Ned Flanders Posted June 24 Posted June 24 On 4/29/2024 at 6:35 PM, ExiledInIllinois said: Not sure if I posted these. Found them on my phone. It's the time for the finches and orioles to be passing through! Put this same oriole feeder up the other day, and not one dang oriole...guess it will take some time? It's placed about 10 feet from my regular bird feeder, should I place it even further apart? Quote
Saxum Posted July 2 Posted July 2 We added a cover over bird feed area and having become regular place for birds to feed and I have seen 8 birds at once drinking from my dog's water-bowl. One day I saw a bird dancing on top of the cover. Some of the birds actual land on porch railing by side porch railing looking for me to feed them when bread is gone. I can toss bread to some of the birds. Bread is very popular with all of the birds for it seems to be quick carbs for them. We mostly feed whole wheat products with occasional white bread crust or some other leftover bread or pastries. We have been buying suet in bulk now and feeding birds that but this has has eliminated food for some of the ground feeders. We have three suet feeders one which is used to hold pieces from other ones who they are mostly eaten. It is amusing to see the suet cakes twirl as birds land on it. We stopped feeding seed mixes because something was dumping seeds to get the few sunflower seeds in it. It even happened when I had sunflowers in a separate bowl. It might be a squirrel but on days when I monitored it closely I did not see a squirrel. Current customers are chickadees and sparrows who have nests set up nearby, blackbirds (2 are regular but their friends visit), woodpeckers of different types and sizes, a pair of morning doves who set up a nest on our back porch under a gazebo, a catbird which I never saw its mate, cardinals and occasional blue jay. In the fall a crab apple cherry tree is filled with robins and the birds nibble at both varieties of blackberries in our yard, shrub and vine. The robins never visit us except when crab tree has fruit. My little birds can be very aggressive in groups. There was a period of time when my car was not being used so they made a nest under it. My dog was started taking interest in and I told her to leave it alone assuming it was the birds but I was wrong - when I finally moved car and cleaned up debris I found a dead Norway rat with its eyes poked out. There are some birds of prey in area. I saw an eagle flying about my feeding area and a hawk landing on back deck porch railing but I have not seen any birds caught by them. 1 Quote
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 2 Posted July 2 We have a colony of monk parakeets here on SE side of Chicago @ work. They over-winter in cocoons, in the oaks on the golf course next door in Burnham, Illinois. They come here to the lock to hang out by the locusts trees. Locusts have these pods. They probably enjoy them? Anyway... I found a picture of one of them at the lock, on the internet. I didn't take the picture, never really got to see them up close... You usually hear them making a fuss and arguing... Or flying by in flocks, flashes of green, etc... Here's the picture I found, probably a bird watcher... Claims it was taken here at the lock & dam. Not sure what the used focal length-wise, etc... Cute, but hostile little fockers!😆🤣 1 1 Quote
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 2 Posted July 2 https://www.flickr.com/photos/36853267@N06/8253755962 Native to South America: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_parakeet Quote
RichStadiumGuy Posted July 8 Posted July 8 OK... I gotta do some bird venting so I figured I'd vent here today for a change because the wife is sick of hearing about this "crap" every day. Bluebirds! We have a LOT of them around our place... I counted 13 of them on the bird bath at one time earlier this year and I think they're absolutely beautiful when those wings are spread. Don't get me wrong... I love 'em and I'm glad there's so many around here being the official bird of this God forsaken state of New York... BUT! There's one in particular that continually bashes its head against both of the front door windows on my truck! It perches on the mirrors and then repeatedly attacks its image in the glass over & over. I realize it's seeing its reflection and it thinks it's attacking another bluebird but come on for Christ's sake... how many freaking head bashings is it gonna take before the light finally comes on? The constant head bashing part is the bird's problem... MY problem is that every time it bashes its head on the window a trail of white stuff comes squirting out of its other end running down the door. Every single day for the past 2 weeks now I've been cleaning off trails of bluebird crap from both of my truck's front doors... over & over... I wiped up crap trails SIX TIMES just yesterday! And it doesn't matter where I park the truck either... out front... out back... under a tree... out in the sun... it doesn't matter... it just won't give up! OK... all done venting... thanks for tuning in! Quote
