers out of ya.
Saw a pair of Killdeers in the side yard yesterday.
Lots of Robins and Red Wing Blackbirds.
Grackles made their spring arrival last week
Saw a couple crackles last week, none since. No sign of any other summer birds except geese and ducks in the creeks. Still several inches of snow in the fields, more on the way mid week. Only got to 30F here today and a hard north wind.
Today I tallied these birds around the house: 7 Mourning Doves, 1 Blue Jay, 2 American Crows, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 1 Northern Flicker, 2 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Tufted Titmouse, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 European Starling, 2 House Sparrows, 4 House Finches, 2 White-throated Sparrows, 2 American Tree Sparrows, 5 Song Sparrows, 1 Fox Sparrow, 3 Dark-eyed Juncos, 10 Red-winged Blackbirds, 5 Common Grackles, 1 Brown-headed Cowbird and 3 Northern Cardinals. A testament to how broke I'm going buying sunflower seed.
Lots of robins around today, but no bare ground except people's plowed yards. ;D
Had a large flock maybe 2 doz. Red Winged Blackbirds show up under the
birdfeeder Monday.
And seeing the Bears will be coming out of hibernation anytime the birds are on their own for food now. Nice bird tally KEC !
It's interesting how folks are noting birds returning for Spring. We are in Autumn and expecting some of the local native birds to show up soon.
The Tui do "migrate", about 10 miles down the hill. To where it's a bit warmer and there are still flowering trees in town gardens. They are a honey eater, and will be here until late Spring, squabbling over the Banksia and Camellia trees. They are one of the native birds that have adapted to humans, and can handle the introduced predators.
There are other birds that leave for Winter and fly to Alaska or Siberia. Then back again 6 months later. I guess they REALLY dislike Winter. :D
A lot of our migratory song birds and most crows (not all migrate) around here don't really go that far. But swallows go a continent away and Arctic terns go from pole to pole. :o I've watched them catch fish from the Meziadin in NW British Columbia.
Saw my first turkey vulture this year on Tuesday flying over the creek by himself.
I have been seeing flocks of robins.
Sometimes 20 robins, then see 50.
Did you guys know that Blue Jays are migratory. On the Southeast corner of Lake Ontario is a place called Derby Hill Bird Observatory, best known as a place to see migrating raptors. You can sit in your lawn chair and watch as the birds go by, sometimes in big numbers. I have been there and over the ~3 hours there, there was a steady stream of Blue Jays going by like leaves blown by a leaf blower. Any time now, Broad-winged Hawks will be coming through and sometimes thousands in a day. Good flights depend on favorable winds to help them along.
Blue jays are here year around at my place here in NB, in the land of snow. Put up a bird feeder and you have 30 move in like sharks. Now crows on the other hand, they will migrate out of here, but a few still stay behind as do the ravens. I feed 4 crows here all winter, a couple ravens will come by, but they like to stay a long way away down in the field. Down in Fredericton there is a murder of crows that go from the university woodlot to roost to down town, depending on season, they stay all winter. Been in the news 2 or 3 times about them moving roosting spots.
I'm seeing northern harriers now. The kestrels have been around a couple weeks, I saw the crows chase one out of here. Killdeer are here also.
Up where I live there is still a lot of snow, that is less as you go south or out to the river.
There is a fellow on FB group 'Birding Atlantic Canada' who has been following a pure white black capped chickadee, not albinism, but a condition called leucism.
It's tough to know if the Blue Jays we see in winter are the ones that were around in the warm months or ones that summered farther North. Sometimes, when they are migrating, you might notice a lot of them moving in one direction, North or South, and you realize that you are seeing the migration. SD, you are far enough North that the number of birds migrating may be thin. Reminds me, from my observations, I rarely see Bay-breasted Warblers during migration. Makes it easy to think there aren't many of them. There is a sizeable river in Quebec that flows to the Southeast into the St. Lawrence river, creating a bird migration funnel. A few years ago, a couple of people from Cornell U. Lab of Ornithology went there and recorded somewhere around 2,000 in one day.
That is probably the Saguenay River that comes out of Lac St. Jean near Alma. Even the forest is different there in the valley than surrounding hills out of the valley. Mixedwood in the valley and softwoods outside. Goes up into a large agricultural area flat as the kitchen floor, identical to the land along the St Lawrence flood plain.
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Saguenay R at Chicoutimi
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Alma Fields of harvested canola.
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I've never seen any groups of blue jays move in and out of here. I see it every year with robins, grackles, red winged black birds and so on though. But robins only go toward the coast, they are in southern NB all winter.
We now have Canada geese that nest here in NB because our premier brought goslings here 30 years ago and now they and their kin come back here to nest. Completely upset the apple cart. :D
According to Cornell blue jays move around in migration, but their map shows them here year around to. So like the crows, some go, some stay I guess. Never heard about that all the years I've been here because we see them every day all year.
Saw two toms display yesterday among a bunch of hens and I hear a gobbler this morning under the hill behind the back yard. First time for me to see and here with all this snow around. No bare fields yet, but they will show this week with the forecast warmth coming. The turkeys must be better at weather guessing. ;D
Out here in NZ, we've got heaps of magpies. Magpies can memorise human faces. According to a study, magpies can recall faces up to four years prior.
Same with American Crows, if someones harms any of them, the rest remember that individual human for a long time. When Alfred Hitchcock made the movie "The Birds", they used trained tame crows. For some reason the crows took a serious disliking to one of the film crew and gave him a real bad time.
I think ravens as well, would be as smart as any crow. They live for 20+ years, in the wild.
Hinterland Who's Who - Common Raven (https://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/birds/common-raven.html)
https://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Winter-Bernd-Heinrich/dp/0679732365
"Ravens in Winter" is about solving a biological puzzle: "Do common ravens, 'Corvus corax,' actively disclose to strangers of their species the valuable and rare food bonanzas that one of them is lucky enough to find?"
In order to solve his self-discovered mystery, Bernd Heinrich spent four winters in the woods of Maine and Vermont, hauling eight tons of dead animals to bait stations in the midst of howling blizzards. All in the name of fun---I mean, science."
Fascinating read on Ravens and their intelligence, social traits and habits.
I had the pleasure meeting with and working at Bernd's place a few years back.
He's up in the mountains about a 1/2 hr ride from here.
He found me on craigslist in the skilled trade section and needed help building
an aviary for crows. Interestingly enough I had already read his Ravens in winter
so we hit it off pretty good. He has probably written a couple doz. books on various bird and other critters studies he has done.
Long story short he had 3 baby crows he climbed a pine tree for sitting in a 5gal. bucket filled with hay in his house. Had to hike up a 1/2 mile tote road to get there.
We built a 20'x 20' 3 side aviary attatched to his old log cabin and when the crows
got bigger he kept them in there. After a few mos. he started letting them out to explore their surroundings. One had to be rescued from the clutches of a Goshawk and eventually died from ite wounds. The other 2 reunited with their clan but would still stop by to visit.
Last I knew he was doing a study on tree swallows and had stopped by to check out my
1/2 doz boxes with babies in them.
Never know who you will meet.
It's nice to hear the birds in the morning.
Tree swallows have come around the last 3 days. Saw my first pair of returning bluebirds this morning in the old maple tree. :)
We feed 4 crows here all year. Sometimes there is 5 or 6, but mostly 4 crows. When I set any garbage curb side in the morning for the trash man, they've never touched it. I'd never set it out over night; the coons, cats and skunks would all be in it. :D
Yesterday the grackles and black birds were singing all day in the spruce trees. They are hidden well, in the bows, can't even see them.
Lots of Tree Swallows here now, fighting over birdhouses.
Only seen one male Bluebird so far, it'll be a little bit before more arrive, then the females!
Saw a pair of Northern Flickers in the backyard yesterday!
Flickers appeared here a couple of days ago to. One was in a battle yesterday with a bluebird around one of the nest boxes. :D
Bluebirds don't like any intruders once they've established their home.
I finally have a few bluebirds around the yard now!
We had 2 geese show up around here for years. They raise their young and take off.
Saw them down by the brook last week. They showed up yesterday in the field across the road from us.
Some nuthatches drilling a hole in a tree at the camp.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0964.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1681915712)
A pair of Canada Gease and a Snow Goose that has be hanging around the yard at home, there is a dozen or more geese hanging around in the field next door that these are sometimes with.
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I clipped some hair off a woodchuck head yesterday that is in my freezer waiting for me to clean the skull. I saved it because its' incissor teeth are badly overgrown and it is an interesting specimen. I put the hair on a lawn table where I feed the birds. In short order a White-breasted Nuthatch came in, spotted the hair and grabbed some and flew off. A few minutes later it came and got a huge billfull and flew off in the same direction. Hilltop, I would like to have taken the photo of the Red-breasted Nuthatches at a nest hole.
Quote from: KEC on April 19, 2023, 12:49:48 PMHilltop, I would like to have taken the photo of the Red-breasted Nuthatches at a nest hole.
