Backyard Birding

[4BillsintheBurgh]

2 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

 

that would be one of 3 humming birds I get yearly.  

 

This particular one seems lazy and sits to drink and not hover 

 

Probably the "owner" of your feeder, the others are watching out for him when they're drinking.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, 4BillsintheBurgh said:

Probably the "owner" of your feeder, the others are watching out for him when they're drinking.

 

 

trust me they all fight for a spot at the feeder..  

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

3 hours ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

 

that would be one of 3 humming birds I get yearly.  

 

This particular one seems lazy and sits to drink and not hover 

 

 

I tried to make it NOT in sideways ....  P~~~

Last year v

 

 

I have to downsize the images to get them to load so the quality is poorly  88.29 kB · 0 downloads

  88.29 kB · 0 downloads

 

Every time I rotate my phone, the image  rotates  too.  Can  you  help  me  out here!

 

I need  help, stat!

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Just now, ExiledInIllinois said:

Every time I rotate my phone, the image  rotates  too.  Can  you  help  me  out here!

 

I need  help, stat!

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

 

It's  all fun and games  til you  try and  solve a plumbing  issue! ? ? 

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

Oh... LoL... Giving  hummingbirds pre-mixed nectar  is like giving  my ass:

And @BringBackFergy :

You're  gonna  send those poor hummingbirds to both  a cardiologist and Betty Ford!

 

/smh...

[Saxum]

I was exiting work with some coworkers and there was a hummingbird stunned outside glass door. Coworkers said "You have birds, right". I replied "Yes".  "Please take care of this bird there are wild cats in area".  I carefully put hummingbird on leaf to carry to car and put in a box I had in it.  Half way home it was stirring and trying to fly unsuccessfully.  I took the box with bird onto my back deck in a bigger box with my dog on deck with it.  Eventually it was flying with just one wing and could not control flight but a couple of hours later it appeared to be completely recovered and left.

 

Note: my dog was very protective of injured birds. He found a injured cockatiel when my wife was walking him and refused to let her go home until she took care of injured bird. It is why I put him on deck with bird. No animal would even try to grab hummingbird.

Edited July 24, 2020 by Limeaid

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

the hummers are back to typical visits every 20 - 30 minutes...  

 

Been a weird summer. 

 

[Irv]

I bought these suet cakes at Home Depot and the birds are treating them like crack cocaine.  One cake lasts about a day.. 

[T&C]

6 hours ago, Irv said:

I bought these suet cakes at Home Depot and the birds are treating them like crack cocaine.  One cake lasts about a day.. 

Oh yeah, they love that one. Mine last maybe 5 days but I have two other feeders right there, one just sunflower seeds and the other a round seed cake crammed into a suet feeder,  so they have choices. I you google C&S suet cakes on images there a ton of other ones out there... I'm going to see if home depot or lowes has any of the different ones... mainly the insect one and the hot pepper one.

What is strange to me is the packaging of the ones you have, seems like last years look... all of the packaging around here looks kind of like this depending on which cake it is:

[Irv]

Put this one up today.  Crack.

[SoTier]

On 7/5/2020 at 11:21 PM, I am the egg man said:

Loved backyard birding for years. Have a 4 acre lot that backs up to a creek. In a residential neighborhood.

 

It was a joy learning what to feed to draw beautiful birds.

 

Spent a nice chunk at Wild Birds Unlimited yearly. Then the big blue totes came to town.

 

Which were clearly merited, as the rats, which I never had, found my feeders not long after.

 

I will never do backyard birding again....but I still get a wonderful variety, but they're on their own.

 

You don't have to give up backyard birding if putting out feeders is a non-starter. 

1. A birdbath or a small water feature like a fountain with a basin will attract lots of birds, including many that might not come to feeders.   I have a modest garden pond -- about 5 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet wide and 2 feet deep -- with a waterfall that attracts all kinds of birds to a shallow basin that's between the small upper basin and the main waterfall that spills into the pond.
2. Hanging planters of bright red/pink flowers like fushcias can attract hummers.  Mandevilla vine, especially in red, planted in a pot or in a garden can attract them, too.   Plant several hostas fairly close together in a shady corner or bee balm like "Cambridge Scarlet" in sunny spots. 
3. Create a "natural area" with some unmanicured shrubs that set fruit like virburnums, tartarian honeysuckle, blueberries, currants, etc provide fruit as well as provide shelter and nesting areas.  Trees are useful in attracting birds too, especially choke and domestic cherries, crabapples, arborvitae, spruces, etc.

On 7/8/2020 at 11:27 AM, ExiledInIllinois said:

Oh, But... In a way... Trying  to keep  the flowering  plants  at bay  may be keeping  the hummingbirds away effectively!

 

People complain  about not having  fireflies anymore.  It's  because  people keep  their  yards TOO neat, well lit.

