Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

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jebmke
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

Baltimore Oriole still hanging around whistling in the oak trees. Not sure why they stick around so long - I don't think they nest here.
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Mr. Rumples
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Mr. Rumples »

Saw the most striking "bluebird" yesterday. My neighbor who is somewhat of a birdwatcher said its an indigo bunting.

Lots of red-tailed hawks this year...perhaps it is due to the bumper crop they had of little rabbits last year.

Not sure who made a nest in my wisteria vine. Usually its a robin, but this year I don't think it is since it just sits on the eggs and doesn't fly off like a robin.
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TnGuy
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by TnGuy »

Image


Bluebirds are at it again. This time (second brood of the season) Mrs. Bluebird has laid 6 eggs (had 4 the first go-round). The more, the merrier!


David
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hi_there
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by hi_there »

This majestic eagle was captured on film while scavenging the Bumblebee Tuna factory in NJ...

Image

Also... gooslings!

Image
hi_there
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by hi_there »

TnGuy wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 1:15 pm Image


Bluebirds are at it again. This time (second brood of the season) Mrs. Bluebird has laid 6 eggs (had 4 the first go-round). The more, the merrier!


David
Wow, did you climb into their tree? I have a bluebird couple somewhere near our house. They do not nest in the expensive box I provided for them, but still check it every day to make sure no one else is there. Not very neighborly...
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TnGuy
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by TnGuy »

hi_there wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 1:56 pmWow, did you climb into their tree?
No. That's a picture of 6 bluebird eggs that I found on the net. I built a bluebird house last Fall and it was occupied this Spring. I set it on a pole about 6 feet off the ground and created a side door to be able to clean it out - and take a look in. Since the box is high, though, I use an extendable mirror similar to this one to take a peek inside.


David
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Tubes
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Tubes »

TnGuy wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 4:45 pm
hi_there wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 1:56 pmWow, did you climb into their tree?
No. That's a picture of 6 bluebird eggs that I found on the net. I built a bluebird house last Fall and it was occupied this Spring. I set it on a pole about 6 feet off the ground and created a side door to be able to clean it out - and take a look in. Since the box is high, though, I use an extendable mirror similar to this one to take a peek inside.


David
"my" bluebirds are also working on their second brood. I never check the box, I just watch their behavior, which is simple to do since the box is visible from my front porch. And once the eggs hatch and the chicks get large, there's a sweet spot of about 1 week where you can hear them make a ruckus before each feeding.

It was interesting how after the first brood, the parents "took a break" and were not very active for about 2 weeks. Hittin' the buffets?
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Dottie57 »

Two sets of parent Canadian Geese are living around my area - both pairs have three goslings each. The two families decided to cross the street and they had the audacity to not use the cross walk 10 feet away! There was a line of cars waiting for them to finish. Fun to watch.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by f35phixer »

https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams

Lots of Falcons babies and eagle babies !
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Beensabu
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Beensabu »

There's a hummingbird that made a nest in a sycamore branch hanging outside my kitchen window. The nest is just big enough to fit the bottom half of its body. It's super cute.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Vtsax100 »

TnGuy wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 1:15 pm Image


Bluebirds are at it again. This time (second brood of the season) Mrs. Bluebird has laid 6 eggs (had 4 the first go-round). The more, the merrier!


David
Wow! Thats going to be a crowded nest. My Ms Blue only laid three eggs but Ive been watching them grow! About 14 days in so they will be flying any day now!
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Vtsax100 »

Beensabu wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 5:16 pm There's a hummingbird that made a nest in a sycamore branch hanging outside my kitchen window. The nest is just big enough to fit the bottom half of its body. It's super cute.
Super Jealous. My Hummers showed up a week or so late this year looking for their juice. No nests though.
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Beensabu
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Beensabu »

Vtsax100 wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 5:29 pm
Beensabu wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 5:16 pm There's a hummingbird that made a nest in a sycamore branch hanging outside my kitchen window. The nest is just big enough to fit the bottom half of its body. It's super cute.
Super Jealous. My Hummers showed up a week or so late this year looking for their juice. No nests though.
It's the first time I've ever seen one actually sitting in a nest!

I don't think the person on the hummingbird thread believed me, but they loooooooove tree tobacco flowers. I sat under the main plant earlier today and got to see a hummingbird visit about 6-7 flowers over my head for about a minute. They're so cool to watch.
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dratkinson
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by dratkinson »

Out shopping for bargains and found this young family.

Image

Image

Delay in posting due to figuring out how to find/use image hosting site.

