For the birds

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chally

Very helpful member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Messages
1,265
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
02/2015
Country
US
State
wv.
City
renick
Well now that it's winter here in WV and weather holds me indoors more I have rekindled an old hobbie of bird watching but now it's from my morning window.

My cals have set up feeders right outside my window and now that the birds have found the seeds they come in quite regularly.

What a joy to watch them and their pecking order.

3 pairs of cardinals which is WV state bird,lots of sparrows and an assortment of interesting other characters.

If you feed birds I highly recommend giving them " black oil sunflower seeds"
Well happy day to you all and good birding to you!
Love ya Chally
 
Good for you Chally, we all should have a hobbie. I spend a lot of time playing on line poker and feeding the squirrels.
Al
 
Chally,

We've got two window bird feeders. One in the family room where Darcey sits and one on the window in my office. Our Virginia's are much alike... you State bird is the Northern Cardinal and our State bird is the Cardinal. We have a pair that have been with us for 3 years now... "Daddio" and "Momma Sass". They have the most wonderful of dispositions... and as beautiful as they are, they're also a pleasure to watch. We also get the Titmouse, Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, Sparrows, Blue Jays and Doves. Our first year, we had an awesome pair of Cowbirds. We don't see them any more... but they were my absolute favorite pair. As affectionate with each other as the Cardinals can be, the Cowbirds were even more so. Each would feed the other and they were rarely apart.

We also have squirrels who enjoy our bird feeders. I don't want to change feeder types as the window feeder is the easiest for Darcey to see. I've tried moving the feeder to different areas on the window... but the squirrels always find a way to get in. If they can't jump from above, they'll climb from below. It is one of the most persistent of critters I know. I use Wagner's Greatest Variety Blend (16# bags from Amazon). I heard that the squirrels like the sunflower seeds... but don't care for safflower seeds. So I now split the feed in half... left side is safflower and the right side is Wagner's. Wouldn't you know it... the squirrels are just as happy with the safflower seeds.

But I can be pretty stubborn, too. So I purchased a squirrel feeder that mounted at chest height on the big tree in our backyard. The squirrel food is primarily corn kernels... but also has sunflower seeds and whole non-shelled peanuts. They really LIKE this. But when they'd be out, they default back to the bird feeders... where I'd have to chase them out. I'm sure they think its a game.

So I began going out and onto the back porch. I'd toss some squirrel food on the patio and they'd come in to eat. We'd talk while they ate... with me doing the majority of talking as their Mommies had also taught them to not talk when their mouths were full. Over the course of time and given the attention that I'd offered these squirrels, we eventually came to a type of casual truce/agreement. I'll try to keep them supplied with squirrel food and they'll stay out of my bird feeders. If I get behind and their food runs out, they'll let me know first. If I don't remedy the situation, then they'll move back to the bird feeders. So here's how this works...

In the back (Darcey's side), they'll climb along the outer edges of the window (where the feeder is) and look in. If we don't acknowledge them, they tap on the window... or scratch on the cedar siding. As I spend a great deal of time in the kitchen, they will sometimes climb up and look in through the back door... where they can look directly into the kitchen. And failing that, they'll get back on to the top of the feeder... BUT NOT IN IT. These courtesies are difficult for a hungry squirrel... and accordingly have imposed some severe time restrictions as to how patient they will be. But at least they're attempting to work with me.

As friends come by, they always asked how my trained squirrels are doing... and I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished. At night, as I drift off to sleep, the vision becomes stripped of its facade and I briefly have a view to the reality of the situation. It is then, that I've been "played" by the squirrels and have become their private servant. Fortunately, sleep follows quickly enough that thoughts about the underlying costs fade into oblivion. And as a new day dawns, I can already hear them tapping, again, at my window...

My best!

Jim
 
I also love watching the birds.
 
Jim I insist we need photos - how I would love to see a squirrel in real life one day!

I have so many birds here I can't even begin to catalogue them!

Yesterday I was thrilled to see a young kingfisher and know my pair raised at least one! His colour hasn't fully come in yet, and I couldn't get super shots, but I did enjoy seeing him!
 

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Tillie- It's funny what you say about squirrels- or what we refer to as "bushy tailed rats". They are so ubiquitous in N America, that it wouldn't occur to me that folks elsewhere would be excited to see one til I saw a child's amazement in action. I attended a huge gathering of my husband's family at a park a few years ago. One branch of the family were missionaries in S America somewhere. They spent their entire time at the gathering keeping an eye on one of their kids as he was absolutely mesmerized by squirrels and kept wandering off into the bush after them. He'd had access to monkeys, tropical birds and all manner of "exotic" animals, and here he was following squirrels around in absolute wonder.

Jim, I hate to tell you this, but you have been bamboozled. Those squirrels have your number and set themselves up with a pretty good gig. Be careful the crows don't find out, or they'll take advantage too.

