Mid-Atlantic Birdwatching - Page 2

Great pics and stories, There was a barn owl in an old barn near us for years and then it was gone. The boys made owl calls in school. We had a great time taking them out and trying them. They sounded good but I don't remember any owls answering. LOL
I've seen a couple of big ones in the woods behind the house when I was out riding. Boy are they something to see huge wing span, very quiet and the way they can move through the trees.

Well some of that snow is going to have to disappear before I go out there calling owls.

Did anyone do the backyard bird count??

Nice picture of the owl, Rcn!! We saw and heard lots of them at night while camping out in the Shenandoah National Park year before last. Wild tukeys were also sighted in the Park during daylight hours. I haven't spotted any owls around here at home, but we do see bats at night in the summer/fall.

I can't seem to get a picture of the birds at the feeder. Saturday, there was a squirrel on the feeder looking like he was doing pull-ups on the perch. When I opened the French doors, he swing off like a monkey and disappeared behind a big tree.

I wanted to answer the question on dried fruits but I haven't found anything online that specifically/explicitly says no dried fruits. The Audubon Society's website and the National Birdfeeding Society provide for quality seed and fruit according to bird preferences. When in doubt, I just don't do it. The fruit-eating birds are usually the ones that come around in the summer time, whereas the seed and insect-eatiers are usually the ones we see in winter. Here are two links on bird food/feeding you might like to see if not already:



http://www.birdfeeding.org/images/stories/PDF/nbfs%20wild%20bird%20food%20preferences%20-%20eastern%20north%20america.pdf

http://audubon.org/bird/at_home/bird_feeding/selecting_seeds.html#recipes

Thanks, Karen. They do seem to be eating all of that fresh & dried fruit that I put out there, but so have the sqirrells. I did see some larger prints in the snow today. Maybe it was a groundhog.

I thought I added a link--about the dried fruit Q--maybe on the previous thread--and I also did not find consistent info. The safer route may be to soak the dried fruit. I put a halved tangerine out but have not seen anyone eating it.
at least all those seed husks are helping melt the snow. Everything is getting eaten, except some peas in the dove mix. Stupid peas.

Sally it's odd they aren't eating the peas. We had pigeons for years and they loved the peas. That's one of the garden crops we have to watch the chickens with. If we free range our hens this year, I may have to fence the tomatoes as they ripen, I wouldn't mind if they ate one, but I think they think, the next one may be tastier. LOL Ric

Dagnabit!! Those nasty squirells made off with another suet block!! Last night, I put the head lamp on and went through the snow to get it and refill it. I did take Barb's advice this time and secured twist ties through it, 5 of them!!!

OOH-- try sprinkling some cayenne over it too. They say it will deter, used on seed.

Oh man! Did they get the suet cake OUT of the holder in spite of the twist ties?

Sally's advice on the cayenne is good. Another thing I've done (assuming they're climbing UP the pole as opposed to dropping or jumping down) is to spray the pole with PAM or some other thing. It makes it slippery, and they don't like the feel of it on their thieving little paws.

No Barb, I hadn't gotten to putting the ties on the second one, because the snow was just too deep over there. This is now the THIRD one in last 10 days.

OK, so at least they got the untied one then... I hear you on the snow being too deep - I had to leave one empty when we left town on Tuesday because we just couldn't get to it easily. Hope the remaining one will last until we get back!

I'm sorry you're losing the suet blocks - that's so annoying. If only the blasted squirrels would SHARE they wouldn't be so annoying. Nah - they have to gobble ALL the birdseed, and take all the suet, etc...

(need a snarling smilie here!)

LOL Where is that little guy?

We used to use creosote (carbolic acid and wood residues) on the stall rails to reduce cribbing, but I read somewhere that Caspian or cayenne worked as well, and was organic, by the time we tried it I think we had cured the problem. I would hypothesis that if birds are not effected by it, it would deter any mammal. I know the modern anti-fouling paints used on boats and ships are an epoxy with super Caspians, ILO lead. Ric

Stormy--

Could you hang the suet feeder from a long rope from somewhere that the squirrels could nor get to? Not by climbing--and NOT by jumping on it from a tree or something????
I bet Ric could fashion a piece of aluminum flashing into a shallow cone and put it above the feeder. A make-do baffle.
Either above or below the suet thingie. Or--both.
You can buy a baffle at HD--but it costs $$$.

Between the blackbirds and the squirrels--my suet feeder is empty too--and mine holds 4 cakes at one time!
I almost hate to re-fill it!

Haven't seen peanuts for sale anywhere for a long time. Wassup? Maybe if they had those--they would leave the suet alone. They don't care for the fat anyways---all they want is the sunflower seeds in it--or whatever else....

G.

Did some bird watching by the river today...

Red-shouldered Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

That poor gull, I can just hear him asking when is summer comming. LOL

Actually, another thing that the squirrels love is those ears of dried corn, and the one year I tried them, it didn't seem to attract MORE (sigh of relief), but ultimately we think the raccoons pulled it down from the tree and took it to their tree. Sigh... It was very entertaining to watch the furry tree rats hanging down by their toes to get to the corn!