I could hear them pecking at the tree all afternoon, it took me a while to see them as they were 125' away and on the other side of the tree but eventually I could see a few feathers flicker as it pecked at the tree.
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I wasn't sure if they were making a nest hole or looking for insects, if you look at the hole there is what looks like a insect hole in it. Only one was working on the hole then the other one flew in and got close to the other and touched beaks, I thought they probably sharing some food but couldn't really tell.
A couple years ago a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches were excavating a hole in a dead portion of a Sugar Maple near my driveway. The next time I looked a pair of Downy Woodpeckers were working on it. It went on, first the nuthatches, then the downeys. The downeys won out and nested. When the Red-breasted Nuthatches use a hole to nest in they put sticky pitch around the hole to deter other things from entering the hole.
Nice photos, never saw one excavate a hole before. Last summer I was sitting by the white oak enjoying a Saturday afternoon and one was walking up and down the tree trunk as if it were horizontal, like they are known to do. I have ironwood (hop-hornbeam) yard trees, and I'm sure they gather those and hide them in bark in the fall. I'm used to the red breasted nuthatch around here. :)
This morning at about 6:10am, I had a woodpecker decide to set off the alarm clock. apparently his partner was hard of hearing so instead of hitting a tree to communicate he chose to use the steel gutter on the house right outside my window.
WHOLLY POOP!!!!!! talk about scaring the bejeezus out of you!.
Then to top it off, I came closer than I ever have to rolling my tractor into the pond... Wow, what a day and its only 12:22 pm.
I remember one spring, not too long ago, a wood pecker was hammering on an aluminum road sign about 1/4 mile up the road. He hammered that thing several days. :D They've been known at woods camps pecking stove pipes. ;D
And a turned over aluminum boat....almost sounds like a machine gun.
A few years ago, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drummed on my neighbors' satellite dish. I never did ask him if he found it to be entertaining. Sapsuckers are easy to ID by the sound of their drumming. Rata tat....tat...tat. Sort of like a roulette wheel.
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A lovely Muscovy Duck hangin by the creek.
This weekend at the camp: Canada jays, robins, eagle, black ducks and ring-necked ducks.
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We had what I think was a Great Horned Owl today visit one of the playground birdhouses.
These 15 minute birdhouses have had a few residents the last couple of years. I dunno if the Owl was there raiding it.
an Owl visits the playground birdhouse - YouTube (https://youtu.be/os8_5JK9IVQ)
Edit:
Eastern Screech Owl.
A pair of bluebirds are busy nest building here. :)
Mooseherder, That's an Eastern Screech-owl. Great-horned Owls are much bigger and have horizontal barring on the breast. I haven't had but one screech-owl in one of my boxes this past winter.
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I think you're right about that. I'll make an edit.
This was a interesting and also funny video IMO of a pigeon trying to nest in a barn owl nest
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ruaGD3UiXoE&pp=ygUXUGlnZW9uIGluIGJhcm4gaXdsIG5lc3Q%3D (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ruaGD3UiXoE&pp=ygUXUGlnZW9uIGluIGJhcm4gaXdsIG5lc3Q%3D)
Those owl nestlings are some
Ugly lol
This guy was yapping it up and hitting up the salt block log. First periolated (I know I spelled that wrong!) woodpecker of the year. Bad photo due to it being a few hundred feet away.
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Pileated Woodpecker.
I thought it was pretty cool one early morning seeing a pair of barred owls flit in the fir trees while going to the woods to work. I'll probably never see that again.
Yesterday, my wife an I went over to the Erie Canal by Rome, NY and saw 5 Anhingas. They have been showing up here in the North in the past few years. SD, learn to use your voice to immitate Barred Owl when you're out and about and every now and then you might be amazed when you get a response. July is a good time, or any time,even during the day. Sometimes they wil come in and engage you in a hooting contest. Way cool.
Quote from: KEC on April 27, 2023, 11:59:07 AM
Yesterday, my wife an I went over to the Erie Canal by Rome, NY and saw 5 Anhingas. They have been showing up here in the North in the past few years. SD, learn to use your voice to immitate Barred Owl when you're out and about and every now and then you might be amazed when you get a response. July is a good time, or any time,even during the day. Sometimes they wil come in and engage you in a hooting contest. Way cool.
"Hoo Ho hooo, hoo hoo Ho hoooooo"
I've heard a couple people say sound like they're saying "who will, who will, feed you all" lol not sure if that's common but I guess you can hear it. Kind of like chickadees and "cheeseburger" lol
That was a good laugh in 'My Cousin Vinny' screech owl scene. :D
We had a Anhinga here today trying to dry off and doing a dance I think trying to swallow a fish. They have several names here. Snake bird, water Turkey and Swamp Turkey. I seen them spread their wings to dry a hundred times but never saw the dance like today. It did that for 5 minutes but this video is about a minute. It didn't care I was across the pond.
Anhinga 3 (https://rumble.com/v2kzilw-anhinga-3.html)
The Screech Owl returned and the other yard birds are not happy about it.
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Looks like our cormorants. They dry off like that sitting on river rock.
Hermit thrushes are singing in early morning and late evening again. One of the best bird songs. You're out in the woods with the sun setting, sun trickling down through the canopy, it's mostly quiet, but you can hear birds chirping in the distance and then the hermit thrush comes out with its beautiful song.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o0mATRdzZSc&pp=ygUSSGVybWl0IHRocnVzaCBzb25n (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o0mATRdzZSc&pp=ygUSSGVybWl0IHRocnVzaCBzb25n)
MH,
I never saw an Anhinga drying its wings on the ground before. They were always on a snag in the river/lake or up in a bush.
SD,
I can never remember the difference between Anhingas and Cormorants and always have to look them up. Anhingas are the ones with the straight beaks while Cormorants have the curved beaks.
I saw my mama Carolina wren fly out of the aquarium on my front porch this morning when I went out to let Sampson in so I decided to get some pictures.
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The nest is in an old coffee creamer can laying on its side. As shown in the first picture. I tried to get a picture of the chicks in the third picture but that moves the chicks around. I saw at least 2 featherless chicks but there may be more. The second picture shows 3 eggs that evidently failed to hatch and the mother or siblings pushed them out of the nest.
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We have been watching the Eastern bluebirds using the box in the front yard (about 35 yards from Becky's easy chair so she watches them all day). I went out and took the cap off. I was talking as I got closer and the hen left when I was about 10' way and lit in a locust tree overhead then the rooster lit on the crooked limb in the picture above. The box is too tall for me to see in so I stuck my camera up there and took a couple of pictures.
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I could not get an accurate count from this picture but there are at least 3 featherless chicks in the box and probably more. They usually raise 4-5 at a time. I put the cap back on the box and left the birds to resume their activities.
We were talking this morning about how these birds find this box. I don't know if this is the same pair that nested there last year or the babies who were raised there. I can't remember if this is the 3rd or it is the 4th year they have nested here. They have raised as many as 3 clutches per year here.
My boxes are not works of art but they work very well and must mimic a natural woodpecker hole in the right location. One customer bought 4 boxes and put them out at his home and when I saw him 1-2 weeks later he said 3 of the 4 were occupied the first week he put them out. Obviously he put them in the right locations and properly spaced.
I love my bluebirds. :) :) :)
An Alligator eyeing Sandhill Cranes and Ibis. (https://rumble.com/v2l4oue-an-alligator-eyeing-sandhill-cranes-and-ibis..html)
WV Sawmiller can you post some more pics of your bluebird houses please and how big are they? What is the prime location?
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This is a picture of the box with the cap off. As you can see I use cut off pieces of stickers to hold the top on.
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Here is a side view. As you can see the back extends below the bottom of the box and I drill 2 holes and nail or screw the box to a convenient fence post or such. Use 2 fasteners or the whole box can spin on its axle.
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Here is the front view with a 1.5" diameter opening that is drilled about 3" down from the top on the front. Not seen but on the back side/inside below the opening hole I make a little ladder with my table saw, circle saw or RAS. I just make a series of 4-5 shallow parallel cuts about 1/2" apart to help the young chick climb out when they "graduate" from the nest.
This is an excellent use for your rough, scrap lumber. I use 1X6 boards for the box itself. The front is 10" long. The two sides are 12" at the back and angled to 10" at the front. The back is any 1X6 over about 14" long or longer because I don't care how far below the box it extends to mount on the post.
I stand the front and back boards up parallel to each other and nail/screw the side boards to them. This leaves a rectangular nest cavity about 4" X 6" wide/deep. I cut the top board at about a 45 degree front facing angle so the cap slips down over it. As mentioned I had pre-drilled the entrance hole with a spade bit or my 1.5" auger that I use on my benches in the center and about 3" below the top of the front board.
