Backyard bird watching

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Raven

not me.... i just YELL SQUIRREL!!
and unleash the HOUND on -em

that's her JOB

Keeps the old guy in shape and the little one never gets tired of tryin.

[PRBuzz]

Day 2: add junkos, doves, and yes cardinals! I have 2 or 3 pairs of cardinals in the area year round.

JD: still no birds? You have seen cardinals around your condo, right? Try this: scatter seeds on the ground below. Even try to put out a water source. Once the birds are attracted to the area, they should look up and find your feeders. Gradually stop to the spreading of ground seed and the birds should be hooked on your feeders. Good luck.

[Raven]

i grab christmas trees
after christmas sometimes b4 on (last day)
or when they are free....

and i place them in a half circle
out in the snow as an instant habitat
then i salt the trees with seed
hang red onion bags of suet

a couple of those seed bells
and throw seed all over place
and in front of the trees

the birds have a freiken PARTY !!!

[Raven]

when i lived out west i paid particular attention
to the behavior of ants

if they were running around frantically
it was gonna rain sure as sh!t


yesterday i noticed the JUNCO's (acting different)
all spread out on the lawn (mathematically)

they were behaving like the ants.....
knowing the snow was coming

they were acting as if in unison
"all knowing" simultaneously

now every time is see that
i know what it means

[ProfessorM]

literally a 1000 birds a day easy at my 3 feeders last couple weeks. Going thru seed like crazy. . Our 3 outdoor cats have lost interest there are so many birds. Tons of Blue Jays this year and have been absent the last several years. Seem to be hanging around the Japanese Snowbell tree i have as there are tons of fruits on the ground. I have lots of fruited shrubs loaded which are drawing birds too. I also think the flying squirrels have made an appearance too as I think I spotted one th other nite late. Cats are keeping the squirrels away it seems.

[O.D. Mike]

So,
today I'm outside working on the driveway and I look up and see a laughing gull (black headed seagull) that the right defination? Never seen one of those inshore before...

[Raven]

birds are eating quite frantically...

as i trim fat off the roasted holiday ham for meals

i place it outside.....for them

i had cooked some bacon the other day

and i had a small amount of liquid bacon grease
in the black iron pan..... to dispose of... ok

so i took a quart of black sunflower seed
and swirled it around in the pan... to soak it all up
then carried the whole works out to a feeding platform
the blue jays loved it as they eat the whole seed
without shelling them.... every seed was gone that day

they have been congregating on top of my PINK (coarse)
sand pile eating small stones for their gizzard- grinder too

[Raven]

well i don't mind feeding them some seed
but when they come in a flock of 30 +
and then attract the starlings -> i get pissed

and they drive off all the other smaller birds
then......... i have to take stronger measures

so i grabbed some unused at the moment
freezer baskets and caged them bastids out

they can find greener pastures elsewhere- LOL

F U

[PRBuzz]

Raven: Great idea! Also functions as a squirrel guard.

[ProfessorM]

looks like a carolina wren in there.

[Raven]

my lil Buddy....

blue jays can eat off the ground, he's lovin the privacy

[ProfessorM]

my fav. call and bird. Loud little sucker

[striperman36]

I have to go get more seed. the birds have eaten me out again.

Gonna head to TSC.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

my fav. call and bird. Loud little sucker

i was quite surprised Paul

i hung a cedar bird house in the blue spruce

it looked like it was turned on a lathe too

very next day the wren moves in SINGing up a storm
i was real pleased

soon afterwards, a damn chipmunk evicted him
and moved in..... man i hate those lil bastids

[Raven]

Originally Posted by striperman36

I have to go get more seed. the birds have eaten me out again.

Gonna head to TSC.

BJ'S wholesale sells 40 lb bags Black sunflower for $18 and change

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Raven

BJ'S wholesale sells 40 lb bags Black sunflower for $18 and change

I'll check out TSC and if need be, go over to BJ's right next door.

TSC is cool though.

What I am looking for though is a heated outdoor waterbowl for the dogs, the darn this freezes all the time.

[JohnnyD]

Hanging out in Truro for the holiday. Had some time to kill yesterday so headed to Mid-Cape Home Center, grabbed some Cedar and built one of these last night as an alternative to the tube feeders...




Just need to head to Lowes and get a piece of plexiglass. Hopefully the birdies like it.

[PRBuzz]

Nice. Build a wide gaged wire covering like Raven to permit only desired birds.

If you got more time to kill....I'd like one, too.

