Mid-Atlantic Birdwatching - Page 2

Our birdwatching thread was getting really long, so I am opening a new page.
So much great and fun information shared, I thought we should keep it going!
We came from here... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1061741/

Today begins the Great Backyard Bird Count! It goes Feb 12-14.
Anyone can participate, and it's really easy.
It's like a census for the birds! It looks like fun.
I am going to do it tomorrow with my girls!
And it will provide useful information.
Here is the wesite... http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Karen, That looks like a fun thing to do.

Some darned creature opened up the suet block holder and took the block of suet!! It's Kaput, Gone, Vanished!!! It was hanging 6 feet in the air. OK who's the most likely culprit? Squirrell???

Could also be a raccoon, especially if it happened at night. Was it hanging down from something, with any baffle above it?

Diva, Yes, it's on a plant hook about 6' tall. No baffle. We've never had raccoons here to the best of my knowledge. Can't find coon prints in the snow.

Squirrels love to steal those.

Those sons of a guns were well fed yesterday!!!

That's a good point - with all the snow, you'd have seen prints of some sort. I know squirrels can get up a plant hook type of thing. I thought not, until I watched one rogue climb right up the 1/2" diameter pole to my suet feeder! (The pole now has a baffle) And they certainly can jump DOWN to it if there's a nearby tree limb.

One thing I've done in the past is augment the closure on suet feeders by adding twist-ties on all the edges, etc. Makes it harder to open, but at one time in the past, we had raccoons swipe the ENTIRE suet cage and drag it back to their tree to work on it! I'm not making this up. ^_^

LOL I can just envision that. I thought about using the twist ties. I may put my boots back on and go out and do that. I may also try to twist tie the cage to the pole. Darned rascals!! Where are those emoticons???

Hubby has been naming our squirrel visitors... we've had a Fred, a Bob, and a Bill.
This morning he got up and found they had taken the tube feeder apart and dumped all the seed!
He is no longer on speaking terms with the squirrels!

LOL

VWR--

This happened several years ago.....
I keep my bird seed in those metal, 5gal buckets (like a huge amount of Popcorn would come in) right outside on a makeshift table (plywood) next to my picnic table.
Now--these buckets are old---and there has been rust forming along the seam in the bucket....

One day I came out and saw all this bird seed laying around near the bucket..I was like--What the heck?????
Then I saw that the squirrels had chewed through the rusting seam and were going at it.
Another time--they also chewed right through the edge of the lid of a heavy, plastic 5gal. bucket....

Never underestimate what those incisors can accomplish! After all--they can open the hardest nut to get to the insides!
Gita

I had the same experience a few years ago. The squirrels chewed the plastic lid off my bird seed container outside. I now keep it inside. THOSE LITTLE DOLLIES. Here is a picture of one eating the seeds off my witchhazel tree. That is what they are suppose to eat. It's too bad they stuff themself and then go back to the bird seed every year.

mgarr--

I would like to caution you on keeping bird seed and pet foods inside your home. Have you ever seen Moths flying around in the Pet Food aisle? That's them!
Almost always--Pet foods and Bird seed is infested with "Pantry Moths" in various stages of development. Once they get in your home and multiply--you will be battling them for years. I did! THREE years worth.

They will lay eggs and pupate in your books and magazines and inside your picture frames---In stuffed animals--in your cereal boxes and bags of sugar and flour.....and anywhere else you can imagine.
For 3 years--the first thing I did, when I got home from work, was grab the fly swatter and go into each room and kill them on the walls and ceilings as soon as I turned the light on.
I went through 30 years of National Geographics--because they can get into anything--between the pages-- and lay their eggs.
I found them in my framed paintings and pictures--with NO signs of entry.
They were in my coat closet......In my Pantry...everywhere!
I had to go through my whole, well-stocked pantry and, literally, open every box and bag and find them in there.
After that--I was putting everything in Zip-Loc bags...SO much work!

PLEASE, PLEASE do not keep Pet foods or Bird Seed in your homes!!!!! Even if you think it is safe, because you have it in a metal bucket or such. The eggs are already in there--ready to hatch. And--they will!

Gita

Gita, I got them one year and it was a real bear. But it only took about 6 weeks to get rid of them.

i've had them in the pantry, and the pheremone traps worked pretty well (along wtih throwign out all the infested stuff I could find)

if you freeze the birdseed or pet food (easy at this time of year!), you'll kill any moth eggs/larvae.

That's what I used plus, I had to set off the mist fogger thingies and go away for a weekend to get the ones that had escaped to the rest of the house.

I know what the problem is between my hubby and the squirrels. You see, he was giving them all boy names... Fred, Bob, and Bill.

Well... SHE is NOT a boy! Maybe if I rename her Tiffany, she will be good!

I don't think they will be on speaking terms still!

Yeah, yeah... I know she's not a bird.
Here's a new visitor to our feeders.
Waiting on an ID from the bird watching forum.

Pine Siskin?