Saxum Posted July 8 Posted July 8 (edited) On 7/8/2024 at 1:54 PM, RichStadiumGuy said: OK... I gotta do some bird venting so I figured I'd vent here today for a change because the wife is sick of hearing about this "crap" every day. Bluebirds! We have a LOT of them around our place... I counted 13 of them on the bird bath at one time earlier this year and I think they're absolutely beautiful when those wings are spread. Don't get me wrong... I love 'em and I'm glad there's so many around here being the official bird of this God forsaken state of New York... BUT! There's one in particular that continually bashes its head against both of the front door windows on my truck! It perches on the mirrors and then repeatedly attacks its image in the glass over & over. I realize it's seeing its reflection and it thinks it's attacking another bluebird but come on for Christ's sake... how many freaking head bashings is it gonna take before the light finally comes on? The constant head bashing part is the bird's problem... MY problem is that every time it bashes its head on the window a trail of white stuff comes squirting out of its other end running down the door. Every single day for the past 2 weeks now I've been cleaning off trails of bluebird crap from both of my truck's front doors... over & over... I wiped up crap trails SIX TIMES just yesterday! And it doesn't matter where I park the truck either... out front... out back... under a tree... out in the sun... it doesn't matter... it just won't give up! OK... all done venting... thanks for tuning in! Get a cloth cover for your mirrors and birds will bit have mirror to look into. Example of one - not connected to site: https://www.dragonsportsonline.com/buffalo-bills-nfl-mirror-cover-set/ Edited July 9 by Punching Bag 1 Quote
RichStadiumGuy Posted July 9 Posted July 9 22 hours ago, Punching Bag said: Get a cloth cover for your mirrors and birds will bit have mirror to loo into. Any chance you could try that again? That group of words that you published took a serious nose dive after "birds will" and it makes no sense at all to me. Quote
Saxum Posted July 9 Posted July 9 2 hours ago, RichStadiumGuy said: Any chance you could try that again? That group of words that you published took a serious nose dive after "birds will" and it makes no sense at all to me. updated post. If the bird will not see reflection in mirror it will not attack it. I had a water bowl too shiny and saw birds attacked it so I replaced it and they stopped. Quote
RichStadiumGuy Posted July 10 Posted July 10 21 hours ago, Punching Bag said: updated post. If the bird will not see reflection in mirror it will not attack it. I had a water bowl too shiny and saw birds attacked it so I replaced it and they stopped. Apparently you didn't read what I'm complaining about slowly enough to comprehend the problem and to save you the hassle of having to read what I actually wrote again I'll just go ahead and fill you in on the part that you obviously didn't catch. The bird isn't crapping on my mirrors... the bird just STANDS on the mirror and then attacks its reflection in the door glass. I'm not an engineer so I have no clue how to make the door glass less reflective and putting something on the inside of the glass isn't going to alter the bird's reflection that it's seeing on the outside of the glass. Quote
Saxum Posted July 10 Posted July 10 18 minutes ago, RichStadiumGuy said: Apparently you didn't read what I'm complaining about slowly enough to comprehend the problem and to save you the hassle of having to read what I actually wrote again I'll just go ahead and fill you in on the part that you obviously didn't catch. The bird isn't crapping on my mirrors... the bird just STANDS on the mirror and then attacks its reflection in the door glass. I'm not an engineer so I have no clue how to make the door glass less reflective and putting something on the inside of the glass isn't going to alter the bird's reflection that it's seeing on the outside of the glass. Putting a cloth cover on mirror which covers both sides of mirror will not prevent bird from landing on it but will prevent bird from seeing reflection. Quote