Closest pond is several blocks away. Would have liked to have seen that procession.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

dratkinson wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 4:56 am Out shopping for bargains and found this young family.

Image

Image

Delay in posting due to figuring out how to find/use image hosting site.

Closest pond is several blocks away. Would have liked to have seen that procession.
Adorable. I saw a pair at a Whole Foods a few years ago. They made sure they were safe. :beer
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Tubes
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Tubes »

At work, we had pairs nest in the compost rings around new trees planted near our building entrance.

There were attacks on the employees, even when we tried to give them space! Maintenance had to set off space and make us use different entrances.
ekid
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by ekid »

This morning, first time in some years, I heard a quail call- bob...bob WHITE!

Not common here in Indiana. How to encourage them? What food, or habitat?
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JAZZISCOOL
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

ekid wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 1:27 pm This morning, first time in some years, I heard a quail call- bob...bob WHITE!

Not common here in Indiana. How to encourage them? What food, or habitat?
I don't have these in my area but here is one resource for the Northern Bobwhite or others further east can chime in:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Nor ... e/overview
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Hubris »

Lazuli Bunting, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Spotted Towhee…all gorgeous, and at our feeders recently. Also, birding this past weekend, there must have been a “fallout” of a migrating flock of Western Tanagers and Eastern Kingbirds…easily 300 of the former and 100 of the latter in a 3 mile stretch along a local lake.
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TnGuy
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by TnGuy »

Image

Well, we're now into the 3rd brood of the season. And, she's back to laying 4 again this time.

Such a busy Mama Bluebird.........


David
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JAZZISCOOL
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

TnGuy wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:58 pm Image

Well, we're now into the 3rd brood of the season. And, she's back to laying 4 again this time.

Such a busy Mama Bluebird.........


David
Wow! Very busy indeed. :beer
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

Spotted Mrs. Wood Duck and two micro-ducks paddling quickly into the marsh in back to hide. So it appears the Woodies used the new house I had installed to replace the rotten one.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by sevenseas »

I am envious of those of you with bluebird families on your properties. I had to close off my boxes due to pesky house wrens (after many years of bluebird nesting success). I can hear a bluebird singing right now in the backyard...glad that at least they are in the area and hopefully nesting somewhere nearby.

Happier update: my very first ever oven bird (who has gotten used to visiting my feeder) and a scarlet tanager! The latter was a real thrill as they tend to hang out high in the forest canopy and are thus difficult to spot.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

Mrs. Woody out today leading six micro-ducks around for viewing in the creek; staying close to the marsh just in case.
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

sevenseas wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:09 pm I am envious of those of you with bluebird families on your properties. I had to close off my boxes due to pesky house wrens (after many years of bluebird nesting success). I can hear a bluebird singing right now in the backyard...glad that at least they are in the area and hopefully nesting somewhere nearby.

Happier update: my very first ever oven bird (who has gotten used to visiting my feeder) and a scarlet tanager! The latter was a real thrill as they tend to hang out high in the forest canopy and are thus difficult to spot.
We have house wrens occupying 2 houses and 3 tree swallow boxes and 2 bluebird boxes plus additional boxes. They seem to work it out amongst themselves. Are the wren boxes near the tree line, their apparent preference?

Btw, humble brag: last year we contributed 19 tree swallows to the world, almost as many as the local Audubon.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 2:46 pm Are the wren boxes near the tree line, their apparent preference?
Not sure if they have a preference. House wrens build several decoy nests that go unused. I have ceded our unused Purple Martin house to the HRs and Great-crested Flycatchers. I try to evict them from the Bluebird houses whenever they start a new project but they are persistent, noisy little birds that don't give up easily.
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sevenseas
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by sevenseas »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Fri Jun 10, 2022 2:46 pm We have house wrens occupying 2 houses and 3 tree swallow boxes and 2 bluebird boxes plus additional boxes. They seem to work it out amongst themselves. Are the wren boxes near the tree line, their apparent preference?

Btw, humble brag: last year we contributed 19 tree swallows to the world, almost as many as the local Audubon.
Yes, too few boxes (just two) in too small of an area to accommodate both species, and in open lawn but close to the forest edge. The prior owner of the house had set up the bluebird boxes and had success, but only with constant vigilance in deterring the wrens. I didn't have the heart or energy for that, so they nested successfully one year and forever after, dominated the territory (destroyed at least one bluebird nest with eggs that I know of). I have had a bluebird pair investigating a box in recent days (I removed the pine cone blocking the entrance after I heard them in the area) and haven't heard the wrens around in weeks, so fingers crossed for a late clutch! I can hear the male singing even as we speak. :)

Congratulations on the tree swallows btw, that is fantastic! :beer
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Caligal »

Just now, a coopers hawk sitting on the bird bath.

