Talk about vole hunting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c
...tuppence a bag
Stormy, That was great! Do you think I could teach my girls to do that?
Answer...No, I can't even get them off the deck to take a poo.
LOL, It's the Marmaduke syndrome!
That video makes me feel guilty about wearing my fox hat!!
That was a great video.
Don't worry stormy your fox probably died of natural causes.
LOL, Still it's a shame to lose a vole eating critter. When he takes that leap, it really is majestic.
I don't think our beagle basset "Buddy" has ever caught one, but he looks like a snowplow and sounds like snuffaloppus in their pursuit. LOL When he was younger (read, more energetic) and the snow had a crust, I swear he wore the fur off his nose plowing for them. His target was olfactory rather than auditory. SNORT Ric
That video is awesome! I saw it about a week ago on Flickr, and saved it on my computer! Talk about a hunter! Wow!!!!
ladyg--grr, doesn't that frost ya? Even big bad German Shep can be wimpy--tho she never did it on the deck. But still can use the concrete basement as emergency potty during the night.
By the way its MY thread so yes we CAN go off topic! Or on--birds here seem to have all taken to safflower for their dinner, esp when it stays below freezing for two days. And the frozen dripping from ground beef that they didn't seem to like, have been eaten, That may have been some starlings, there have been a few of those.
I have finally had a chance to sit and read thru this. What an interesting thread, It is so interesting watching the birds come and go.
VWR, Your pictures are wonderful.
Ladyg, I like seeing the hawks, too. Even if I don't want them to catch the birds at my feeders. Jamie lives pretty near the local State Park and they have a Hawk Program. He has lost several of his young chickens to them. One day when JR was here and me not thinking about that. I spied a Hawk and said look JR a hawk. He looked at me and in a very quiet voice said I HATE hawks! He can pick them out when they fly by and he can tell you what type of hawk they are. There were a group of us out in the yard and he was the first to see an Eagle fly over and he knew what it was. Holly
Whenever I drive up to PennState, I always look for them when I pass Hawk Mountain. They are so beautiful to watch. I love how they seem to float in the sky.
Have any of you gone Eagle watching at the Conawingo Dam?
ladygardener---
Responding to a few posts before----When i saw this hawk. or whatever it was, carry off the Dove it was in the middle of the day.
Another time--I was in my house talking on the phone with my daughter in Seattle--and i was by the window and there---sitting on the top of the concrete storm drain just behind my shed was a large hawk of some kind.
One other time--as i looked out my window--I saw a hawk perched on top of the pole in my back yard that holds my laundry line.
Even though I live in a development---we have a lot of wooded areas around here and are ONLY 5 minutes drive away from total country. Kind of near the "outskirts" of civilization......
You could check out >b>Perry Hall MD to see--if you wanted to. Find Perry Hall High School--and i am 4 houses East of it on Ebenezer Rd. between Belair Rd. and Honeygo Blvd.
5 minutes away from exit 67B of I-95 near White Marsh Mall.
Gita, I don't think I have ever seen the hawks pearching that close to my house. I usually see them circling high up, but they are so quick sometimes when they finally zero in on their pray.
In the last say 3-4 years I have noticed a sharp increase of crows in town. The grackles really put up a fuss as the crows will rob the nest of baby birds.
Another bird what will sound the alarm is Bluejays. It can get pretty noisy at nesting season here.
Holly, RJ sound like he needs his own bird book, no time like the present to start a "Life List"
lady---
I have absolutely NO idea if it was a Hawk--or anything else.....Al I know that it was some large bird that swooped down and grabbed the Dove and flew off with the dove screeching and feathers flying.....
When I drive--I look above quite often and see birds circling.
I know from ages ago that Hawks, Eagles, and any other birds in that category do not flap their wings a lot. The just seem to "ride the currents" of the winds and float above the ground.
That is how I know they are predatory birds.....They feed on carrion and critters run over by cars. Always circling.......
Gita
We are having our home and garden show at the local arena in Wilkes Barre on the 23rd and I will be working the master gardener booth on the 23rd. Sorry I can't make the meeting. I was looking forward to meeting all of you. Maybe next time. Marietta
Marietta, check out the "Events" thread (look for the bright yellow & red Mickey Mouse tulip) and keep an eye on the list at the top of the thread. Hopefully I'll get to meet you at one of the upcoming events!
I went to Wilkes Barre for a wedding once. Breakfast in a little caboose/ diner. Sorry I'm not close enoguh to go up for a H and G show.
I'd venture to say that hawls are around ,much more than we realize and sighting depends on how much time you spend lookingI I've had them perch in a tree here, or had one swoop past.
I have a dish of seed on my deck railing. This morning it looks kind of funny- the birds are lining up on the railing waiting turns. Little house finches mixed with big plump mourning doves. They both are eating safflower. I put cracked corn on a board on the ground and thought the doves would like that but they don't seem too interested. Anybody know what doves like?
