The birds are getting ready for spring!

Yay frogs! I'm talking frogs in storytime tomorrow. I have not confirmed frogs near me yet. I love the first nights of hearing peepers.

And I heard a huge high formation of geese the other day. Must have been over 200. It awed me, but saddened me too, to think this is small compared to historical flocks.

What fun you and the kids will have tomorrow, Sally! We love hearing the peepers too, but these were not little guys. I would estimate that they were 2-1/2 inches long or more.

Gita, they might be different subspecies of Canadian geese, or you might be seeing them as they move from their feeding to roosting areas.
Here's what Cornell says:
"In winter, Geese can remain in northern areas with some open water and food resources even where temperatures are extremely cold. Geese breeding in the northernmost reaches of their range tend to migrate long distances to winter in the more southerly parts of the range, whereas geese breeding in southern Canada and the conterminous United States migrate shorter distances or not at all. ....Spring migration may be difficult for observers to track because of over-wintering birds and movements between nighttime resting areas and feeding areas, but the bulk of spring migratory movements tend to move north..." http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Goose/lifehistory

Thanks, muddy--

Don't have time to read the attached link--gotta get ready for work...

G.

Sally, I bet the kids enjoyed your frogs talk!

This was in The Wash Post today; it's about Snow Geese, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same disease affected Canadian and other geese.http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/2000-snow-geese-die-from-illness-in-idaho-wildlife-areas/2015/03/17/530edf62-ccc2-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html

My newest suet cage and fresh block of pure suet are MIA. Could it be related to the raccoon sighted on our deck the other night? darn.

We had a MD Master Gardener talk about hummingbirds (and butterflies) gardens yesterday at library. She was great! She explained how hummers need insects ( moms and babies need the protein) and how they get water by getting wet (rain, sprinkler etc) and then perching and preening. And, you should get several small feeders, not one huge one, because the males will defend a feeder and keep others from feeding. Those were things I didn't know.

Not just hummingbirds, but some 95% of our terrestrial birds (raptors are the main exception) require insects, spiders etc to raise their young. An example: the little Carolina Wren feeds its young almost exclusively on caterpillars. Depending on the number of their brood, it takes between 400 and 600 caterpillars PER DAY to raise one clutch of eggs to fledglings. Without insects we would lose most of our birds, our reptiles, amphibians, and many of our mammals. It is estimated that even a bear's diet is about one third insects. Only around 1% of insect species are problematic in one manner or another for humans, yet we are inclined to eradicate all of them. Very short sighted, even ignoring their necessity for our own food production as well as other vital services in maintaining our environment.

Sally, the raccoon probably is the culprit. Greenthumb, you had a suet feeder disappear as well, if I recall; did you find it?

I have no idea how birds would find that many caterpillars around here. There are non-native Mulberry trees and a fair number of oak trees, both apparently good sources of caterpillars, but it's hard to imagine how they find enough. I have plenty of slugs though! Instead of drowning them in beer this year, I'll try to collect them by putting something they like under a big saucer and let the birds eat them in the morning.

Sally, when will the Black Soldier Fly larvae appear? My youngest daughter gave me the makings of a BSF composter and a promise to make it for me.

Muddy, yes, Pat found the suet feeder, empty of course, and it was pepper suet at that.

It is indeed mind boggling the huge quantity of insects it takes to maintain even a minimal bird population. The more I learn, the more I am inclined to support the insect population, such as focusing on native plants, which our insect species are much better at utilizing.

Hear, hear!

And reducing to the point of eliminating the use of non-selective biocides like the blind death inflicted by the soil drench systemics.

...and planting host plants for caterpillars that the birds will eat. I have a list for Kentucky butterflies, thanks to Thomas Barnes' "Gardening for the BIrds", but I should pull up a Virginia-specific one.

This message was edited Mar 22, 2015 6:20 PM

Right on greenthumb!

the whole ecosystem buzzes along under our noses 99 percent unnoticed by most people. It's amazing.

