What's at your birdfeeder?

“It just sounded funny the way you worded it, I was cracking up!”

“I hear ya on the quiet, Sass.

Though the hawk part is really cool.”

“very cool. i want to see the pics!


my little story is about how I found a birds nest in the tree right outside our front door. LOL, its a morning dove. she is so pretty! last night while walking up to the house I found a shell. it was so little. the mommy has yet to leave her nest unguarded so its hard to see whats happening. so now i wake up to MORE morning doves at 5:30am
but I like that sound now.”

“There's nothing at my birdfeeder at this moment. They're tucked safely away in the garage until there is more food around for the bears. Last week, I had a bear at the front feeders one night and he tried to get the backyard feeders the next night. They're hung high on a line between trees and I use a pulley system to get them down to fill them. Those dang bears are pretty smart.”

“my birds all hate my feeders.
they have been out for a week. and nothing.”

“They probably saw what happened to the mouse and didn't want to chance it.”

“oh real nice!”

“Good one, lumberzac. I think you're right.”

“Dare makes fun of me because we are now up to 6 feeders...

Nyjer seed (great for finches - we have about 15 Gold finches, purple finches and house finches (with the red on them) since putting this on up)

Safflower seed (cardinals and chickadees love it, squirrels and starlings HATE it)

Sunflower seeds

Peanut hearts

Suet - lotsa woodpeckers (Downey and Red-bellied)

Mixed seed

We also have a squirrel feeder (a little corn cob holder with a bench seat for them to sit on while eating - too cute!) and the Mourning doves also seem to love the corn.

I may also, inadvertently, have a hawk feeder due to the fact that the rabbit that loves under our shed has once again given birth to babies. The little fuzzballs are so adorable, but I have see Mr. Redtail Hawk on our fence a lot lately. =:0”

“Sass - post a pic of your hawk if you can! It may have been a Kestrel
”

“I was watching a show last night on NGC about Owls

this is my fav the Barn Owl.




they said there wing span is almost 5 ft.
im only 5 foot 4”

“Ever hear (or should I say not hear) an owl take off?”

“no feeder, but we did have a crow perch on front of our office earlier this week.....wonder if that was some kinda omen for us...



cool about the hawk Sass!”

“yes we went owl watching this past winter. ONG it was the most beutiful thing i have even seen.
funny thing is, you would think they were graceful flying creatures. but they fly like moths.”

“Ever hear (or should I say not hear) an owl take off?"
lumberzac

YES! once when I was about 15, sitting in a deer stand just before sunup a very large owl lifted out of a tree not 15 feet from me. Scared the living daylights outta me, if I hadn't been tied into the stand, I probably woulda fallen out of the tree.

Just complete silence and then "WHOOSH", right past me. I could see just enough to make out an incredible wing span.”

“Nope, not a kestrel AmyG. But man, are those beautiful!

I'm pretty sure it was a sharp shinned or a cooper's hawk.

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera so you all have to wait until I get the film used up, and developed. Sorry! But, I will post a picture when I can, promise.”

“can someone show me what the corn holder looks like. i might want to build one”

“ok stop the presses, I want this one. its a feeder on a bungie cord.

feeder”

“Sass, I had that experience last year. Looked out the picture window into the back yard one morning and there was either a Cooper's or a sharp-shined dining on a mourning dove. What a scene to watch.

I can't remember which is which at the moment, but the larger female of one is about the size of the smaller male of the other species, so with such similar markings it can be hard to tell them apart. Do the male's come back first in the migration as with many bird species?

Talked to Reino on the phone a little while ago and she said she found a dead shrike underneath one of her mom's windows at the house up in Marquette. Bird guide said it was a rarity for that area. A formal burial is planned for this evening.

No seed in our feeders this spring in hopes of minimizing the grackle infestation. But I miss the song birds.”

“Pekka, while bear hunting near munising a few years back I spent most of my time watching sharp shinned hawks hunting. They are amazing fliers. They were going through the cedra thickets like rockets. Impressive animals.”

“birch, we have five big pines in the backyard, along with a really big maple. Good lurking spots for a woodland hawk. I'm sure the mourning dove never knew what hit it.

The recovery of hawks in the Midwest has been great. We see a lot of wintering rough-legged hawks on fence posts and in trees along the interstate on our trips to Madison. Then spring and summer bring harriers (marsh hawks) into some of the same territory. I love to watch them soar and maneuver while hunting the fields and marshes.”

“We had a marsh hawk in our back yard three years ago.