I measure and cut a roughly 4X6 bottom on my table saw from scrap boards. I cut the corners off about 3/4" to leave more ventilation. I place the bottom flush with the box and nail or screw a couple of fasteners in. I don't care if it is a little loose as more ventilation is far better than holding moisture and growing mold.
The top is a square 1X12 or whatever thickness is available. Turn the grain to the front/back to help shed the rain water better. Lay the top down and place the box on it upside down. Center the box on the top (Eyeball measuring is fine) and mark with a pencil or just screw 4- 4"-6" 1X1 sticker cut-offs along side the top of the box. I screw the 2 sides and front on, lift the top and spin it then screw the last piece on. This keeps the angle where you can nail it easier. The cap seems rock steady and I have never had one blow off even in strong winds as long as the stickers are placed close to the sides/front and back.
The boxes need to be placed overlooking a short grass area like a yard or pasture. Mine are not in heavy shade. I like to have a tree limb or cable line overhead nearby for the birds to light on before they go in or after they exit the box. When they have young there is a lot of traffic and often one bird has to wait his/her turn to feed the chicks. I also learned last year it is not just the parents who raise the chicks. Apparently older siblings will help and I have seen 4-5 birds feeding the chicks at one time.
I forget the exact distance but bluebirds are territorial and will not nest within certain distances of each other. I am sure 100 yards apart is sufficient. I have 2 boxes about 70 yards apart and they use both but never at the same time.
The height should be at least 4' above ground and 6' seems to work real well. Snake guards would be a good idea but I don't use them and have never lost a clutch of babies yet. I never paint mine but I assume you could paint the outside for appearance and durability but never paint the insides. I am not certain on the preferred direction to face the entrance but East and South facing seems to be best to allow longer sunlight.
I am told the birds will not re-use the same nest so once the babies leave remove the cap and clean out the old nest and put the cover back on. They will rebuild and raise multiple clutches over the course of the summer. I know we raised 3 clutches the first summer in the first box we put out. Two clutches per year around here is much more common. In that case the birds built a second nest on top of the old nest before I could remove the old one.
In the pictures I drilled several vent 1/2" diameter holes near the top but have since stopped that practice and notch the corners and loosely fit the bottom/floor to give extra ventilation.
I do not include a perch (The peg under the entrance hole) like you see on some bird houses as I have been told this encourages predator birds to raid the nest and steal the eggs or kill the baby birds. The parents fly down and light holding on the edge of the then scoot in and out when they are ready.
Bluebirds are very territorial and they have attacked me, my big horse, deer, squirrels and other birds that got too close to the box when they had eggs or young.
I hope that answers your questions but if you have more feel free to ask.
The Screech Owl is back. I'm taking this pic with zoom from about 40 feet. You can see the talons.
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How high is your owl box? I think I read they had to be from 10-30 ft high. I need to make some as they are neat birds. They always remind me of a grumpy little old man.
My guess is 14 feet. I'll verify in the morning. The Bluejays are harassing it this evening. He goes done into the box as they get close and comes back several times. It was too dark for me to record.
I make my boxes much like WVs'. Mine open by pulling out the bottom of the front, which pivots on nails driven thru the sides and into the edge of the front. Easier to clean out with a stick. I drill a hole at a downward angle thru the side board into the front and slide a nail in to hold it shut. Boxes should be away from areas with House Sparrows and away from brush to avoid House Wrens. You might want to check out the website of the New York State Bluebird Society, lots of info. I now have 2 pairs with eggs near the house and boxes that I haven't checked lately.
We've been following the blue birds here as well. They compete with the tree swallows and the blue birds always win. I had some sort of wren around the boxes a couple years ago and haven't seen one since. He was a feisty one. Blue bird nest boxes are pretty simple. I find they like them about 6 feet, only once did they nest in one 9 feet tall, that was because the swallows occupied the shorter one. I have to keep a prickly mesh on the posts to keep the neighbor's barn cats away.
Strange that I'm not hearing white-throated sparrows yet. And no brown thrashers yet. Well, it's still only April.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on April 29, 2023, 07:54:04 PM
How high is your owl box? I think I read they had to be from 10-30 ft high. I need to make some as they are neat birds. They always remind me of a grumpy little old man.
The top of the birdhouse is just over 13 feet.
We should start a new thread on Birdhouse Builds/Builts. bat-smiley fly_smiley
I guess he decided to stay. Day 5 on the swing set.
Eastern Screech Owl - YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/0p0b4GSxLXg?feature=share)
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Almost stepped on a hen the other day, scared me to death. Nothing like a turkey launching from 2'away. I had me head up looking at walnuts and didn't see her. Her flock had a nice little clutch of eggs. Turkey everywhere, never saw them as a kid (or bald eagles) so I enjoy both.
Quote from: Mooseherder on April 29, 2023, 07:13:19 PM
The Screech Owl is back. I'm taking this pic with zoom from about 40 feet. You can see the talons.
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Boy he looks pithed!! Must have just woken up LOL
I'm surprised I've never found a turkey nest yet. I find woodcock and grouse nests every spring. And we have lots of turkeys now.
I have only found one. Took me a while to find it. She kept doing the broken wing trick.
I was leveling out a spot so I could mow it. Once I found it, I left that area, project, for another day.
I heard a brown thrasher this morning, first one this year. We are on the fringe here along the Maine border to have any. I've only noticed them here for 16 years. All we had for mocking birds in the past were catbirds.
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not in our pool! nice mallard pair.
Almost struck a drake yesterday in the road with his neck stretched and stiffened up. Almost had plucked duck. The darn things are in any puddle of water around here in the spring. :D
So far we've only seen one hummingbird around, maybe two. Usually, there are a handful by now. Maybe the warmer weather this week will change that.
This is the first time this has happened here!
Night before last a racoon came in and climbed the post and consumed one adult and several little Bluebirds from one of the birdhouses in the yard.
I set a boxtrap yesterday and lets just say the coon was relocated far enough away that it won't be back!
Years back I mounted the bluebird nest box on top of a 1-1/4" pipe so the raccoons could not raid the box and consume the young and often an adult.
Never a problem since (prolly 35 - 45 years ago).
Beenthere, I hate to tell you, but a number of years back I put some nest boxes on various posts and pipes with dry dog food in the boxes and at night watched the raccoons climb and raid the boxes. They would readily climb a smooth galvanized pipe, ditto for a wood post with galvanized stovepipe around it. What worked best, and I suspect that a determined coon could thwart it, was a smooth pipe and a piece of 4" pvc pipe hung from the bottom of the box with a piece of wire so it dangles. I've had the experience of checking a box and claw scratches all over the box and a pile of feathers and feet on the ground. At one time I read about a study done on Long Island. About 60% of Gray Catbird nests were destroyed by coon.
No problem being told that, but until I lose a nest, I'll keep the pipe posts.
I may not have "determined" coons here, but we do have a lot of coons. But then have never tried dog food in the boxes. :D :D
I have gotten lax on predator proofing my boxes because our coon numbers are less that they once were. In 1993 rabies come through here and wiped out most of the coon; their numbers have never gotten back up where they were. So far my bluebirds are doing well; 3 broods raised and 2 more nests with eggs and I have boxes that I haven't checked lately.
I put critter guards on the posts here. Basically like trying to climb a hawthorn bush. Barn cats are the problem here, neighor has 3 or 4 over here all the time and they are fat cats. :D
I could not get a picture of them but I looked out the window up into my pasture and spotted a hen turkey about 30 yards from my woodshed. The grass is pretty tall out there and I watched her feeding through it then finally spotted movement around her feet and realized she had 10-15 chicks with her. The little ones are about the size of a bobwhite quail. That is the youngest I have seen them around here on my place. Usually they are half grown before I see them out and about.
I saw some down in the woods as small as baby chicks. Never seen them that small. They must have been only a few days old. Most times they have some size to them.
Must be bluebird chicks because food is going in and poop sacs are being carried out. ;D
It appears to me that the bluebirds have abandoned the nest, 3 eggs. Cold weather this spring possibly or infertility. This has happened before in cold springs. I thought they were tending hatchlings, but yesterday's inspection of the box confirmed there was nothing hatched. I have also seen adult swallows dead on their nest in cold weather, so I think they are struggling to. The swallows are still active, and they always sitting with their head out the nest box hole.
I see 2 birds around today in cold rain after 2 days absence. I don't know what's going on. You gotta sit on eggs to incubate'm. ::)
Baby thrushes next to my walking trail. I walked by a egg was pipped, hour later this
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I removed this bluebird nest and egg yesterday from the nest box in the back yard. The eggs have been there 4 weeks or so and I figure either something happened to the mother or something and she never incubated them. I hate it but hopefully the will build another nest and raise a clutch before the season ends.
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Harry the heron is back in the creek in my front yard. He comes up occasionally to eat the bluegill heads I toss under the bridge and pick up a few crawfish and maybe a creek chub or two. When the water gets low he comes up and cleans out the remaining deep holes when the minnows, darters, chubs and crawfish get trapped. He can get a pretty good meal real quick in some cases.