Some of the quail have micro quail this week (love that micro designation!)

Lots of titmouse competing with the finches for the feeder.

New last year and now more this year - desert cotton tails! Smaller than the jack rabbits we normally have and cute too.

Too many turkeys. But not today - everyone is hiding out from the heat.
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ray.james
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by ray.james »

A finch or sparrow nested in a hanging pot. Will be taking pics in the coming days. The challenge will be to keep the fuchsia plant alive while birds live there!
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by RetiredAL »

Hot here in Silly Valley yesterday and will be hot again today. Even the geese know.

On my walk this morning, the many hundreds of geese that are typically lawn grazing between 8 to 9 in the morning, were all sitting in shade areas today.

It's molting time of year for them, so more are in the park than a month ago. I guess it's a safety in numbers thing.

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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

RetiredAL wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:51 pm Hot here in Silly Valley yesterday and will be hot again today. Even the geese know.

On my walk this morning, the many hundreds of geese that are typically lawn grazing between 8 to 9 in the morning, were all sitting in shade areas today.

It's molting time of year for them, so more are in the park than a month ago. I guess it's a safety in numbers thing.

Image
They look quite happy and content. I saw a Robin in the back yard seeking shade and getting a long drink of water just now. Hot here also.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Tubes »

TnGuy wrote: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:58 pm [img]
Well, we're now into the 3rd brood of the season. And, she's back to laying 4 again this time.
Wow! I've been watching (and mostly listening to) our second brood. I've been hearing them for over 3 weeks. Yesterday, they started poking their heads out of the entrance. They should be fledgling any time now. I'm wondering if we'll have a third brood? It hasn't happened in past years.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

Two juvenile Purple Martins (very recent fledges - poor flying skills) checking out the PM house. Likely from nearby property because the PMs no longer use our house due to tree canopy. Probably checking who is squatting in "their house." Pretty sure there are Great Crested Flycatchers about to fledge in there; I've heard the "utes" but have only seen the adults.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by f35phixer »

JEB that brought up wonderful memory of sitting on MIL's porch in Solomon's, with Martin house in yard. Like clockwork we'd clean out house and wait for the crowd to come back. Was wonderful watching them make the new houses, fly around catching bugs and then the fledge. Sadly they stopped.

So where i live on peninsula there are three Martin birdhouses that i am going to clean up this winter and see if I can get them back. Also Bluebirds are back and I am fatting them up with mealworms. So they can use the Bluebird houses... Must be 12 -15 of them...
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Tubes »

The bluebirds flew the coop while I wasn't looking.

Yesterday early morning, they were there. I went in the back yard for 1/2 hour to do watering. Came back to the front where the box is, and mom and dad started dive-bombing me. Not too aggressively, but enough to get my attention. The babies were gone, presumably hiding close by.

I left them alone.

Maybe I'll set up a camera some time. Nature is amazing.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

I had same experience yesterday. I think they have flown; I'll check again in a couple of days and then empty and sanitize the box for the next brood.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by f35phixer »

have mealworm feeder and my bluebird babies and mom and dad are right there..
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

f35phixer wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:22 am have mealworm feeder and my bluebird babies and mom and dad are right there..
:happy

I've been seeing some "begging" behavior with the House Finches and RW Blackbirds. Fun to watch.
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MrBobcat
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by MrBobcat »

I have seen an unreal number of Evening Grosbeaks and Western Tanagers this year, way, way more than normal. I have at least a dozen Tanagers that have been camped out for the last month and almost as many Grosbeaks.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

JAZZISCOOL wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:37 am
f35phixer wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:22 am have mealworm feeder and my bluebird babies and mom and dad are right there..
:happy

I've been seeing some "begging" behavior with the House Finches and RW Blackbirds. Fun to watch.
Until you see a just-fledged Brown-headed Cow Bird begging for food from an adult Cardinal. :twisted:
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by shunkman »

North Central PA....more hummingbirds than we have seen since starting to feed them 15 years ago. It's an all-day feeding frenzy at two feeders.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

jebmke wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:49 am
JAZZISCOOL wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:37 am
f35phixer wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:22 am have mealworm feeder and my bluebird babies and mom and dad are right there..
:happy

I've been seeing some "begging" behavior with the House Finches and RW Blackbirds. Fun to watch.
Until you see a just-fledged Brown-headed Cow Bird begging for food from an adult Cardinal. :twisted:
Yes, I've heard about "cross-species" feeding behavior.....
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

