Feeding the Birds
#751
No pics... but had a white breasted nuthatch in the backyard yesterday... first one we have seen around here...
Kathy and I both grabbed our phones, started the Merlin bird app... to figure out what it was!
Kathy and I both grabbed our phones, started the Merlin bird app... to figure out what it was!
#752
Rodent update: Rick got one shot with the BB gun and we were pretty sure he hit the vermin, but no corpse in immediate vicinity. Two days later he had a mouse in one of the larger traps and the other trap was gone. Not sure if a wounded rodent was hanging around under the shed and decided to take a nibble on the bait and "walked off" with the trap or if it was yet another rodent. Either way, traps are re-set very little seed on the ground to attract them. I read today that they don't travel more than 100 feet for their food. Unless a neighbor has something attracting them, I'm hoping we have seen the last of these things.
#753
I saw a REALLY small mother bird feeding its young REALLY REALLY small bird in the grass. I'm not sure what it was and before I could grab the camera from another room and get it focused they were into the brush. I was on the phone when I first saw them and couldn't believe how small they both were. Both neat and frustrating at the same time. Oh, well, more fun than the eclipse and quicker.
#754
I had some chickadees in a tree, one feeding the other, it's very cool. I had my camera, but didn't manage to get the shot. Tried to chase the hummingbirds around the yard last night with the camera. Didn't succeed. I got a few shots, some wing action, nothing share worthy.
#755
Through the window photo...got the wing action..her face is pretty sharp, but the feet aren't in focus. They are consuming a ton of feed. Flying all over the place, dive bombing each other. So great to watch. Caught this one on my lunch hour!
#757
Seems like we have one hummingbird that feels the feeder is all his! Every time another one shows up, he dive bombs them and chases them away.
Then he always goes back to the same spot to stand guard!
#758
Sources tell me this is actually a juvenile male. The spots on the throat are indicative of that. They darken to red. Google seems to agree.
#759
Neat, and a window shot - hard to believe, you must wash yours.
Not a bird, but the wife took this with the phone.
Not a bird, but the wife took this with the phone.
#760
Where do you keep the cans, Scoots? I keep my birdseed indoors for several reasons -- humidity will cause mold in the food and animals will forage. We have possums, raccoons, coyotes and squirrels who vie for anything edible. Additionally I keep the squirrels happy and out of my birdseed by putting out a handful of peanuts every morning for hungry squirrels and bluejays. While occasionally I'll have a pesky squirrel that goes for my feeders and somehow learns to get past the baffles, they'd much rather have peanuts. I'd never kill a squirrel for getting into the birdseed, but that's just me. To each their own. I prefer workarounds as the squirrels really help out here by eating a lot of the hickory nuts that rain down on us every year and they provide many hours of entertainment with their antics in my yard. We also have minks that love to forage and everyone in my neighborhood is excited by a mink sighting. If you must store your seed in garbage cans, use metal. Not much can chew through that. My stepson became furious because squirrels ate some of his roses so he started staking them out and shooting them. Good luck with birdfeeding or backyard entertainment because somehow the wildlife seems to learn that a predator is about. He became the predator and all the wildlife in his yard became scarce.