Yup, my bluebirds returned, rebuilt a nest and started a new family here after the cold June weather passed. The tree swallows left the nest yesterday and the phoebes left a week ago.
The honeybees swarmed yesterday to. I heard a loud buzz in the air, then all the sudden 15 feet over head a mass of bees passed by and headed to the maple tree. I'm told wild ones do this several times a year to remain healthy. The loud buzzing and not seeing anything gives you a weird feeling. One too many bee movies from the 70's. :D :D
SD,
When I was in college I was out collecting plants for a Systematic Botany class and I heard a buzzing as you describe and I smelled old honey so I started looking for a bee tree. It was all young growth and no big old hollow tree that would serve as a bee tree. Finally I found the 4-6 quart sized swarm on a low sweetgum limb. I went back to my car and got a 48 qt cooler out of the trunk, opened and placed it under the swarm, whacked the limb hard with my ax, then slammed the lid shut when the bees all fell in, went and bought a hive body with top, bottom and frame from a local beekeeper I'd seen and dumped the bees out into it. I should be posting this in the "Did something dumb thread" as they had all gotten too hot in the Alabama heat and died. ::) What a shame. What a waste.
They've been active in this old maple for at least 11 years now. :)
I see 4 baby crows must have recently left the nest with their parents, picking food scraps tonight.
The crows here have me under surveilance so when I put food in the driveway they get it in short order. I've been doling out some stale dry cat food and they take it and cache some for later. I've seen them poke a hole in the lawn and stuff food in it.
They are definitely on the alert here for scraps. :D
This guy has been hanging around for a few days now. Yesterday I saw some big wings flapping around by the creek and today he was in the pond. I don't know if it's the same bird but I suspect it is.
It's possible that I've posted pictures of this same bird last year or something?
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If you want a meal at Larry's place you better tweet in a reservation a day ahead as the line can get quite long for a good perch.
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It's like this from 6 AM until nearly 8 PM. I operate a identical feeder about 30 feet away that always has a perch or two.
Going through a bit more than a quart a day....amazing.
fun to watch.
I'm letting some "weeds" grow in front of the house for the birds and the bees: a Pin Cherry tree, Canada Thistle, Bull Thistle , Pokeweed and some others. The American Goldfinches are eating thistle seeds and Gray Catbirds and 6 Eastern Bluebirds are eating the Pin Cherries. Bees and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds work the flowers on the thistle and others. This is a juvenile bluebird.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/RSCN3221.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1692496270)
Well, it's getting about that time of year again, the Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows are suddenly gone and the Blackbirds are flocking so they'll be gone soon.
We still have a few Ruby Throated Hummingbirds hanging around, but I think some of them have gone.
Eagle refueling in flight, picking up live fish
Bald Eagle catches and eats fish midair - Mark Smith Photography - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BSYFPsAf-Q0)
Amazing video of an amazing event. That certainly was not his first rodeo.
My place was like that this summer Larry. I have only 2 or 3 at the house now and 2 at the mill. Yes, I have a feeder at the mill too. :D ;)
It felt like our hummingbirds were late this year, and we've never had them like Larry up there. Ours seem to fight to have a feeder to themselves. They are very skittish and very rarely would I see any sharing a feeder.
This year seemed especially heavy on what I think is a black cherry tree? The tiny little cherries on it were plentiful and lots of birds loved chomping them down and making a mess of the back yard. I don't recall the birds going to town nearly as much as they did this year. May it have something to do with dying honey locust nearby, not sucking up all the water? I don't know!
Although my bluebirds returned to the nest box, laid more eggs, they abandoned them again. I saw a male bird several times since, around the box and trees. Have not seen any this month though.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on September 19, 2023, 03:09:20 PM
Although my bluebirds returned to the nest box, laid more eggs, they abandoned them again. I saw a male bird several times since, around the box and trees. Have not seen any this month though.
I seen my first eastern bluebird today never seen them around here before
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC4895.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1609204789)
They are around but apparently not plentiful you don't see them often.
We've had them here for about 10 years. Never saw one before that. My uncle saw some years ago when visiting the Mnt Carleton provincial park. They had nest boxes up. And near there in Nictau , Bill Miller had some. But Bill said he has not seen them for a few years. He passed away a year ago. He made canoes, but it was his father that started the canoe business. I have one of the canoes. They are cedar ribbed and canvas backed.
We have a few Hummers but nothing like we have had in previous years. At least those are getting a sip.
Yesterday, I never saw a single Hummingbird, and none at the feeders yet this morning!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3794.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1697402064)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3793.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1697402062)
I went out to deliver some catfish fillets to a few neighbors and as I pulled out of my drive I saw a half grown possum had decided to get himself run over near my mailbox. When I returned I found our local turkey black vultures had discovered the same thing. The odd part was one vulture has been tagged. You can see the red tags on both wings. I did not zoom in close enough to see any numbers assigned.
That got me thinking - how low on the totem pole at the DNR office does a new wildlife biologist have to be to get assigned the duty of catching and tagging vultures? If he tagged him I assume he/she collected some other information such as age, sex, weight, etc. Does this same person have to recapture this same vulture in the future and check for updates? Does the agent have to collect a stool sample to look for parasites? ::)
WV, those are actually Black Vultures. In flight they show less dihedral (uptilting of the wings), the wings are shorter and wider than TVs and there is a light colored patch at the wing tips. Also, they are black; TVs are brown, though they look black at a distance. The BVs have a dark head and neck and no red on the bill. BVs are uncommon up here, though in recent years they seem to be getting more common. I think vultures are cool. TVs seem to be capable of using wind, thermals and updrafts to avoid flapping their wings to the point of gliding into a headwind without flapping.
Thanks for the correction.
I'm betting this is a federal program. Your tax dollars at work. :D
Someone got some grant money. If you can get a good photos of those wing markers and read the numbers, you can report it to the state wildlife agency or the USFWS banding lab.
Quote from: KEC on October 15, 2023, 08:16:12 PMI think vultures are cool. TVs seem to be capable of using wind, thermals and updrafts to avoid flapping their wings to the point of gliding into a headwind without flapping.
Birds have certainly got aerodynamics sorted well before humans ever did.
Not vultures, but I've watched albatross "slope soar" on open ocean waves. We were on a FPSO platform off the coast, and the weather cut up a bit rough. Not serious storm, maybe 30 knots, but a big swell from the South. Anyway the FPSO was rolling to much for the chopper to pick us up that afternoon, so we were stuck there for the night.
I went upstairs, because being able to see the horizon is a good way of avoiding seasickness. So you could see albatross skimming the top of the big swells, getting lift from the wind hitting them. They would run about 1/4 mile, then soar up and glide down onto the next swell. There was no visible wing movement during any of this. I'm sure the bird was subtly adjusting trim all the time, especially in the swoop manoeuvre, but it never had to actually flap it's wings.
I remember on a trip to southern Africa we were on Etosha Game Reserve in Namibia and our guide pointed out the vultures and various eagles were sitting on the treetops early in the morning. He said they were waiting for warmer weather when the winds and thermals would pick up so they could soar on them and use less energy. If they had tried to fly then they could certainly do so but they would have had to do lot more work to stay aloft. We see the black vultures, bald eagles and ospreys at our local COE lake soaring gracefully over the lakes looking for a dead fish on the bank or one to catch for the raptors.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3828.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1699634527)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_3829.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1699634529)
My wife looked out the bedroom window and spotted this hawk sitting on our yard fence. I assume it is Coopers Hawk as I don't see a red tail and I assume it is a young one due to the mottled feathers on its chest. I suspect it is the same one I saw yesterday when I went to the barn to feed the horse. One flew over me then that looked a lot like this one.
I saw a big red-tailed hawk last week from my lower shooting house. The squirrels suddenly started raising sand and I looked up to see the RT hawk light in a tree nearby, wait a while then change trees then flew off. It left before I could get a picture.
I think you're right as to immature Coopers' Hawk. Looks too big for a Sharp-shinned and the white, unstreaked lower belly favors coopers'.
I put eggshells in my gravel driveway for the birds, especially in Spring when female birds need calcium to make eggs. I suspect crows take some, maybe because of some egg whites in the shells. I've wondered why lately the shells go fast and I've suspected rodents. Today I went up in the rafters of the garage to get something and found some eggshells up there, no doubt the work of mice and/or Red Squirrels. My inquiring mind now is still trying to fiqure out if they are after calcium or egg white residue. Hoping to get some insight from some of my comrads/scholars on the FF.
nature is funny. children who are anemic chew on inanimate objects, and often crave ice to chew on. called Pica. This is why poor kids especially chewed on lead paint chips and got toxicity. To explain why they might want it, would be referred to as a teleological argument. I.e. stating "this is why animals do a certain thing. It might be inbred stuff like a hunting dog retrieving. It is often stated as though nature has a mind and can plan things out. It may be the smell of the shell. egg has protein and most animals crave that. the calcium in the shell would be good for you, although I cringe when I get a good chunk of shell in my eggs. I hope that was all academic enough for you, but the short answer is "I do not know"! :)
Not sure why, and I hadn't seen but a couple all year long before this, but Christmas morning I went out and sat on the front porch at around 830 or so and proceeded to see 6 pileated woodpeckers flapping about. It was weird.