Muddy, last year I recall the gnats getting active first as the weather warmed, eating my accumulation of kitchen waste. (yay gnats for hummers etc)and later the BSF showing up. When BSF get going, gnats / fruit flies go away. If I see any BSF by Swap day I will certainly bring you some. A big bucket of coffee grounds is a good lure, in my experience. Not this early, maybe later April?

I still have a bucket of old Coffee grounds from the 7-11.
Remember--a couple years ago--I had them saving these for me--
and i would go get them every other day.
YUP! Same ones--still in the bucket on my patio...

Are they any good? I can still throw some into my SEM--if it helps.
Gotta get that "thing" moving--since Sally and I emptied it out last spring/summer?.
FOUR years of composting without it being emptied! Geez!
There was a lot of dense soil in there.....

Thanks, Sally. I usually mix my coffee grounds in with the mulch, but I'll leave them in a pile from now on. I wish June bugs were out during the daytime; my birds would be very happy and so would I.

I can't see that the grounds would hurt anything as long as they're not moldy, Gita. You could just sprinkle them in your beds.

I found a foot-long Blue Heron feather at the creek today and brought it back for my cat. He wasn't as interested in it as I thought he would be.

Gita, just throw the grounds around anywhere. They aren't getting any better just sitting in a bucket. Nitrogen is a very mobile element so any nitrogen they had is long gone. They're basically dirt now.

cool feather! meow!

I'm feeling wistful over my son no longer working at a coffee place, bringing me big bags- ah those were the days!

I spotted the bluebirds going to the multi family bird house today. They have been returning to nest here for several years now. The first sighting of the season is always a thrill to know that they have come back.

How exciting! I can't remember: do multiple pairs nest in that house at the same time?

Bluebirds are so wonderful to see; I just wish mine weren't so shy.
Several times today, they were just fine with my being out there puttering around, but as soon as they saw me looking right at them they flew away.

Only one pair of bluebirds in that house. I had always thought that bluebirds were very particular about the type of birdhouse, the size of the entry hole, etc... so was really surprised when they took up residence in that multi family birdhouse. No other birds have ever shown any interest in it. I am so delighted that they have been coming back every year.

They prefer 1.5" holes, but I imagine they'll take what they can get, and why not take over a bird palace?! They must have had good luck there; i.e. they must be safe from predators. Sometimes juvenile bluebirds stay on to help care for the next brood, and it would certainly be easier with spare rooms.

I've seen a bluebird perching on top of one of my bird houses, but I haven't seen it go in.

Having a Blue Bird house with a specific size and shape hole, keeps other birds out of their houses.

so cool that you have those bluebirds, Terri. They made an exception to their rules in your case; they know a good place when they see one!

Following up on the discussion earlier in this thread, I received this awful flier in the mail. Unbelievable!

humans are so irrational. Somehow I expect the ones who buy this are the same ones who refuse to buy GMO...

Anyone watching the Eagle Cam. This isn't very far from us, the eggs are predicted to hatch today or tomorrow.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1592549&mode=2

Thanks for the link. I just showed Thomas and he said the eagle is looking at me!

Did the eagles hatch today? I clicked on the link, but of course it's impossible to see the nest because it's dark.

Aspen, do you usually see the fledglings?

I seem to have a pair of resident bluebirds, so I'm hoping for babies. They've FINALLY figured out how to use the caged feeder!

Sally, educate me about GMO. Pretty much the sum total of what I know is that because of GMO, farmers can kill milkweed without killing their crops. I take it there must be pluses.

This message was edited Mar 23, 2015 7:35 PM

Crop plants are genetically modified so they are not killed by RoundUp, thus the crops can be sprayed with herbicide and not be harmed. As a result, even fence rows devoid of non-crop plants, thus no habitat for most species of insects.

Not sure Muddy, each time I checked it the Eagle had the nest covered. Looks like she had her wings out a bit like she was covering something, maybe just the eggs but it did make me wonder. Our local news programs are posting up dates but I didn't watch the news tonight.

drobarr knows a million tines more than I about

gmos
see several threads about it elsewhere, like veg forum ?

