A Flock of Robins

I plugged in the heated birdbath again, after having no outside outlet due to a construction project for over a year. I was entertained today by a squabbling flock of robins. What birds are you guys seeing now? Sorry the picture isn't better.

I've not seen any Blue Jays. Mostly chickadees, cardinals, flickers, woodpeckers, and European starlings.

I have a wand that is a heating element that I stick in a bird bath. Birds really need an open source of water this time of year.

I have used a heating coil in a cement bird bath in the past but had problems keeping the birdbath clean in the winter because of the rough interior. I finally resorted to scrubbing it out daily with evergreen branches, a cold sloppy task in winter. The plastic bird bath with the built in thermostat I'm using now is easy to clean, but not as pretty.
I do have a question on water quality and how often the water needs to be cleaned and changed. About an hour after I filled it the water was low and quite dirty and had to be refilled. Since I am using tap water that is unfiltered, from the garage, I had been letting it sit for a day to allow the chlorine to escape. Do you think this is important? The squabbling, in the bird bath,was over red berries as the water was littered with pieces. Do the robins eat holly berries? That is what they looked like and I do have a large double trunked holly near by thick with berries.
I've seen crows and blackbirds in huge flocks before but never Robins. Is it common for Robins to stay in large flocks? This was a large group of 30 or more birds.
I recently heated the garage so I can now easily watch this bird bath in comfort, and they don't seem to notice me. That's why I have so many questions.

I've never seen ~that~ many robins at once. How fun.

At the moment, I've got lots of goldfinches, juncos, HOSP, starlings, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and mourning dove; some robins and cardinals (not as many as usual), and the occasional blue jay and red-winged blackbird. Sadly, I haven't spotted any chickadees. They were so common in NYS, where I grew up and I do miss them. I did overhear someone yesterday say that she had a yellow-bellied sapsucker in her yard.

Yesterday I stopped by my wild bird center to pick up more food and to look at their bird bath heaters. Why must they be so expensive? I don't mind spending a bit of money, but this is getting ridiculous (horse, dog, cats, wild birds, squirrels... the money gets funneled to them BEFORE me). Anyway, I ended up buying up a cheapo non-thermostatically controlled type of heater that you stick in the bath. I could not bring myself to buying an $80 ugly plastic heated bath with mounting ring. Does that make me a Bad person? Sempervirens, I must confess to you, I have heated bird bath envy. You are a lucky ducky.

Maybe this will redeem me: Yesterday I even purchased a squirrel feeder for the extra large flock that I have in my little garden. This is the one that comes with it's own hardware so that you can mount it to a tree and they won't carry it off, and you refill it with corn based squirrel food (sqirrel logs). Gee, I wonder if this thing will deter them from eating the bird chow - you know, like it said on the packaging...

PS I purchased the squirrel feeder out of sheer guilt due to the fact that the ground has been covered with a 2 inch sheet of ice over the past week or so and the little guys cannot dig through it to get to their supplies.

Sempervirens

Very lovely this scenery with the robins!!!

Today I had a pair of Cardinals, a pair of Chickadees, Mourning Doves and Starlings (suddenly I'm overrun with them). My feeders are all off the kitchen, so I only watched while I was cooking lunch.

I have a cement birdbath also, but mine is smooth inside. I bought, quite awhile ago, a heating element that sits in the bottom. Only problem is, it doesn't sit just right, so I have rocks sitting on it. But it doesn't take much to knock the element in the air, then the water freezes and there goes my water source. My husband and I spent quite awhile yesterday pouring hot water in it and breaking the ice out, and resetting the heating element.

There was an article in last weeks paper about Robins that didn't leave the area. The Robins that have been spotted happen to be out at my parents office building. I'm guessing they're feasting on Crabapples.

wrightie, as long as I have squirrel food out, they don't bother my feeders. If they are out of food, then yes, they're climbing poles to get to the bird food.

Thanks bonitin

I did the Backyard bird count yesterday. I had 11 species, just the usual: purple finches, house finches, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, carolina wren, juncos, goldfinches, red bellied wood pecker, downy woodpecker, and nuthatches.

Sometimes we will see a hawk, owl or kestral, but didn't get to see one for the count.

My first post! I have tufted titmice, blue jays, junkos, chickadees, lots of cardinals and they're in pairs already, just love to watch him feeding her the seeds, downy woodpeckers, wrens, then a red tailed hawk flies over and everything scatters. I've been stuffing bits of yarn into little containers I have hanging about as I wander through my garden-currently under a foot of snow and ice and think about what I'll add this year.