Also, we get thousands and thousands of what I assume are grackles or starlings from October through at least now. It's interesting to open the door and their squawking is almost deafening, then you'll hear a WHOOSH and they fly away. I'm pretty fascinated with the noise that flying birds make. I sit in the shop occasionally and there'll be a group of 20-30 birds and I can clearly hear the noise their wings or bodies make as they zoom by.
It is unusual to see 6 Pileated Woodpeckers at one time except maybe just after the young leave the nest. As to the big flock of "blackbirds" on this date, they're probably all or mostly starlings. Look for the short tail and they move about in those big murmurations, moving and turning like a big single organism. They will descend on a lawn like little soldiers. They eat a lot of cutworms and insect larvae, including winter cutworms, which are active even in cold weather. I saw a bunch today and there were some Brown-headed Cowbirds with them.
That IS weird. We have a bunch of them around here in the spring and summer, some are real damaging pests and hammer ALL of our utility poles with beep holes. But even during 'the season' seeing that many in even a given hour is weird.
They come and go and change their favorite areas. I had a big one working down by the mill in the summer of '22, but didn't see one there all this summer. I heard them though. That one we had in '22 came dangerously close to getting blown off a tree or more likely a pole, he was hitting them all with 6" deep holes. But he moved on before I went nuclear.
Quote from: aigheadish on December 27, 2023, 06:56:26 AM
Not sure why, and I hadn't seen but a couple all year long before this, but Christmas morning I went out and sat on the front porch at around 830 or so and proceeded to see 6 pileated woodpeckers flapping about. It was weird.
Also, we get thousands and thousands of what I assume are grackles or starlings from October through at least now. It's interesting to open the door and their squawking is almost deafening, then you'll hear a WHOOSH and they fly away. I'm pretty fascinated with the noise that flying birds make. I sit in the shop occasionally and there'll be a group of 20-30 birds and I can clearly hear the noise their wings or bodies make as they zoom by.
We are seeing the grackles in large flocks here right now, my guess is that they migrate but someone else will probably know for sure. Sometimes there will be brown headed cowbirds mixed in with them. We only see these flocks certain times of the year.
Yes, Common Grackles, Red-wing Blackbirds, Rusty Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds migrate. Starlings will winter up here in the glaciated north. Especially in the fall you will see mixed flocks. I'm not certain about how much starlings go southward. In winter they move about in big flocks.
A Roseate Spoonbill has been visiting us the last 3 days snapping up some fish.
Roseate Spoonbill snapping up fish. - YouTube (https://youtu.be/JATR1IGoQ2o?feature=shared)
Today was the first day I've seen a flock of snow buntings around. Also, I see just now the juncos are feeding on seeds in the weeds along the field. The starlings are around here all winter. I think they roost in sheds and barns over at the neighbors place. And probably 40 pigeons around here, so you can't feed the little birds or you will be taken over by pigeons and poo. :D
I walked out to the well last night to make sure the light bulb was burning and hear the owls talking to one another. It was a pleasant thing to hear.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 19, 2024, 04:09:02 PM
..........so you can't feed the little birds or you will be taken over by pigeons and poo. :D
a thought
two small satellite dishes. one as a lid and the other as the feeder
then 2x4 wire around the outside edge to let the small birds in and keep larger birds out
so
dish on bottom, with stand used to hold dish
wire for the wall
other dish as a lid
or something like that to prevent larger birds from getting to the feed
maybe smaller wire fencing to keep squirrels out
Quote from: DDW_OR on January 20, 2024, 08:22:48 PMor something like that to prevent larger birds from getting to the feed
maybe smaller wire fencing to keep squirrels out
They have that sort of system at the local native bird reserve. There are 3 species of Honeyeater in NZ. One is the Tui, which is a large a feisty bird, not endangered, and we see them in the garden all the time. Another is the Hihi which is a much smaller bird, and is endangered, due to introduced predators, and was down to living on one offshore Island. It's since been reintroduced to 2 more Islands and about 4 fenced reserves, and about 3,000 birds. I'm not sure if they have a breeding population at Rotokare yet, but to encourage them they have nectar feeding stations to keep them well fed, and hopefully able to breed. They are in these little "houses" with bars that only a Hihi can get through. The rest if the box is fine mesh so they birds can see in / out. Otherwise the Tui would hog all the food, and chase the smaller birds away.
But it says something about the efforts of the volunteers that run the sanctuary, that they get trusted with endangered species like that.
The little birds spill seed on the ground and the pigeons feed on the spill over. They will sit on your roof and poo all day long. And I've yet to see a squirrel proof feeder. If a chickadee can get in, so can a red squirrel. I have those feeders here. I laughed the first day I put one up and there was mister red squirrel inside helping himself. :D :D
yep, squirrels are the locksmiths of the animal world
I had a recent bird sighting that I wanted to describe for yall and see if anyone else has ever seen or heard of this happening:
There is a 3-4 week old deer carcass in an area that I hike past, and I check in on it occasionally. Yesterday there was a large (redtail?) hawk there, and it was acting strange - in a way that I'd never seen before. Rather than flying off at the first sight and sound of me being there, it stayed put on the ground and spread its wings. Its head was turned towards me and tracking me, but its body was quartered away and wasnt tracking.
After doing a quick mental rehearsal of which of my body parts I would try to protect and what kind of defensive position I would adopt in the case things got lively, I went in closer to take some pics and see what was going on.
The bird didnt seem obviously injured, it wasnt limping of favoring a wing or showing any asymmetry like you might expect. It was "sitting" upright on its rear, or I guess on its tailfeathers. That (along with my inexperience) is why I couldnt be sure it this was a redtail. Its feet werent supporting its weight. You can see this in the photo. I spent about 2-3 minutes near this bird trying to figure out what was going on with it. During that time it slowly went from this upright seated position to a sort-of reclined position, and then eventually to flat on its back. Its head and eyes tracked me the entire time, and its wings remained spread. All of its motions were slow and lethargic. As I got up to leave, it was able to come off of its back and was standing with its feet under it for the first time in this interaction. I came back about an hour later and the bird was gone. Checked again the next day just to be sure, and there is no sign of it.
Has anyone seen or heard of something similar? I wonder if the bird had eaten so much from the deer carcass that it was temporarily disabled or in some kind of stupor? Let me know your thoughts. I have the photos laid out below in order of the sequence that they were taken.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK1.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK2.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK3.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK4.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK5.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK6.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK7.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK8.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK9.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK10.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/47671/HAWK11.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352297)
Think it was dying and another hawk or owl or critter ate the hawk. It looks sick in the pics as well as acted sick as you describe. May have also limped off in that hour you were gone.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned bird watching apps in here? I haven't read through everything in a while. Someone told me about the Merlin app by Cornell Labs, it is pretty cool, and better than Audobon from what I remember. It has a Shazam style listening function that seems to work pretty well, you hit record and it'll listen for birds, while producing a wave form that you can scroll through to find the bird call you were listening to and it'll highlight that bird out of the others it hears at the same time. For me it's an excellent way to learn more about the birds around me. It was neat as I sat on the front porch looking at a bird singing and this app told me what kind of bird it was, basically instantly hearing the noise, showing the bird so I can compare, then saving it if I wanted to check out more.
I've been using the Merlin App and the Cornell University Lab information for the last couple years. I find it very helpful with bird identification.
My late mentor used to say to attach yourself to the shirtail of an experienced field birder to learn the birds. The merlin app is helpful, but they tell users that it does not always get it right. I've been doing Ebird for several years and there are instances where people ID birds soley by what Merlin says. Ebird cautions against this and says to confirm with a visual or by ear.
Meanwhile in Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_white_ibis
I remember visiting Sydney maybe 14 years ago. We visited the large Taronga Zoo, it was a ferry trip across the harbour. So we were eating lunch at the outdoor cafe, and there is this huge Ibis just standing a few feet away. Wasn't sure if it was a free roaming zoo critter, or a wild bird. Turns out there isn't any difference. The zoo originally had some Ibis that were free to wander around, and it seems wild birds have started joining them, and have also lost their instinctive fear of humans, and spread out around the rest of the city (and country).
So if you think pigeons or seagulls are a problem, a "Bin Chicken" stands about 3ft tall, weighs 4 or 5 lb, and eats anything. They have basically adapted their behaviour to survive in an urban environment. This makes them both a hero and pest at the same time to the Aussies. They may have a soft spot for them and it's a native animal that's not actively trying to kill them, just steal their lunch?
treeflea, Your bird is a Red-tailed Hawk, a juvenile, I think. Yes, its' behavior suggests that it might be sick or hurt. But also, sometimes hawks just don't want to give up a meal and don't fly away. We are entering the time of year when rodent numbers are at their seasonal low and maybe he was hungry and possessive of his find. He may have "recovered" and flew off.