[striperman36]

Nice work Mr D!

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

Nice. Build a wide gaged wire covering like Raven to permit only desired birds.

If you got more time to kill....I'd like one, too.

I'm gonna put it up and see what happens. Sorry Phil, off-Cape now and back to work tomorrow.

Originally Posted by striperman36

Nice work Mr D!

Thanks!

[Raven]

i spread a scoop of sf seed out on the dog area for the Jays

because hey,,,i realize it's tough going out there
and they're just trying to survive ...

it was fun putting a couple of mice out on top
of the plywood on the burn barrel
for whom ever would take them....
as my cat kills em in the attic often...

the jays had no interest but a crow did....
of course he had to hover- fly over the set up
three times before he was confident enough to go
take them and then he took both at once and took off with-em

i cannot stand starlings tho and wouldn't care if they all froze.

[Raven]

did you make the top pivot for easy refills ?

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by Raven

i cannot stand starlings tho and wouldn't care if they all froze.

Starlings, blue jays, and English House sparrows all in the same boat....

[Raven]

with those damned starlings

being an avid bird watcher as a youngster
i was always aware what was going on in my home turf area

I knew where every nest was -knew every birds name
how they flew, what sounds they made....the whole nine yards

well one day as my neighbor grilled 8 -10 hamburgers on his grill
the F-ing starlings would wait for him to go inside
because they are opportunist's to the extreme

they'd glide on down from there perch on his chimney
their feet completely used to the heat....from being up there

and they'd gorge themselves quickly on the red meat like piranha
before he'd get the chance to flip them burgers over see
then they'd vanish just as quick like a magic trick

so he comes out , and he's like 55, and i am five to seven years old
and he just looses his mind completely ...comes charging after me
to take out his absolute rage after seeing the literally striped thin patties on the grill...screaming bloody murder shaking me like a rag doll quite violently -> while accusing my dog of the crime

i tried to tell him and explain what i just moments before had witnessed with these sneaky as hell F-ing starlings and he
thought that was the BIGGEST god dam lie of all !!!! made him even madder
and he started shaking me even harder... he was going insane....

then while this was going on ......the starlings went down for seconds
and i hit him hard to get his attention ....
and pointed to his grill SEEE ->>> now crying and mad as hell

showing him who the real thieves were! LOOK
he goes running over there screaming at them now

then i proceeded to call him every swear word i had ever heard
and made him fell like a friggan pile of ant sh!t

my DAD almost went to jail after he told him a thing or two later true story

[PRBuzz]

OK f---ing starlings win! Some experience you had.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Raven

did you make the top pivot for easy refills ?

I didn't want to bother with that. Wanted to make it as easy to build as possible so I ran the stainless steel cable through the roof so that it can slide up. There is a triangle piece at the top of the lid on both ends making the lid fit nice and snug over the two sides.

Pretty simple build. Bought a 4' x 8" x 3/4" piece of Cedar and used almost every bit. I didn't want a 3/4" thick roof so I cut the length and then ripped the board into two 5/16" thick pieces. Worked out nicely.

[ProfessorM]

I have gone to squirrel proof feeders about 15 years ago. The squirrels will eat right thru a wooden one. I like the feeders that are spring loaded, although a little pricey they are worth it in the long run. Too much weight on perch they close. Luv watching the squirrels try and figure it out. They give up eventually. The darn sparrows are worse then squirrels though. They take up house on the perch and never leave till they are full. PIA.

On a side note take some time to check out your feeders at nite. I will bet you have flying squirrels but just never knew it. I got video of them, 4, feeding. Pretty cool. Since the neighbor stripped mined their yard of a lot of trees they don't seem as frequent anymore. If you have a lot of trees and close to the feeders you got them I'll bet. It is really cool to see them swoop down from high above. They are so friggin fast up a tree and they have gigantic eyes. They are in and out of the feeder lightning fast so you have to watch closely. I have a spot light on the feeder and they don't seem to mind it. I have had up to 8 at a time feeding in years past. Drain the feeder fast though with them at nite and birds in day. Stupid Cat killed one and bought it in house one nite. It was neat to examine it up close though. Real small and light weight.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

On a side note take some time to check out your feeders at nite. I will bet you have flying squirrels but just never knew it.

Don't think I've ever seen a flying squirrel before. Gotta be pretty cool to see.

[O.D. Mike]

[PRBuzz]

Hawk I.D. If you guess, give me an idea how sure you are on a 0 - 100% scale