I'm thinking Pine Siskin too...

Great shots, Karen. How far away were you from your subjects when you took these?

He has been ID'd as a male Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Eight feet away... he's on the bannister of our balcony.

Karen, he is really beautiful and once again, you have captured him masterfully.

Even though I've been following along on the first thread I really didn't have anything to add, just enjoying all your wonderful photos :) I wish I had my camera with me yesterday, although I probably would have dropped it anyway when I nearly jumped out of my skin when my "sighting" flew from his perch! We're still not able to drive into the nursery and I walked in while Rick was on the tractor trying to knock down a little more snow in the driveway. Stupid fool I am, when we had those spring like temperatures a month ago I started refinishing a chair and left it inside one of the vacant hoop houses. Then we got all this snow and I haven't been able to drive in to bring it back to the house to work on. Okay, so you're probably wondering what all this has to do with birdwatching? LOL

Here goes...I walked into the hoop house to check on the chair and a huge bird swooped down from his perch and flew toward the back of the house. At first I thought it was a hawk but he turned around and flew back towards me showing his beautiful face - it was a Barn Owl! I obviously spooked him and he hit the other end of the house :( He quickly recovered, turned around and flew back through the house and out the back door. I'm sure there's easy hunting for him because Phoebe caught a few mice of her own in there last year! I'd love to get a picture of him if he comes back but I really don't want to spook him again. I'm afraid another surprise visit might cause him to fly into the wall again and I certainly don't want to cause him any harm. I've only seen a few owls in my life and it's always a treat but this gorgeous fellow made my day :)

(A "borrowed" photo since I couldn't get one of my own!)

Oh, Debbie what a wonderful gift for the day! A Barn Owl, I'm sure all that snow is making it hard for a lot of wild life.
I have started to see wild turkeys out in the fields, they have been staying in the woods with all the snow.

RCN, I've never heard of a barn owl. He is a beauty. There was an owl living here for a few years, but then he went away.

Here is a site with a webcam of nesting barn owls.
http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/nestcams/home/index

Have fun!

Very interesting, Lady.

There must be 40 birds out on my patios chowing away. I wonder what all of these birds are going to think when the snow melts and lunch is no more all over the missing snow mounds. A bluejay showed up, but he soon left.

I glanced out today and saww a hawk chowing/ripping apart a bird of some kind--probably a Dove--as they are slow to take flight.
I must have stood by my window for 20 minutes--binoculars in hand. i have a hard timw with my small "Opera glasses" as I wear tri-focal, progressive lenses. I took them off and I could see the hawk a bit better.
At first--it was pulling off all the feathers.....Hmmm...Might have been a Blackbird of some kind--as they were dark feathers.....
Then he was ripping off bits of flesh an chowing down. For about 15 minutes!
Then he flew up in the tree with whatever was left of the skeleton--and chowed some more.

I tried taking pictures--but I have a cheapie camera--and was taking them through my dirty window at full zoom.
Here it is. Best I could get....What kind of a hawk is it?

Gita

Wow Gita! Interesting capture!

Oh Debbie! I envy thee!!! My oldest daughter and I LOVE Barn Owls, and I would ssoooo love to photograrph one! How lucky you are! Maybe it (they) will nest in your... (barn? hoop house?). Cool! I hope you can get a photo some time!

Karen, seeing the Owl is probably going to be the highlight of my winter :) I quietly checked yesterday so I wouldn't spook him but he was nowhere to be found :( The only other Owl I've ever seen that close was years ago in Maine when we saw a Great Gray Owl - he was huge!

Check around to see if any of your local nature centers have "Owl Prowls" they are fun to attend. The one that I went to many years ago was great. The speaker told us about the differnet owls in the area and then we went outside and sat quitely and he did some owl calls, starting with the smaller owls first to see if any were in the area. No response. Then after a while he called in the larger owl, I think it was a Great Horned Owl, and he got one to fly over our heads, you had to watch as they make no flapping noise with there wings.
The call I remember is "who, who, who cooks for you" cup you hands around your mouth and try it.

OK, Lady, I'll be out there later today trying out that one. Won't get very far in this snow.

Wait till dark, the owls are sleeping now. Also the neighbors won't know it is you outside acting a bit odd. LOL

LOL, Lady They won't think that's anything new!!!

Now I'd like to be behind a tree videoing Stormy with her hands around her mouth going "Who... Who... Who cooks for you!" Might be better than the owl she calls in!

;o)

Where are those emoticons??? ROFL

ROFLMBO that's good... VWR

Super warbler picture! Thanks for renewing the thread.
Super owl sighting! I camped in a state park several years ago, first time sleeping outside since I was about twenty five. I slept lightly, and heard four different owls!!!! I was so hooked on camping then. But have not had as much luck with owls since.. Barred, Saw whet, Great horned, and Screech. Awesome! Later we went to WV for a week in a cabin. One night we heard a bunch of barred owls (I think) whoping it up in the creek area. Sounded like dogs barking.