I've seen one cardinal this winter. Picking gravel off the road. But there's lots of buntings and juncos around.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/snow-buntings-Jan20-2.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352357)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/snow-buntings-Jan20-2024.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352356)
I was outside today and heard Snow Geese. Looked up and a huge skein passed over headed Northeast; I estimated 1400.
Been ducks here on the creek all winter. Never froze down through the fastest current, just shoreline and then not where small creeks dump in. But that's been the case for years as far as ice on that creek. It's got to be really cold to freeze up smaller creeks, usually a 2 or 3 day warm spell they open up because the ice is thin. I know what was iced over last week in small creeks is now all open. Head pond water here is frozen, dead water.
Blue jays and crows are always around for a handout. Probably as many as 10 crows around the yard at times. I only see a couple ravens around, they don't come to the yard. Crows chase them off anyway. All you have to do is rattle a dish and them crows are doing the swoopty swoo around the yard. :D
Quote from: KEC on February 11, 2024, 05:02:41 PMI was outside today and heard Snow Geese. Looked up and a huge skein passed over headed Northeast; I estimated 1400.
1400!!!!
I have never seen that many geese. I see the Canadian geese and see 100 and that's a lot.
thecfarm, you may be a bit East of the fight path of the numbers of Snow Geese. I think a lot of them overwinter in the Delmarva Pinninsula and they come past here headed to or from Canada. You might have to see it to believe or appreciate it, but I've estimated 2 or 3 thousand going over here in a day in migration. At Derby Hill, a great place to witness spring migration by Lake Ontario, we once looked in the distance in a clear sky and it looked like a haze of white clouds. Those "clouds" was a massive wave of Snow Geese. They have "counters", people who are paid to count the migrating birds passing over, especially hawks, eagles, vultures, etc. IIRC they estimated 5-10 thousand Snow Geese that day.
At a guess there would be a "main highway" they migrate down, where the individual smaller flocks travelling in the same direction all link up?
If you are bored, this is a webcam of an Albatross nest down in the South Island. I've only seen the birds a couple of times when I was working offshore on the rigs. They generally stay out in the open ocean, and regularly circle the globe if they are not breeding.
Time zone will be GMT +13, so not much to see at night. If it's dark, check back later. Or they have 12 hours on the video feed, so you can slide back a few hours if it's dark here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqLu2QuyPPE
If you go up along the St Lawrence in Quebec beginning around mid-March, at Saint Pierre Lake near Trois-Rivieres, there are thousands of snow geese on the mud flats. They are apparently after bulrush roots to help them make the journey.
https://rove.me/to/quebec/snow-geese-spring-migration
I have had bluebirds checking out one house in the back yard for the past 2 days. Hope they start nesting here soon. Love watching them.
Around the end of March, or early April, there will likely be some of them in our area!
Earliest I see them is last week of April up here, but usually mid May.
They Bluebirds are fighting over the nesting boxes here already!
Get some Carolina Wren's (or it's a really precocious one!) too that are a delight to watch. They'll nest in just about anything!
Quote from: Old saw fixer on January 20, 2024, 05:56:27 PMI walked out to the well last night to make sure the light bulb was burning and hear the owls talking to one another. It was a pleasant thing to hear.
I guess its the barn owls around here around mating season... sound like a group of monkey's tearing up the woods!
So I understand, many years ago this area had Barn Owls, but they are now absent from most of NY. I have never seen one in the wild. If any were to show up here I would be scrambling to build and erect a nest box for them. If any of you guys are aware of any Barn Owls in Upstate New York, I'd really like to hear from you.
Never seen a barn owl in my life. Many barred and great horned owls though
Every time I see those barred owls around here it's in thick canopied fir dominated woods. I saw a pair one morning going to work thinning. I had to drive through some mature fir trees to get to the other side. There they was taking off from fir trees. Same with the one two weeks ago, even though he was in an aspen, he had hopped out of a fir tree.
Bugger was working on a sunflower seed, couldn't get him to hold still long enough to catch his head still.
I must have a family of them nearby, because I can count 4 or 5 of them calling to each other from the tree's when I fill the feeder.
Red-bellied Woodpecker.
Saw a bunch of Robins and a pair of Killdeers in the backyard yesterday morning!
A pair of Bluebirds checking out the bird boxes here today.
A sure sign of spring ? Snow cover is receding fast with lots
of bare ground in places.
No spring birds here yet. Going to be nasty wet weather here for next 2 days.
I've seen a couple what I believe to be eastern bluebirds, they may be my favorite. We also had a couple ducks in the creek yesterday and one in the pond a couple days ago. I love the ducks.
The woodcock are back near my house.
Haven't seen any woodcock here yet, not even a robin or blackbird. Be some time yet I suspect.
Robins stay here year round
I heard a sparrow do their spring song for the first time this season today
white throated? Haven't seen those yet either. This spring is early, so don't know if that will effect the bird returns. So far have not seen any evidence they will be here early.
I believe so, I have always called them sparrow song birds. In the spring and early summer it's the first song you hear before the sun rises, even before the robins
They are year round residents but are on the northern most part of that spectrum I believe
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/sounds
Quote from: WhitePineJunky on March 07, 2024, 09:22:24 AM... it's the first song you hear before the sun rises, even before the robins
That's the Rooster! ffcheesy
Quote from: NewYankeeSawmill on March 07, 2024, 10:43:12 AMQuote from: WhitePineJunky on March 07, 2024, 09:22:24 AM... it's the first song you hear before the sun rises, even before the robins
That's the Rooster! ffcheesy
Don't even get me started on that bugger
At 2:55 am today a pair of Great Horned Owls were dueting behind the house.
Black vultures! They were neat! I don't know how to add photos from my gallery on my phone anymore! The Merlin app told me what they were from a photo, and it told me they were "uncommon" but maybe that's for this area. I don't think I've seen them around here before.
Let's try this-
20240316_091144.jpg
They are way up here to, but also uncommon. Mostly turkey vulture and they have kinda moved in because never saw one here years ago.
We spotted an Eastern Bluebird on the power line in the front yard this morning so while I was collecting some firewood on the other side of the house I checked on the nest box there to be sure any old nests had been removed. To my surprise there was a new nest already built and a clutch of 5-6 eggs already laid. I was wondering if it was an old clutch from last year but I saw some small tufts of feathers in the nest that look fresh so I put the top back on and will watch the box more closely. The parents did not attack me like I have had them do in the past when there was an active nest. I hope this is a fresh clutch and all do well. I love my bluebirds.
I saw a couple of Osceola turkey hens in my pasture this morning, a bald eagle on the east side of the lake we were fishing yesterday, and a bunch of chickens my daughter and her husband butchered today.
Last week I started seeing the swallow tailed kites. They evidently migrate from South America. They come up the Isthmus of Panama and somewhere in Mexico or Texas, they decide to fly across the Gulf of Mexico. There are GPS trackers on some of them. Six of the ones with GPS trackers made the trip across the Gulf and are in various locations in Florida now. They eat snakes as well as other things.
I was lying in bed early this morning after a latrine visit and heard a squirrel in the attic. About that time an owl started hooting outside. There was no more noise from the attic until the owl went to bed...
I can hoot like an owl and Sampson, my little Rat Terrier. gets very upset. I don't know if one ever swooped at him or why he is scared of them.
I know an eagle tried to get him right after I brought him home and he'd wake up in the boat when I was fishing and he was along for the ride and he'd jump up and start barking when one flew over. He weighs 13-14 lbs and I think is too big for an owl to catch.
WV, Reminds me, a guy who fished the famous trout streams in New Yorks' Catskill Mountains area told me that he would see a lot of fish in a river. Then suddenly, the fish would vanish and shortly after that he would see an eagle overhead. I think he said that it might be around 15 minutes after that when the fish came out of hiding. I'm convinced that when you fish from a boat that the sight of the boat spooks some of the fish.
Up this way, I fished a remote dead water I just had discovered. Was trout a plenty, nothing bigger than 10". They would dart out from under the bank of muskeg, moss and heath bushes. The water would just boil with fish. That night we had a thunderstorm, water raised a little. Went back in to fish. Not a sign of anything. A later venture into that dead water revealed something I never saw. A rookery of blue herons that were nesting in big old white pines. And that was the end of the fishing. ffcheesy
Neighbor had fish ponds with trout, always had trouble with blue herons.
In one of my wildlife classes I remember reading or hearing about a study where they had a pen full of quail and they hooked a cut-out of a hawk to a cable and they let it slide down the cable over the pen. The quail scattered, took cover or froze every time. Just on a whim some smart Alec reversed the cut-out and slid it down the wire again and the quail paid no attention to it. They got to looking at it and the best they could determine when "flown" backwards it looked more like a duck or goose than a hawk and the quail were not alarmed at them.
