Backyard Birding

[Greybeard]

50 minutes ago, T&C said:

Look like a Tufted Titmouse. 

     I really love breasts.     edit-  It seems the auto language processor corrected my spelling. 😅

Edited October 10, 2020 by Greybeard

[Irv]

These dudes were pecking around today.  Yes - still working from home. 

[SinceThe70s]

Just saw a bird I'd never seen before: a Downy Woodpecker.

[ExiledInIllinois]

48 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

Just saw a bird I'd never seen before: a Downy Woodpecker.

We have them here.  Trying to dig up a pic of the Downy... This is the Red-bellied I took a few winters ago... f6.3, 1/400 @ 300mm (highly compressed & much cropped  to get under site limits):

I may have posted this one earlier. 

PeckerHeads are cool.  Special shout-out to my buds @Gugny & @BringBackFergy I caught this one while "backyard bathing" with the telephoto trigger. 😉 😜 😘 

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Found Mr.Morton "Downey" Jr.  😆 🤣 

Edited October 23, 2020 by ExiledInIllinois

[BringBackFergy]

43 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

We have them here.  Trying to dig up a pic of the Downy... This is the Red-bellied I took a few winters ago... f6.3, 1/400 @ 300mm (highly compressed & much cropped  to get under site limits):

I may have posted this one earlier. 

PeckerHeads are cool.  Special shout-out to my buds @Gugny & @BringBackFergy I caught this one while "backyard bathing" with the telephoto trigger. 😉 😜 😘 

 

Is that a "sapsucker"? 

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, BringBackFergy said:

Is that a "sapsucker"? 

I don't believe so?  That would be a Yellow-Bellied. 😜 

[SinceThe70s]

26 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Found Mr.Morton "Downey" Jr.  😆 🤣 

 

That's the one I saw. 

[BringBackFergy]

2 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I don't believe so?  That would be a Yellow-Bellied. 😜 

You really know your sapsuckers. 

[US Egg]

Old phone and crappy pic, but put up with this one and his parents screeching  all summer. Often sat on the shed or in trees over it watching us in the pool.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by I am the egg man

[Ned Flanders]

I'm going through 30 lbs. of bird food every two weeks...one feeder.  I'm spending more on their food than the dog.  It's reaching a breaking point soon.

[US Egg]

5 minutes ago, Ned Flanders said:

I'm going through 30 lbs. of bird food every two weeks...one feeder.  I'm spending more on their food than the dog.  It's reaching a breaking point soon.

Black sunflower seed ?

[Punching Bag]

2 hours ago, Ned Flanders said:

I'm going through 30 lbs. of bird food every two weeks...one feeder.  I'm spending more on their food than the dog.  It's reaching a breaking point soon.

 

Compromise.  Get dog to hunt birds.  I am trying to get mine to hunt squirrels.

 

Oh and I noticed supermarket where I have been buying 10 pound bags of bird food has changed ratio of seeds in bag but using same bag.  Appears to be trick to save money but I thought labeling rule required ingredients be included in order of percentage of weight.  My birds and squirrels do not like it as much so I am only filling bird feeder when it is predicted to be dry next couple of days so they need to eat leftovers on ground before I refill.

[Ned Flanders]

On 10/23/2020 at 5:24 PM, I am the egg man said:

Black sunflower seed ?

It lasts longer?

On 10/23/2020 at 7:20 PM, Limeaid said:

 

Compromise.  Get dog to hunt birds.  I am trying to get mine to hunt squirrels.

 

Oh and I noticed supermarket where I have been buying 10 pound bags of bird food has changed ratio of seeds in bag but using same bag.  Appears to be trick to save money but I thought labeling rule required ingredients be included in order of percentage of weight.  My birds and squirrels do not like it as much so I am only filling bird feeder when it is predicted to be dry next couple of days so they need to eat leftovers on ground before I refill.

I find the grocery stores, and even Ace Hardware, sell a lower quality feed.  Been getting Wagner's and Kaytee from Amazon and Home Depot.

 

I usually give it a couple of days before I fill an empty feeder as well.

[shrader]

I'm about ready to go on a mockingbird massacre around here.  I've got one that quickly nose dives into my garage every time I open it.  The little f-er sits on the light post across the street and dives in the second I step out of the garage.  I then have to chase it out.  I now have to carry my opener on me and close the door immediately or else it will just keep going back in after I chase it out.  If I had enough time and wasn't lazy, I'd put up a giant screen across the whole door just to see if I could trick it.

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

I'm about ready to go on a mockingbird massacre around here.  I've got one that quickly nose dives into my garage every time I open it.  The little f-er sits on the light post across the street and dives in the second I step out of the garage.  I then have to chase it out.  I now have to carry my opener on me and close the door immediately or else it will just keep going back in after I chase it out.  If I had enough time and wasn't lazy, I'd put up a giant screen across the whole door just to see if I could trick it.

I think they have screens that go up and down with the garage door now, revolutionizing the "Polish Patio!"

 

 

 

[Bad Things]

We have some really cool birds down here in New Zealand, that I love to watch.

 

One of my favorites, has to be the Bar-Tailed Godwit that are just arriving back on our shores, on their migration all the way non-stop from Alaska.

They spend the (southern hemisphere) summer here, and then fly to China before heading back across to Alaska.

 

One was just tracked flying over 7,500 miles, non-stop for 11 days until it arrived up on the North Island. 

It's extraordinary to think about these little birds flying day and night across the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, only to arrive here, and blend in with the other birds without much fanfare. 

The local cathedral, here in Nelson, actually rings the church bells, when the Godwits arrive each year.  One of natures true wonders.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/123190590/godwit-may-have-set-new-world-record-for-nonstop-migration-marathon-to-firth-of-thames

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Bad Things

[T&C]

On 10/26/2020 at 9:36 AM, Ned Flanders said:

It lasts longer?

I find the grocery stores, and even Ace Hardware, sell a lower quality feed.  Been getting Wagner's and Kaytee from Amazon and Home Depot.

 

I usually give it a couple of days before I fill an empty feeder as well.

Avoid any bird seed that has a ton of this in it... its just a filler that technically Is edible but nothing here will eat it, even the doves. They are around the size of a BB.

[Punching Bag]

https://www.thespruce.com/about-milo-seed-385628#:~:text=Milo seed (Sorghum bicolor) is,part of inexpensive birdseed mixes.

Birds That Eat Milo
While milo seed is not the most popular type of seed for a wide variety of backyard birds, there are birds that will readily accept this grain as part of their diet, including:

 

• Game birds, such as wild turkeys, Gambel's quail, California quail, and ring-necked pheasants
• Large doves, including Eurasian collared doves, white-winged doves, and rock pigeons
• Large western jays, including western scrub-jays and Steller's jays
• Ground-feeding birds such as common grackles, brown-headed cowbirds, and European starlings
• Southwestern ground birds, including plain chachalacas

Milo is most preferred by western birds and larger species with hearty appetites, but it is far less popular with passerines that frequent feeders in eastern North America. Additionally, this grain can also be attractive to bird feeder pests such as squirrels, rats, mice and raccoons, which makes it even less attractive for feeding birds.

[T&C]

The squirrels here won't touch that *****.