RichStadiumGuy Posted July 11 Posted July 11 21 hours ago, Punching Bag said: Putting a cloth cover on mirror which covers both sides of mirror will not prevent bird from landing on it but will prevent bird from seeing reflection. You obviously have a reading comprehension issue since you're continually suggesting that I should cover my mirrors... and it's beyond just obvious that you didn't bother reading my original post again... so let's try the question & answer game instead! How is covering the mirrors going to stop the bird from seeing itself in the door glass while it's standing on the (covered/uncovered) mirror? 1 Quote
Simon Posted July 11 Posted July 11 On 7/10/2024 at 9:56 AM, RichStadiumGuy said: the bird just STANDS on the mirror and then attacks its reflection in the door glass Could you temporarily mount a small strip of bird spikes on top of the mirror to keep it from landing there? Quote
RichStadiumGuy Posted July 12 Posted July 12 17 hours ago, Simon said: Could you temporarily mount a small strip of bird spikes on top of the mirror to keep it from landing there? Interesting thought... I didn't know such a thing even existed. I'll have to look into that if my temporary "fix" doesn't pan out. I decided to put plastic bags over the mirrors early yesterday morning and old brain dead birdie didn't bother trying to perch on them but it was very cloudy and raining off & on all day and I didn't see hardly any birds flying around. The plastic bags over the mirrors should keep birdie from perching there but it's gonna be a PITA taking them off & putting them back on every time I need to use the truck. On the bright side though being retired now I don't drive the truck very much anymore so maybe after a week or two with the bags on there birdie might move on to greener pastures? Quote
Irv Posted July 12 Posted July 12 These are sold on Amazon and have an elastic band around the bottom. They are used to store stuff in bowls. Might be easy to plop on/off your mirrors. Amazon link below. Elastic Band Storage Bags Quote
Saxum Posted July 22 Posted July 22 I have a new visitor to my bird covered sanctuary - a red headed Pileated Woodpecker. My wife showed me a fuzzy picture of a large bird with red heard am grey body with white near neck bigger than the blackbirds which regularly feed there and I researched it and found out it is a red headed Pileated Woodpecker; I could not tell if it was a male or female since picture did not show the face. We have three types of woodpeckers now in our feeding zone with two of other types regular feeders. Now that is getting drier with less rain I have seen more birds here with a robin (who normally only come in my yard when crab apples in season), two types of catbirds, sparrows, chickadees (who I built a home for them), a pair of morning doves who once again built a nest under our gazebo, 2 regular blackbirds and some other blackbirds some grey and occasional blue jay. Saw blackbird stick its head into bowl of water for my dog which birds use for drinking. Unfortunately the long tailed tree rat (that is what Chinese call squirrels) has learned to open suet container and drop it on floor so we looking at moving it under sanctuary cover which we hope squirrel cannot get. Still working on "training birds". The smaller birds will come to my side porch when I am out of bread and they will wait for me to throw bread to them. The pair of regular blackbirds have tried to join the hand feeding line but since there are smaller birds on both sides of area I throw bread I can usually throw it so they can grab it before blackbird can. Some local bees are stating to land on me. Not sure if it has to do with weather, my wife's flowers on side porch or the bird feed but they have not been stinging me so I have been leaving them alone. 1 Quote
Saxum Posted August 1 Posted August 1 We had a storm come thru our area with periodic heavy rain and then followed by strong (60+ mph) gusts. This resulted in out canopy covering bird feeding area and from which out suit cages hung from being destroyed. Each this time this kind of thing happens our birds stay away for a while until it seems safe. Have not even seen or heard any birds from the brush pile I deployed for chickadees and sparrows to make their homes. No idea what we are now going to do for our suet. Quote
Irv Posted August 6 Posted August 6 Got a new video, Bluetooth, solar camera feeder from my family for Father's day. Finally got around to putting it up. It is made by Soliom. Got a video of this guy. Any idea what it is? Quote
Saxum Posted August 22 Posted August 22 I had a new visitor to my bird feeding oasis I have not seen before - a bird size of a medium woodpecker with a purple crest and alternating black and white stripes on either side of face but not in middle. Looked in bird books and cannot find it. And the chickadee babies (I think third batch this year) are out of nest and one has already leaned to go on porch rail, fluff up and beg thru window for food . Quote
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