I've been in the woods with chipmunks calling and squirrels chattering and such and suddenly everything would go dead silent. Usually a hawk or an owl would fly up and light in a tree nearby. One time it was a red fox but it was always a predator.
These squirrels in your area WV, are they red squirrels? I have a hard time seeing them shutting up ffcheesy
A few eagles around the camp this weekend, I watched one land on a rock in the river and stay for while and take half a dozen drinks, he was a ways away (over 800') to get a good picture but was nice enough to give me a low fly by for a closer picture.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0143.jpeg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352993)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18975/_DSC0155.jpeg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352994)
WPJ.
Around here we have Fox Squirrels, Grey (Cat) squirrels, a few red/pine squirrels (Often called fairy diddles) and tons of chipmunks. We also have a few flying squirrels but they are rarely seen.
Chipmunks are about the noisiest ones. They will even get in a knothole or under a rock and keep on calling even when they can't still see you.
Neat shots Hilltop!
Mostly red squirrels up my way. Rarely see a grey squirrel outside of the towns. Up in the softwoods on the woodlot I've only seen red squirrels. They have piles of cone scales by spring time all over the place. They sure eat a lot of spruce seed. ffcheesy They can't usually get the fir cones, they disintegrate before winter, one will hold together once in awhile. I had a small white pine that had cones last year in the woods, the squirrels cut all the cones. One cut all the red pine cones off in the back yard here, shoots and all.
SD, Do you see crossbills in your area? They compete with Red Squirrels for conifer seeds. There's a place in the Rocky Mountains where there are no Red Squirrels and crossbills do well there. Sounds like your squirrels are multi-tasking, havesting food and nest material at the same time?
Crossbills I don't see often. But lots of smaller birds like goldfinch, pine siskins, red poles, junco, nuthatch and chickadees. As to the pine shoots they are still on the ground. Them squirrels prefer insulation in the barn. :D
Migratory birds. Yes some crows do leave here but a lot stay in winter. We had at least 40 crows in a flock around here all winter. Usually only 6 or so come to the yard. This winter, like most in the past, I only see 2 pairs of ravens around here in the winter. If raven came into the yard, those crows would all dive bomb it out of here. ffcheesy Neighbors said the other day, when we were talking about returning birds, 'the crows are back'. I said ours around home never left. You can't tell him any different. Evidence don't matter I guess. Besides crows caw, ravens I call old hags they screech or sound like someone knocking wooden sticks at other times. ffcheesy
raven calls,
Old hag screech (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/62187121)
wood knock (https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/142617281) later half
The guys talking about blue birds... You talking about eastern bluebirds? They are cool. Blue in nature is always neat.
Here's one in the yard, shot with my phone at 100+ feet away. Ooh, two cardinals hanging out too! 200+ feet away!
I have read that birds respond to a solar eclipse by behaving as though it's the end of the day and getting dark out (which, of course, it is getting dark). I am in Central New York close to the path of the total ecliplse coming on April 8, 2024 and I plan to watch the eclipse and the birds. I'll post about what I see.
We had a big prairie fire here about 10 years ago and thousands of birds high in the sky, circled and squawked like it was the end of the world. kind of strange they sense the emergency.
It's weird seeing geese fly over head with 20" of fresh snow. ffcheesy ffcheesy :sunny: Last week everything was bare to grass and mud, even the woods had hardly any snow left. And I saw new bear tracks last week in corn stubble. There was a small patch of snow he walked in. Just woke up, now it's winter again. Actually yesterday the snow settled 2" in 45°F weather.
Quote from: KEC on March 25, 2024, 07:55:34 PMI have read that birds respond to a solar eclipse by behaving as though it's the end of the day and getting dark out (which, of course, it is getting dark). I am in Central New York close to the path of the total ecliplse coming on April 8, 2024 and I plan to watch the eclipse and the birds. I'll post about what I see.
All the wildlife did when it went through our neck of the woods a few years ago. A bit odd, unsettling feeling, for sure, but very cool. The birds all flew to their nests, the frogs and crickets started, then 5 minutes later the sun reversed, but the animal's weren't having it. They were buggered up for the rest of the day, LOL!
(SUNY Oswego Alum here, we used to vaca in Keuka and Cayuga lakes all the time)
A couple of geese with an old crow in the field this afternoon. A long ways off and raining to boot so not a great photo.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/geese-March27-2024.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=353227)
Had geese over winter here
I'm pretty sure we didn't up here. But they have been back now a couple weeks on the fields. I do know we have had ducks in the Presque Isle river all winter which is near by.
We have geese here in the summer pretty much as an invasive species thanks to Frank McKenna. They were nuisance transplant geese from Mississauga, Ontario. They were only rarely seen breeding here. Now we have an explosion of birds, which seem to get along well beside humans. They have impacted our local birds in wetlands. Geese were traditionally noticed in migration. I never saw a goose on the river when I used to fish by canoe and that goes back a couple decades before the 90's. Now people along water fronts complain about them constantly. I have no complaint about them because they are not impacting me at all. I like to observer them. They are a welcome site. :thumbsup:
Yeah I like seeing them as well but can understand in numbers around urban areas they can cause a mess,
Every couple days there will be a flock flying overhead and always with the "honk"
when you hear the honk, do not look up for long. I remember at a camp Alaska one year, a bunch flew over and as I watched, I thought it is amazing that i have never been pooped on. splat to my left chest. fairly dry, it wiped off, and I finished my breakfast. I have on several occasions seen a flock stop and hover over head. once was at a funeral for a little girl Natasha about 5 y/o I tried to save out by (Hays). her mom's boyfriend was abusive. they could not find him, but 2 days later found him hung to death behind a flying J truck stop. He did it himself.
Spent a few days in our house in Cartersville, GA earlier this week. The bluebirds had 5 eggs when we left yesterday. The bluebirds are building a nest out from the sunroom as we speak here in SC. They are so much fun to watch.
I went out and mowed the back field, this evening, about 2 acres that was around 3 feet tall. After a couple passes I noticed a big ol' red tailed hawk swoop down into the overgrown property line, then back up with a snake! The hawk proceeded to hang out while I mowed and catch several different animals. A couple times it landed and hung out until I got within about 12-15 feet with the tractor. Too cool.
We had our first hummingbirds of the year yesterday. Two male birds showed up. They were 4 days later this year than last year.
We had a 5 day storm here, only birds were crows, ravens, starlings, crackles and geese. Mostly rain then 3" of snow at the end for good measure. ffcheesy
Saw a flock of 10 wild turkey, but they flew up and took to the spruce trees. They have become real skittish since we started a hunting season on them. ffcheesy
Seeing some turkey activity around here too. This video (rumble) of a rafter of about 30 hens followed up by several tom's caught on trail cam.
Video
https://rumble.com/v4moih2-turkey-rafter.html
Screen shot
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/Turkey_rafter.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=353271)
Nice flock of Wisconsin turkeys.
We had a big tom in the backyard yesterday morning.
Blue birds and cardinals around.
I saw a pair of Flickers in the backyard this morning while I was cleaning out the birdhouses!
I found a dead Eastern Bluebird in one of the houses, it appears that he was an early arrival this Spring, no evidence of external injury, possibly froze to death!
Quote from: Chuck White on April 02, 2024, 12:42:42 PMI saw a pair of Flickers in the backyard this morning while I was cleaning out the birdhouses!
That's uncanny... saw one yesterday for the first-time down here! Couldn't get a picture, was too far away.
About 10 robins in the back yard this afternoon. Hard to see in the shade of trees. Killdeer have been back for a couple days. ffsmiley
We have a cold snap, but a few days ago it was :sunny: the birds were everywhere, flapping around and making all sorts of noise. must be working out the apartment situation.
I was given a Bluebird house but too late for this nesting. I have Bluebirds each day and some have lit on the house and even looked inside, but I think that they are already laying in their own house/nest and were only curious.
Since most Bluebirds lay and raise more than one clutch each year, I am hoping that they may still be attracted to my house.
Quote from: Magicman on April 02, 2024, 07:19:34 PMI was given a Bluebird house but too late for this nesting. I have Bluebirds each day and some have lit on the house and even looked inside, but I think that they are already laying in their own house/nest and were only curious.
Since most Bluebirds lay and raise more than one clutch each year, I am hoping that they may still be attracted to my house.
I've had summers with three clutch's of bluebirds. Don't give up on them. Often a pair will act like they have it going, but after a couple weeks will move on for another pair to get more serious. Assume the first pair just moves further north, or she had a headache all the time.
Chuck, Hard to say what killed the bluebird. They are around here all winter and they are fairly hardy. One of the best things you can do is to let some Staghorn Sumac grow. The sumac seeds are eaten by bluebirds and dozens of other birds. I've seen catbirds eating sumac seeds from the previous year in July. Checking stands of Staghorn Sumac is a good way to see bluebirds in the winter.