Sally---
All I know is that Doves are ground-feeders. Sometimes i see them perched on my hanging feeders--but they are too large to "fit" there and to be able to eat the seeds out of those small feeding stations.
I see them trying to position themselves to get at the seed slots. NOT easy! That is why I throw seed on the ground so they can have some. Also--I throw Oilers and cracked corn on the patio floor for the squirrels. Many times I wonder WHY I spend so much $$$$ to just feed birds????? It is NOT cheap!
I think Doves just like any kind of seed that is easily accessible--like on the ground....
Strangely--I have seen almost NO Chipmunks in the last year????? HMMMMMM...what gives?
WHERE have they all gone????? NOT that I need them around....just wondering.......
Gita
The birdseed in my dish type of planter keeps disappearing daily. No one seems to be eating the seed in the other feeders.
Our chipmunks are MIA also, I miss their antics but not their destructive nature. We've had a stray cat traveling around the neighborhood, maybe he's doing something besides terrorizing the birds. He may be good for the voles, I can only hope. Ric
Finally, I saw some birds at my feeder today. They kept flying back and forth from my lilac and viburnum bushes to the two feeders. They were small birds, I don't know what kind. They did not sing. I was just happy to see them eating.
Known as LBBs
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little brown birds, to the expert birdwatchers with the sense of humor.
Took Mr Squirrl less than 24 hrs to find I had put some regular striped sunflower seeds out, after weeks of only safflower and cracked corn.
Yes, Sally, they were brown. I have to find better places to hang those suet holders. I have limbed up most of my trees, so I need to get the ladder out to refill them. Consequently, they don't get filled very often. Maybe I'll hang one on one of the hanging pot holders.
Finally heard some birds singing today!!
Well, I got the suet holder down and hung it on one of those hanging basket holders and filled it. Went through my baking and cooking nut supplies. Pulled out all of the older opened bags and mixed some of the nuts in with the bird seeds. Also did the same thing with the smaller dried fruits. Do you think it would be OK to put Maraschino Cherries in with it? What about the dye? Will they eat olives?
I think I'd skip the dyed cherries and the olives (salty). They'll love the nuts. Do you think you'll get... nuthatches? LOL
LOL Critter. I had to look that one up. Never heard of a nuthatch. I hate having those open jars in the fridge. Guess I'll compost them.
Ah, such a great thread!! We have our bird feeder out and have had a number of visits. But the coolest thing happened last Saturday--DH caught a red hawk in the backyard. It apparently terrorized a family of squirrels. He saw about five of them scrambling and chattering every which way. I'll have the pic loaded shortly. We just got back from an out of town trip.
VWR--your bird shots are the greatest!!I thought that "mystery" bird was a type of woodpecker. We have seen them around here. Interesting name it has.
I had put away my bird baths since they just freeze and get beat by the weather. I never thought about a heated one. Think it is too "domesticated" for wild birds. So they actually use it??
I don't think the birds bathe in our heated bath, I think they just like to drink it. LOL Ric
They say birds know not to take baths in extremely cold weather, even if the water is warm.
Thanks, Sally
OK, here's the hawk from last weekend. It was pretty awesome.
It's sitting on our fence, just right of the big willow oak. That's where a lot of squirrels hang out. The neighbors' back porch is over the fence.
I have a lot of hostas in the bed below the hawk.
wow, looks big! I hope thats squirrel -fat and not bird- fat !
Now that is impressive. I'll have to get my bird book out when I get home from work and see if I can ID it, unless someone can ID it before me.
Ric and I looked that the bird book but we really can't tell there are several that don't look all that different to us. Some one on the bird forum could tell you in a second.
Biiiig birdie! My best guess is Red Shouldered Hawk, which if I'm remembering correctly is bigger than a Red Tailed and probably the biggest hawk in our area (not counting Eagles or Turkey Vultures).
Here's my newest feeder, filled with nyger. I was impressed with the way my big "No-No" feeder (the metal mesh one) is holding up, so when I found this one on sale at Amazon I pounced on it. The birds adore it -- more places to cling and eat than on the previous one with its little perches. We almost always see at least 3 goldfinches on it, sometimes 10. :-) And juncos & house finches like to sit and eat from the bottom tray.
Foxy, Good job with that Hawk photo. Did you get to see him fly?
Critter, That's a really nice bird feeder. What pretty birds. You really captured them well in that photo. I can see a request for a couple of feeders coming about for my birthday. I'm going to look for that one.
Will the birds still eat the bird seed that's in the dish type of feeders if it gets wet?
Wet seed gets nasty. Dish-type feeders usually have drainage holes, but sometimes that's not enough if they're not covered... I've seen people make platform feeders with a wire screen/mesh bottom... if you're looking for more inspiration, check out the "show us your feeders" thread in the bird watching forum.