I think I've seen a GMO thread in the beginner's veggie forum, yes. Skimmed it, mostly, but there are a range of opinions and no flaming that I could see -- I do appreciate that people can actually debate things on DG and stay civil about it.

My dad always follows the eagles' nestcam in Pittsburgh

The human consumption of GMOs is a whole different issue, and not as clear-cut.

Ok, I give... what is the acronym GMO? I've missed something here and don't feel like backtracking LOL.

Genetically Modified Organism

This time of year Boris, our Maine Coon Cat, leaves cottonball-like tufts of his underfur all around the house. Since nesting season is beginning, we collect the tufts up and place them in a suet feeder for the birds to use. See, we even recycle our cat. ;-)

http://www.local21news.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/hanover-eaglet-hatches-egg-16424.shtml

David--that is a really good idea to use a suet feeder for nesting material.
Does it bother the birds that it comes from am animal? Can they "smell" things?
Your Maine Coon must be very warm with all that down on it.
Have you ever tried offering dryer lint to birds? Wonder if they would use it...

I have old, L-shaped, trimmed, Japanese Holly bushes at the corner of my patio.
I keep them about 3' tall. Lots of the smaller birds like to take refuge in them.
especially all the sparrows.
These are not far from the feeders hanging under my Patio roof. Quick get-away!

I have shredded (by hand) short pieces of natural twine and tucked them in on top
of these shrubs. Usually--some bird claims them.

What else can birds use for nesting--that us people could put out for them?

1--A look at my patio from my BR window.--these pictures are from June, 2013.

2--The corner where the grill sits which is flanked by these shrubs.
Behind this--you can see my raised bed and thee beginnings of my YUK bed.
This is the line where my property ends.

3--My "glorious"YUK" bed bordering the corner of my property--and the
cause that it is "YUK"--my big Silver Maple--only 4' away from the bed.
Doesn't matter! This Maple has long ago claimed ALL the back lawn as hers.

4--However--there are things that happily live there---Frans Hals DL
5--...And a big clump of Heliopsis.

There are many more plants that call this bed home....

My B&B Salvias--many Autumn Sedums--my big clump of New England Aster--
A lot of Stellas--an old Peony--3 Hellebores around the bird bath--A forever expanding
Shasta daisy clump--my one and only Butterfly Bush--two clumps of the fragrant,
clustering Daffs--two other kinds of DL's--asst. clumps of Rose Campions--and--ONE very old
Rose (Tropicana) that the tree roots have a death grip on with a 2" fat maple root holding it captive--or I would dig it up and transplant it.

I hugely respect any plants that can thrive in this bed. It is one corner of my little world.

It is next to impossible to dig a new hole for any new plants in this bed.
A shame--as it gets a lot of sun. It It IS usually very dry! Surprise!!!

G.

I thought I had seen something that said not to offer dryer lint to the birds, and just googled that subject. This article gives several reasons not to.

http://birding.about.com/od/birdhouses/a/Dryer-Lint-As-Nesting-Material.htm

We don't use a dryer, so have none available anyway. Just hope the babies don't imprint on Boris's scent and figure he's good to get close to!

Thanks, pat!

WOW--how many negatives can one post on dryer lint????
Your link was most all-inclusive. I will try to clean out my dryer exhaust
on a more regular basis....
You don't have a dryer????? Do you hang out all your laundry year round?

One of my back yard neighbors does that....All through the years--she is always
hanging out her laundry on the old "Umbrella-shaped" dryer lines.
Nothing like frozen, wet clothes to deal with. For years--after we came to the USA--
we had no such appliances. Mu Mom used to hang our laundry on lines pulled in
our basement. She also used a wringer-washed....talk about vintage!

Before I got my new dryer (recently) I was hanging out all my laundry
on my laundry line (yes--I have one--it is retractable). It just was not the same!
Nothing was soft--towels (ugh!)...socks...T-shirts, etc...
BUT--I still DO love to hang my sheets out on it ...they smell so wonderful!

Guess I am spoiled....G.