I only use plain suet - nothing else in it. Sorta hard to find, but IMHO, worth it because it doesn't attract the seed eaters. Duncraft sells it for about the same price I pay at Southern States. One would think that the squirrels wouldn't care for just the suet, but that's why I had to put up a baffle on my pole. I left it out one summer a few years ago mainly because we'd been away as the seasons changed, and was surprised that not only did I now get all the woodpeckers, but also catbirds! So I do it year round, and haven't had any serious problems with melting at all. During the summer, we see a lot of parent birds coming to get food for the babies.

Great tip, Barb. I might get one too.

I didn't know that raccoons hung out in trees.

I have one of these... http://www.amazon.com/Heritage-Farms-Squirrel-Go-Round-Feeder/dp/B000XFTKUI

Keeps the little dickens busy for hours.

I have this little table and chair thing that we mounted on the telephone pole at the yards edge. There is a big nail that sticks up through the table and you impale (sp) an ear of corn on it. Here it is sitting empty. I will have to find a picture with a squirrel using it. They look so cute sitting there. LOL

What table and chair? LOL, that delphinium is just to distracting.

LOL You're right Lady! Pagan Purple rules!!

I really do love that delphinium hope it grows and blooms for me next summer. Can't find the pic with the squirrel eating at the chair and table. I know I had one but can't find it now. Someone has been sorting and deleting pics. Holly

Oh, Sallyg--regarding the dried fruit Q--you did post reference links in the previous thread and I was answering to that. I realize that I should have referenced your previous post or done the quote thing but I don't know how to do that. I just trusted that everyone was following from previous thread. Sorry if I appeared to ignore that.

I know we need to put a squirrel baffle thing on the pole. Those monkeys can do great acrobatics. I haven't been out much to catch the birds there with the camera.

LOL When I went outside today the suet cage was GONE. I looked around and didn't see it.

I found what looked like an impression of an explosion in the snow and on the one side of the indeniont, fund it lodged against the backside of my concrete bench.

There is only about a third of the suet left. I tried to put it back on it's hook, but found that the cage's hook doesn't fit around the Shephard's hook. Then I remebered that DSO had rigged a wire hoop for it to hang on the hook. That is nowhere to be found. OH well, he'll just have to try something else.

Oh FnFF==its all good!

geez stormyla- sounds like its getting violent there with that cage! I have to wonder if ts a possum. I don't think I've ever seen the squirrel bother my suet. Well, not the pure one I have up now. Maybe the seed or peanut butter ones, sure.

Sally, It is a peanut butter one.

We were having trouble with our suet cakes disappearing we just had an old piece of cage wire nailed to the telephone hole like a pocket and we would just drop it in the top. So I bought one of those green suet holders that snaps shut and that ended the problem. Just found this old pic, We don't have trouble with deer grazing on the plants but we do sometimes see them out at the sunflower feeders. Mostly we will see a few along the edge of the yard but a couple of years ago we had a small herd of them coming in every night so I finally put out a deer feeder. They came in most nights 8 to 12 of them and when spring came they were gone. Sometimes we get a fawn this little guy came in for a drink and then wandered around the yard for a bit. Holly

"Well, there's yer problem." Sorry! Not meaning to make light of your frustration. Sounds like you'll have to totally wire wrap / weld the darn thing to the hook.. But do try the cayenne or hot sauce.
Squirrels can really jump. Every thing I hang up thats at all workable for me to reach, seems jumpable for a squirrel. I thought I was safe by hanging a feeder on a clothesline pole. He either jumped six feet up, ran on fifteen feet of clothesline, or scaled a two inch diameter steel pole.

DH saw a wild bluebird the other day--as in, NOT in the vicinity of a bluebird box trail. I was surprised but pleased. It was near a drainage pond area for a new development. I hope that pond and the woods nearby that remain will sustain the bluebird family. Do you know that bluebirds are close cousins to robins? I guess it makes sense. I love my bird song CD that I found for 5 dollars at a discount book store.

fawn- how cute and it's not even afraid of KingKongKardinal on the pole back there

Nice pix Holly! Hope bambi only ate and didn't drinkm in your garden. My suet cage is one of those ones that snap shut. They figured out how to open it earlier in the week. Yes, we will have to wire it completely to the pole. It normally hangs from a tree, but is too hard for me to reach there.

Love the spots on the fawn, great picture!

KingKongKardinal how funny!

Stormy, you must get your self some new pets, the ones you have are just to disruptive.

Snowed in again! I did get outside yesterday to fill the feeder, I shoveled a bit and when I looked up I realized there was a huge drift in the way. Put down the shovel, picked up the bird seed and trudged through the drift. It was almost up to my butt.
Here is a picture out the dinning room window this morning.

This message was edited Feb 28, 2010 10:58 AM

A Tufted Titmouse, I have had a flock of them all winter at the feeder.

Caught a picture of a White Breasted Nuthatch

Done with that seed, should I get another?

Love the upside down pic of the nuthatch

Jen, they love that tree, the rough bark has lots of places to wedge seeds to be open.