 

Exactly right.  I allow an area along my back fence to be pretty unkempt because it's not visible from the house, and my neighbor just has some large shrubs on the other side of the fence in that corner, and there are plenty of fireflies there.  They seem to be most numerous on warm, muggy nights.  Birds, too, love that "wild area" although I don't often see them but hear them.  Catbirds and thrushes especially love bushy thickets.  I also never deadhead my purple coneflowers because chickadees love to eat the seeds all winter into the early spring even though I have sunflower seeds, suet, and mixed bird seed in feeders for them all winter.

 

[Gugny]

Whilst enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck, I heard the distinct chirp of a nuthatch.  My nuthatches left late in the Spring.  After hearing the chirps for a minute, one of them went right to their house.  Always happy when they come back.  They should stick around for most of the remainder of the summer.  Very fun to watch/listen to.

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

Whilst enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck, I heard the distinct chirp of a nuthatch.  My nuthatches left late in the Spring.  After hearing the chirps for a minute, one of them went right to their house.  Always happy when they come back.  They should stick around for most of the remainder of the summer.  Very fun to watch/listen to.

 

Wish we had some nuthatches here. Maybe my wife has seen one but not I.  Lots of trees here but no cavities.

[US Egg]

Luckily, I had red tail hawks nest in my yard.

 

With the mild winter, had lots of bunnies and squirrels.....not anymore.

 

They're going after the woodchucks now, so far, no kills.

[SoTier]

4 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Wish we had some nuthatches here. Maybe my wife has seen one but not I.  Lots of trees here but no cavities.

 

Since I had my big ash tree removed because it suffered from ash die back, my nuthatches have largely disappeared -- along with the ants that had lived in the ash tree.  I'm guessing that the nuthatches were feasting on the ants and whatever other insects lived in the ash tree.  Now, they only come in the winter when they're hungry for sunflower seeds.

[T&C]

4 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

Luckily, I had red tail hawks nest in my yard.

 

With the mild winter, had lots of bunnies and squirrels.....not anymore.

 

They're going after the woodchucks now, so far, no kills.

I have red shouldered hawks all around... once in awhile they land in the back part to make their presence known.

 

A woodchuck is a ferocious piece of fat that would be hard for a hawk to take down, unless it is a pretty young one.

[Gugny]

3 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Since I had my big ash tree removed because it suffered from ash die back, my nuthatches have largely disappeared -- along with the ants that had lived in the ash tree.  I'm guessing that the nuthatches were feasting on the ants and whatever other insects lived in the ash tree.  Now, they only come in the winter when they're hungry for sunflower seeds.

 

2 hours ago, T&C said:

I have red shouldered hawks all around... once in awhile they land in the back part to make their presence known.

 

A woodchuck is a ferocious piece of fat that would be hard for a hawk to take down, unless it is a pretty young one.

 

Hawks (any kind) are probably my favorite bird.  They fly with such grace.  I've never seen a hawk from my yard.  But I did have a woodchuck living under my shed!

[T&C]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

 

 

Hawks (any kind) are probably my favorite bird.  They fly with such grace.  I've never seen a hawk from my yard.  But I did have a woodchuck living under my shed!

I see a pair of swallow tail hawks fly around here once in awhile, seems a half a mile high though... never have seen them perched/landed ever. The red shouldered though... they screech around here all day.

 

Just throw a bag of mothballs in there if you want to get rid of the woodchuck... even opossums can't stand it. Had a problem in my pump shed a couple of years ago and that did the trick.

 

Favorite predatory bird is the owls and the falcons... hawk variety next.

Favorite non predatory bird is the cardinal.. and robins. Don't get robins but every few years in the winter here but they were my favorite back in WNY.

Edited August 3, 2020 by T&C

[Gugny]

10 minutes ago, T&C said:

I see a pair of swallow tail hawks fly around here once in awhile, seems a half a mile high though... never have seen them perched/landed ever. The red shouldered though... they screech around here all day.

 

Just throw a bag of mothballs in there if you want to get rid of the woodchuck... even opossums can't stand it. Had a problem in my pump shed a couple of years ago and that did the trick.

 

Favorite predatory bird is the owls and the falcons... hawk variety next.

Favorite non predatory bird is the cardinal.. and robins. Don't get robins but every few years in the winter here but they were my favorite back in WNY.

 

I actually had a skunk problem for a couple years.  Found this remedy online.  Soak tennis balls in ammonia over night.  Next day, roll the tennis balls under the shed.  It's preferable to do it when you know they're out, but I never worried about it.  The ammonia smell makes them think another animal has come and pissed in their territory.  They pack up the fam and leave.  I did it for two years straight.  They left both times and (knock on wood) I haven't had skunks under my shed in at least 5 years, maybe more.

 

Robins are the first sign of spring here.  And for that, I love them!