We live near a watershed. Lots of birds are in our area. Its a blessing living in S.E. michigan.

Too true about watching birds hunt. I grew up surrounded by fields that upland game loved. There were loads of pheasants and rabbits which meant a slew and a half Hawks. I loved to watch them mork.

My two favorite birdsings from my childhood are a redwinged blackbird, I always think of them perched on cattails in the swamp nearby and the other is a white throated sparrow. I love their call while hiking. (seemed an appropraite place to mention that)”

“birdsings=birdsongs”

“It's not just the way they mork, but the way they mindy, too.

(sorry birch, I couldn't resist...my bad :-p)”

“LOL pekka!”

“Re: owls taking flight....I had a friend who gave me an owl feather once. The feather had really long fringe all around the edges and was velvety soft. I have no idea where it got to but I wish I still had it. She worked at the zoo and got it cleaning up. I also got a tiger whisker. =)”

“So what does it mean when a fat ole robin keeps pecking at the cellar windows? Different windows, like she wants to get in...woke me up this morning...

I thought maybe she got in once and made a nest, but I don't dare let her in cause my cat will kill her.

I may put the cat in the bathroom and leave the cellar window open for a while...if she laid eggs they're dead by now, but maybe she'll quit bugging me.”

“I have chickadees living in the roof soffit next to my room. Those things sure are noisy.”

“That robin must be vain.


We had sparrows in our soffit for two years running. First year Birch waited until they moved out and repaired the gap where they came in. Second year Mrs. Sparrow unrepaired the gap and squeezed in with her brood. After they moved out Great Stuff was applied in the gap and Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow have been sighted flying in and out of our neighbor's house this year. =)”

“Damn birds!

We had a sparrow come into our wood burning stove last year. It was closed and my mom was on the computer and she kept hearing something fluttering inside. She was petrified, so she made me open it and out came a flying bird. I finally caught him and set him free.”

“vanity, that would explain it...thanks Sass!”

“We had a bat flying around our living room and dinning room once.

Once saw my neighbor chase a raccoon out her front door with a broom.”

“Anyone familiar with baby birds? My Dad rescued (rather than the usual of let his dog eat it) found a golfball sized ball of black fluff with big feet and wing claws. It has a pointed beak, an attitude, likes being held but not fed. It's 2 days old at most. Tomorrow I'm taking it to BEAKS bird rescue but I'd like to see it live through the night.”

“chop a worm up into little pieces. Then, use tweezers to drop (kinda force) the worm pieces in to the birdies throat. Try to not let the bird now you're a big scarything.”

“Nope, the bird's quite attached already. Worms were spit out, pureed betta fish food was picked at but barely any ingrsted, kitten food slurry a no go, but I did force a tiny bit of baby formula down its throat.”

“I think you have to chew the worm and then reguritate it into the baby's mouth.”

“The baby bird didn't make it through the night. It simply refused to eat, so it may have been more injured than I thought. It's now under a lemon tree.”

“...about a local red-tailed hawk nesting in an unusual spot...



Lola”

“Squirrels mostly, so I quit filling it for the summer. Most birds have better sense than to spend the summer in Houston.”

“We, too, have kept our feeders empty, but mainly because of the grackles. Had robins nesting in our front cedars, but the grackles who nested at the top of the same bush may have forced them out. I knocked down the grackle nest after the young'un had left. But we have had hummingbirds at our front garden, and ospreys have been circling the neighborhood, so they must have nested on the nearby Wisconsin River impoundment. On Sunday, one was overhead with a fish in its claws, lazily orbiting.”

“some slimy water and a few leaves from last autumn.”

“Had a red shouldered hawk take out a mourning dove in my back yard yesterday. Very cool. The blue jays went berserk.”

“The 2nd-floor classroom I was just teaching in looks out to the tree-lined lakeshore about 50 feet away. As I'm teaching, my eye catches movement and there's a bald eagle landing on a branch at window level. It's the kind of distraction that I find worthwhile in a school day.”

“Nice.

Nice classroom, too.”

“Nothing is at my birdfeeder. All 6 of them sit empty in the garage waiting for the bears to go into hibernation.”

“Whats at my bird feeder?? Well I dont have one but my girlfriend got her son one for his birthday.She told me to get him a present that goes with his new bird feeder.So the little hellion is whats at the bird feeder with his nifty new sling shot!!”

“Bee bee guns are much more accurate.”

“Use a 22 rifle that way u dont hurt them and they limp off!”

“...is my bird feeder.”