Chally, bird watching is a joy- I'm glad you shared. We had a pretty cruel winter last year and had a little Anna's Hummingbird use our patio as a bolt hole. I probably went through 5lbs of sugar keeping his feeder supplied. I would bring the feeder in at night, then get up before it got light and heat it slightly so it wouldn't freeze before the sun hit it. The hummingbird used our incandescent Christmas lights along the garden rail as a heater- so we kept them on 24/7 for him to sleep/rest by. Our winter electrical bill was absolutely gargantuan because there was no way we were going to let the little thing freeze.

We have a little flock of bushtits that cruise through the garden twice daily to forage, as well a Stellar's jay (and any manner of other little birdies too). The cat plots mayhem from the comfort of "his" chair inside because he's pretty sure bushtits would make a pretty satisfying meal. The jay knows he's there and taunts him by screaming and hopping around directly on the other side of the window while the cat looks on in outrage.

I will only feed the birds if it's below freezing, as our neighbourhood has a pretty significant mouse/rat problem and we don't wish to encourage them. The coyotes who usually keep the population down have been actively discouraged by the municipal authorities recently, so this year there's been an explosion of prey animals/vermin and emboldened ravens, raccoons (endearingly called trash pandas) and skunks. Nature is a balance, and when people interfere it causes problems!
 
Here in Oregon, we also have the little Anna’s hummingbirds year-round. They are feisty and territorial. In the winter, we bring the feeder in at night so it won’t freeze. We used to put out seed feeders but had too many problems with rats and ground squirrels — the kind that can get under the house and chew up your insulation. We also had a neighborhood cat lurking under our seed feeder, watching the birds intensely. This drove our dog nuts. We ultimately took down that feeder because it wasn’t fair to lure the birds in to the cat.
 
Karen, if our guy was an outdoor cat, we'd definitely do the same thing. As he's a lazy fat glump who only likes to sit in the garden (fully enclosed) when it's warm and dry, we've managed to keep bird life and cat life separated safely during the winters. On the rare occasions he's indicated he would like to give rainy and cold a try, we do a garden sweep first before opening the patio door. It usually prompts an immediate outraged demand to return indoors.

Re: the Anna's hummingbird. Our little fella drove everyone off last year and has managed to retain full solitary ownership of our patio since. He enjoys the montbretia in the summer. Another member here (Hi, Liz!) has named her resident hummingbird Genghis for obvious reasons.
 

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Glad to others stories on birds.

Jim, you sir,I tip my hat! Darcy must love the window birds
Now Jim here's were you and I differ, your favorite " cowbird " is my least only because it's in their nature at nesting time to take over other bird nest just briefly to lay an egg and so leave it up to the host bird to hatch and raise the young ones.

Jim, correct me if I am wrong on this! My favorite is the little " nuthatch "
Thankyou all for sharing about birds.
 
Me and Harlee do a lot of bird watching in our spare time (which is most of the time). I have 8 large trees in my yard that draw a veritable cornucopia of bird species.

I am fascinated by the hummingbirds and woodpeckers. I used to feed the humming birds, but was to lazy to set the nectar bottles this year. Only fed the seed eating birds one winter a while back. It was fun watching all of the various species......but the bird poop was overwhelming and ruined the paint on my truck.
 
Funny you say that Mark. My husband (PALS) loves to watch the birds too. We have a number of feeders in the trees in our yard.

One day, my son went out to his truck only to see bird poop all over his front bumper. Only on the front bumper, but it was so bad it looked like someone had taken a very large white candle and poured all the wax from one end of the bumper to the other. A little internet investigation revealed that the birds (I forget what type it was) like to look at their reflection. Big-ass chrome bumper on the front of his Silverado provided the perfect place! We still have the feeders, he just backs his truck in when it gets bad. They don't seem to like the back bumper as much.

We now have a pesky squirrel, which our dog hates, who hangs from tree branches to raid the feeders. Weather has been yucky her the last few days. I have a feeling I should go out and fill them all.
 
Procrastination is a good thing! I didn't get around to putting seeds in the bird feeder after we moved into the new apartment. At least I fixed it to the ceiling of the balcony but was reluctant, because I knew that out feathers friends do in fact shit where they eat. (The shiny bumper, haha!) Also my PALS can't see the bird feeder from where he's sitting at the table or the exercise machine (we're talking theory...)
Luckily our downstairs neighbor up a bird feeder in the perfect spot for us to watch the great tits! (Don't excuse my language, I just had to learn that that's the correct english word for the little flitting birds frolicking in the garden! )

The squirrels here are the European red or black ones I enjoy a lot. No sight of them at the bird feeders but I saw one the other day, carrying home christmas shopping (the squirrel did). Also I hugely enjoyed the bushy-tailed rats, chipmunks and relatives we saw in abundance on our great west coast trip this summer.
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Those squirrels are uber-cute. ��
 
Those squirrels are great!
 
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