JAZZISCOOL wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 2:46 pm
jebmke wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:49 am
JAZZISCOOL wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:37 am
f35phixer wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:22 am have mealworm feeder and my bluebird babies and mom and dad are right there..
:happy

I've been seeing some "begging" behavior with the House Finches and RW Blackbirds. Fun to watch.
Until you see a just-fledged Brown-headed Cow Bird begging for food from an adult Cardinal. :twisted:
Yes, I've heard about "cross-species" feeding behavior.....
Cow birds are parasitic. They drop their eggs in other birds' nests and then move along. Some people will even go so far as to remove the eggs or addle them if they find them in other species nests. I've never found them in any nests around our house that I can see into. They are devious birds who will lurk around and watch for other species starting to build a nest and then wait for the right time to drop an egg or two among the existing eggs and then leave the scene of the crime.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by JAZZISCOOL »

jebmke wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 2:59 pm
JAZZISCOOL wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 2:46 pm
jebmke wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:49 am
JAZZISCOOL wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:37 am
f35phixer wrote: Tue Jun 14, 2022 9:22 am have mealworm feeder and my bluebird babies and mom and dad are right there..
:happy

I've been seeing some "begging" behavior with the House Finches and RW Blackbirds. Fun to watch.
Until you see a just-fledged Brown-headed Cow Bird begging for food from an adult Cardinal. :twisted:
Yes, I've heard about "cross-species" feeding behavior.....
Cow birds are parasitic. They drop their eggs in other birds' nests and then move along. Some people will even go so far as to remove the eggs or addle them if they find them in other species nests. I've never found them in any nests around our house that I can see into. They are devious birds who will lurk around and watch for other species starting to build a nest and then wait for the right time to drop an egg or two among the existing eggs and then leave the scene of the crime.
I think I've heard about that a while ago. From an evolutionary perspective, it seems pretty smart though (survival of the species). :shock:
Zonian59
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Zonian59 »

Found my dad's old 7x50 binoculars, had it focusing mechanism fixed, calibrated and cleaned up.
Been seeing lots of sparrows, crows, Boeings, Airbuses, Cessnas, Pipers, Beechcraft and occasionally AT-6s and Stearmans. Sometimes hummingbirds and helicopters.
cubs1999
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by cubs1999 »

There's a pair of robins being raised in a nest on my balcony. I never appreciated how many worms and insects these birds catch until I started watching this nest.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

cubs1999 wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:30 am There's a pair of robins being raised in a nest on my balcony. I never appreciated how many worms and insects these birds catch until I started watching this nest.
Their industry and the “genius” of instinct is stunning.

I recommend The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by jebmke »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 12:53 pm
cubs1999 wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:30 am There's a pair of robins being raised in a nest on my balcony. I never appreciated how many worms and insects these birds catch until I started watching this nest.
Their industry and the “genius” of instinct is stunning.

I recommend The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman.
Great book. I think they mentioned that Chickadees can remember where they hid hundreds/thousands of seeds for up to six months. Yet I can't even remember why I went into the kitchen.

In other matters, checked on the Bluebirds in back. Chicks are still there but quite large; they have to be about ready to fledge. Evicted House Sparrows from the front box today. Many Catbirds around the yard again. I think they must have fledged recently.
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Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

jebmke wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 1:24 pm [snip...]
In other matters, checked on the Bluebirds in back. Chicks are still there but quite large; they have to be about ready to fledge. Evicted House Sparrows from the front box today. Many Catbirds around the yard again. I think they must have fledged recently.
One year, my wife “evicted” a house sparrow from a box and the sparrow pair became homicidal, spreading murderous mayhem all around our yard which contains a dozen or more bird houses. Mostly, we adopt a “live and let live” approach to them, although even the Audubon Society is not protective of this nasty species. When they get aggressive, my wife captures them and when released from the trap indoors they seem to commit suicide by flying full speed into windows. AFAIK, it is not legal, in MA, to relocate them.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
Vtsax100
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Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:03 am

Re: Bird watchers – what birds are you seeing?

Post by Vtsax100 »

cubs1999 wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:30 am There's a pair of robins being raised in a nest on my balcony. I never appreciated how many worms and insects these birds catch until I started watching this nest.
Birds are so fun to watch. I spent a couple weeks watching baby blue birds being fed. Its interesting what all they bring. They seem to favor little green caterpillars. But I saw lots of spiders. The most interesting was a huge dragon fly. I saw these big wings and had to take a double take. They couldn’t eat it the first time so papa blue grabbed it and flew away. Then he brought it back for another try. I don’t know how in the world that baby got that thing down it was huge.
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