Your first post, yea!!! Welcome to DG mompea!!

Chickadees, tufted titmice, cardinals, lots of blue jays, bluebirds, downy WP, pileated WP,juncos. Today saw the first robins I have seen here since moving in 6 wks ago.

my first post in this forum..Had a red tailed hark roosting on a shrub near a SE window so I got to watch up close. :^) Many cardinals,sparrows. doves and last week 5 robins! Early for them here on the windy central Illinois prairie. Sure lookin forward to gettin in the dirt.....sooooon.

How cool for you iambloomin! It's rainy and just plain yucky here today, I haven't seen a bird or a squirrel. Welcome to Gardening for Wildlife!

I have heard lots of birds and bugs. It was sooo nice. It rained this morning then it quit. It was humid out but kinda chilly at the same time. Not complaining though. No severe weather.

Because cold weather was late getting here in Zone 6, about a month ago I had flocks of robins land in my yard for two days. They stripped my trees and shrubs of berries in two days and moved on.

Well, I've yet to see any robins here in Northern IL, but this morning, I did have a yard full of grackles. Robins shouldn't be too far behind.

We've had robins for awhile. They stayed all winter long and ate te bird feed and berries. We are just now starting to hear them and other spring birds though.

I forgot, I've seen house finches the last couple of days. Out at my parents though? My gosh! Especially the cardinals. I couldn't count them, there were way too many of them. Males not fighting as I read on another thread, just all eating at the same feeder. Females waiting for the males to finish for their turn.

Been there done that all winter long. lol. Now the feeders are empty cause they can access food.

Oh you're such a braggart pepper!

LOL. We have a huge red cedar along with several elms in the front yard, we border an abandoned pasture-in other words, never gets mowed just eaten by a few horses, have woods bordering the front of yard, lots of other pastures around us, creeks and ponds abound we alot of us around here garden. And we have the feeders we hang. OH and we have squirrels too that we feed. They have a feeder they share with the birds, the waterer, and walnut trees. We have to be careful with the walnuts. Only allowed to pile them up or leave them otherwise they spit the hulls at us and yell at us. We have lots of wildlife around us too. Turkey, deer, opossums, racoons, fox, snakes, and just about everything else too. That's the advantage of living in the country. Nah,nah,nah,nah hehehehe.....LOL

I'm going to do a mapquest to see how long it will take to get to you my little princess...........mwahahahahah

Hope you remember where I live!! LOL

I do, I do..........and I know what you look like too....mmwahahahahahahah

LOL

I can see how scared you are!! Juz a shakin in them boots are ye??

Over you? NAH!! Just wishing you would hurry up and get down here!! =)

Ah!! Aren't you the sweetest?? What are we gonna do?? You must take me on a tour of that place you work, then what else?

UMmmm.....KC. New arena being built, Country Club Plaza, go shopping in several differentt towns... Depends on how long you are down here. My job will take several hours on the main part then there is the nature trail which takes about 3 hrs if you walk fast.

And I have a cousin around you somewhere. Have to visit Char.

Just give me a heads up. I'll be a waiting for you to come and get me. LOL

Why don't you come get me instead? You know the way?

I wish I could. But work intervenes and other stuff. We are hitting our busy season right now which means working so hard you can't even think at times. LOL. But I will one day. Hopefully sometime this year but that depends on another trip I am hoping to take.

Oh poo on the other stuff!! I"m much more important than any ole work you have to do. humph.

LOL. One of these days I will make it up there. I have family in the Chicago area and I want to see them. Just don't know when.

Tomorrow works!! Guess what I saw today!!! TWO Robins!!

I haven't been seeing them her lately, just seeing them. But I have a hike on Sunday and I will see a bunch then.

I'm polying yet again, so this was just a glance out the window. Usually when they come, they come in flocks.....

Today I had a little bird on my finger. I was working at the chapel and I saw a bird on the window ledge. I figured it was dead but wanted to be sure so I went and knocked on the window and it stirred a little. I put on my gloves which were thick suede ones, and went out on the ledge and put my finger down for her and she climbed on up. I carried her that way all the way to the sidewalk and then tried to put her in the grass but she just kept looking at me like what are you? Very curious like. Then she moved up near my wrist, looked at me again, then flew onto my back. I asked her what was she doing on my back, she has no reason to be there and tugged my shirt and she was gone. It was a little bitty brown bird with white specks. Very cute. And she never uttered a peep.