I woke up to the sound of "Tutt, tutt, tutt" outside and walked to my window and watched these turkey hens fly off the roost and land by my woodshed in the pasture. We have had several days of soaking rain and they are picking up drowned worms all over the place. I saw the same bunch I suspect a couple days ago in the front yard walking along the creek. It is funny they don't want to fly over 6' of water and will walk hundreds of yards trying to find a dry spot to cross sometimes.
I need to check my bluebird boxes too as one had a clutch of eggs 3-4 weeks ago and I saw an adult duck in there a couple days ago. I took a pretty new looking nest out of the second box in case it was last years and saw a couple birds hanging around it later so they may have rebuilt it by now and have eggs laid. I have never had them use both boxes at the same time and suspect they are too close. They use both but alternate.
Saw just 2 turkeys this morning at the edge of the Christmas trees and later 30 geese flying over. 3 day snow storm approaching.
The dead Bluebird I found in the birdhouse was still plump and flexible, so I have determined that he hadn't been there very long, ie: early arrival.
KEC: There are lots of places in this area where Staghorn Sumac grows, so I'll see if I can get a few shoots and plant a little patch on the edge of my backyard! I like that idea! :thumbsup:
A few minutes after I took the picture of the 7 hens they drifted back to the woodshed and I looked out and found a couple of gobblers had joined the party and they were really showing off their stuff. I took a couple of pictures of them strutting and showing their stuff but then I had to leave to go run some errands. Here is a picture with the boys.
The first time I saw sumac around the farm here was when a dozer made a woods road off the field. Musta been seed on the blade. Lots of it grew up at mom's father's place in those old pastures and along the river. Most of the sumac around here isn't too far back from the Saint John river. Stuff grows along the valley that you don't see 30 miles from it. Not long ago I found a wild grape in the back yard. That grows like a jungle along the river, in places it comes out into the road along the old highway.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on April 04, 2024, 08:08:56 AMI need to check my bluebird boxes too as one had a clutch of eggs 3-4 weeks ago and I saw an adult duck in there a couple days ago.
Is that a very large bluebird house or a very small duck? :huh?
Ha Ha.
It was an adult bluebird ducking (Slang term for "Entering") into the bluebird box.
Turkeys are under the oak tree right out back. We just had about 8 inches of snow.
But I like your picture better. Green grass!!!
Quote from: thecfarm on April 04, 2024, 06:49:13 PMTurkeys are under the oak tree right out back. We just had about 8 inches of snow.
But I like your picture better. Green grass!!!
Yeah we had green grass but 1.5 miles up the road right after I took this picture I encountered snow flurries. It was odd to see wild cherry trees in full bloom with snow on them.
The odd thing was I had to go to town to get my A/C in my truck worked on. :uhoh:
Chuck, Let us know if your sumac takes. I think you could just pull a shoot out with some roots on and it will easily transplant. A state DEC biologist I knew did his masters degree study on wild turkeys. He said that a tom can inseminate a hen and she can lay fertile eggs up to a month later. So hens in a big flock can mate, then go off somewhere by themselves to nest.
Once you get that sumac growing it will be everywhere. ffcheesy It's pretty in the fall though and the berry heads are interesting. The old people collected the berries and made a sort of lemonade with them. There seems to be two sexes with them, so be sure to get several to be sure. I knew an old fella that cut the central stick in one clump that was big enough to make jewelry boxes. Kinda reminds me of butternut wood, but a lot more pores, both are diffuse porous woods. Kinda olive green wood. Both are light weight and soft.
In years, way back the locals would make sap spouts (spiles) out of Sumac.
Really soft wood and very soft pith, they would cut into about 4-5 inch lengths, split them lengthwise, remove the pith, then whittle one end to fit in the drilled hole!
If you can find them nowadays, they are collector items!
I saw someone take the pith out with a hot rod at a surip making demo
Saw my first (of the year) Eastern Bluebird hopping along the rail on the back porch this morning!
We had 32F this morning and now it's 50F, that's an improvement!
40°F here currently and on my walk I saw that old Tom turkey with his girls again. :thumbsup: They sure are skittish since we started a hunting season on them. They used to be as tame has barn hens. ffcheesy
Years ago, when it was bucks only deer hunting here, does were not too wary. A biologist I knew said: wait 'till they start issuing doe permits and you'll see how hard they get to hunt." He was right! Does are just as wary as bucks here now.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 05, 2024, 07:29:25 AMOnce you get that sumac growing it will be everywhere. ffcheesy It's pretty in the fall though and the berry heads are interesting. The old people collected the berries and made a sort of lemonade with them. There seems to be two sexes with them, so be sure to get several to be sure. I knew an old fella that cut the central stick in one clump that was big enough to make jewelry boxes. Kinda reminds me of butternut wood, but a lot more pores, both are diffuse porous woods. Kinda olive green wood. Both are light weight and soft.
Yes, it can be invasive and may need to be controlled.
My wife and I sat in lawn chairs in the front yard today to watch the eclipse. I watched the birds to see how they responded. Birds seemed to come to a feeding station as the light dimmed to "fill up before going to roost" then they went off to roost. A Mourning Dove flew into some conifers to roost. As it got dark the spring peepers started singing. When it got light again, the dove came out, the birds returned to feeding and birds started singing as they do at dawn. The view of the eclipse was hampered by a cloudy sky, though, for a few minutes, it got quite dark.
I watched the crows here and they did nothing different through the whole process. Never roosted either, they were flying and crowing as usual. Pigeons as well, they were picking gravel out on the road through it all. Was no song birds to observe in the yard.
The birds around me started making dusk time noises, but we didn't get peepers going. What I noticed was how quiet everything was, right at totality.
SD, I don't know about the pigeons but maybe the crows (being smarter than most birds) heard that it would not stay dark for long. ffcheesy About birds gritting along the road, crossbills are dedicated gritters and one of the best ways to see them is to pay attention to birds in the road.
Saw a bluebird this morning sitting on a lower branch of the white birch, which is not far from the nest boxes. I think they were here on the 15th last April.
Via the Merlin app, it was suggested that I had a northern mockingbird. I didn't think that was really a thing until the birder lady at work confirmed it. Well, today I was out leaf blowing and I heard a bunch of crazy bird noises. I opened the app and sure enough, northern mockingbird. I hunted it out to confirm. Too cool.
Wife saw a bluebird on our fence today. She pointed it out to me!!!
We've all heard the phrase "in the catbird seat", right. The people who coined that phrase were actually reffering to the Northern Mockingbird; they like to sing from high perches. Gray Catbirds are skulkers that tend to sing and stay in thick cover. Mockingbirds immitate many others birds and they fool the Merlin phone app.
Just before dusk while hauling a load of slabs to the burn pile with the telehandler, I saw a big, colorful bird on the fence by my driveway. At first, I thought it was a tom turkey. Something was not quite right, and I turned to get a better look at it. It was a peacock. I have no idea where it came from. One of my neighbor friends was down here as John and I were finishing up this evening. He said that he has seen four or five peafowl back behind his place and that they were some kind of skittish.
i sometimes use the Merlin app, on the birds on the TV or DVD
it works!!
I've noticed that the pesty little Phoebee's have been back for about a week, we also have Tree Swallows now, fighting over the birdhouses along with the Eastern Bluebirds!
Yep, the pheobes are back as well, but no tree swallows here yet. A bit too early for them, usually May up here. One time barn swallows came too early, it turned cold and about wiped them out. We no longer get large numbers now. Plus, not that many barns, but they also go to bridges on dirt roads or camp eves and such. I remember seeing them 50 miles in the bush under logging road bridges and fish camp eves. :thumbsup:
The Hummingbirds will be arriving in 3-4 weeks, they usually start showing up between the 7th and 11th of May.
Once in a while, the catch me by surprise and get here a few days early!
I did see some tree swallows around this morning. A bit early for a swallow up here.
Hummers, swallows, pretty much all the usual suspects here now, hermit thrushes are present but no evening song calls from them yet
No hummers here yet, no flowers and cold. And have not heard any white throated sparrows yet. Those sparrows will probably be here this coming week. The old people called them 'sweet whether birds' and were often confused for black capped chickadee songs.
Bluebirds have been defending their nest box against tree swallow invasions, but there is another box that they have settled on. There's probably 6 tree swallows around the box.
Bluebirds and Tree Swallows are busy now.
Haven't seen a Hummingbird, Rose Breasted Grossbeak or a Brown Thrasher yet!
We never had a brown thrasher last year, but hope to see one this year. I'm on the very edge of the range, some years we don't see one.
We've got a turkey hanging around. First one is back in the back field, this shot is from probably 500 feet away, the second one it's about to play in the creek about 300 feet away. I assume it's the same one but not positive.
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Been seeing a few turkeys out by work in old fields, some with alder, so they can run around through that to their hearts content. ffcheesy