I use to breed registered cattle and it depended upon if an animal was heterozygous or homozygous what their offspring would be. If a black animal is homozygous and bred with another homozygous animal, the offspring will only be black. However if a black also has red and is bred with another black animal that also has red, it is possible (happened to me in fact) that the two blacks will produce a red. I would have to set and snicker to myself when I would hear 'old timers' talking about how their black cows were having red babies from their black bull, and they were pissed. Just because they bought a black bull at the sale barn, didn't mean they'd get black calves, it's just that black is dominant and depends on which gene they threw. Ok, enough about animal husbandry, I could go on all day. That is something I know a lot about. :-) Guess I'm on the wrong forum. tee hee Oh well, ya'll learned something new today.
MID ATLANTIC BIRDS IN OUR GARDENS
Crit that is interesting. And let me take the blame for mentioning cats and leading us astray. Now,
Back to birds
Suet Taste Test The peanut/ hotpepper suet became a favorite over plain pure suet and is now gone. I had a starling on the suet today and heard some in the trees.
Hot pepper??? You've got to be kidding me. What kind of pepper do you use? I am getting ready to make some suet here. I don't really want to waste a lot of feed on starlings, I want the pretty birdies. Heard and saw a beautiful cardinal this morning just singing and singing. Tried to get his pic but was too far away.
OH, BTW ..... sorry I got off topic.
Crit, the red pepper is to deter squrrils as they can taste it but most birds can't.
Here's a recipe for red pepper suet:http://www.ehow.com/how_4840403_hot-pepper-suet.html
You'll have to deter the starlings some other way.
Oh, the site above also has recipe for red pepper bird seed
Sally, is that why you have redpepper/peanut suet? Did your other suet have peanuts in it? Was this a "scientific " taste test? lol Won't starlings eat almost anything, or do they have a preference like finches or cardinals?
Hey!!! I know that Black Birds (Starlings---Grackles--Cow Birds--and Red-winged Blackbirds)
will eat anything....
They all have now invaded my garden--Found the loot!!!!
Just today--the 2 tubed og my 3-tube feeder are almost empty. The third one
has Sunflower Seeds in it. They leave those alone....
Been throwing out a lot of so-so apples, bought on the discounted produce rack--
I slice them and toss them out my BR window. They are always gone!
I was thinking the squirrels ate them. Maybe not! Someone does!
WHOOOOOOO?????
Gita
My recipe for Hot pepper Peanut Suet:
Go to the store, look for the square package that says Peanut Suet with Hot Pepper.
No seriously, I don't cook my own suet, I just buy. I have decided not to buy the seedy suets because they go so fast I really think they are being picked apart and the cheap seed in them just goes on the ground. So for the same money I use the more expensive pure suet and it lasts longer. Judy's right, the pepper is to keep squirrels off the peanut suet.
Taste test- I had one pure suet and one peanut-pepper suet. First the pepper one was hanging loose from a branch and hardly being touched. I moved it so both hang on the same tree up against the trunk. So the peanut one has now gone faster than the pepper one. Neither one is bothered by the squirrels--who by the way are starting to nibble on safflower out of desperation.
I haven't seen many starlings this winter, till today, and it was on the plain suet but the peanut one was empty so LOL at that part of the scientific test!
Where is everyone? The weather is changing and it is very cold here today but sunny.
Yesterday was so windy the birds were hiding. Very few were eating and today it is about the same. The Geese are starting to move but I do not know where they are going. They are coming off the coast and moving West. They must be locals. Nothing to eat on the fields yet because they are still snow covered big time.
Hope you are having a good day. JB
Hi JB, It is very cold here, too. 18* this morning now it is up to 30*. I have been going to the gym in the mornings. Losing weight and getting in better shape for gardening this summer. I have also been cleaning out and organizing once spring hits I forget I have a house that needs cleaned or cared for. LOL I was just out to fill the feeders so nice sitting here and watching the birds come and go.
REFERENCE TO.....Karens Gray and Brown Phase Owls. Forty years ago beech trees filled our mountains with silver gray trees. The gray owls were often sighted by those only out for a one half day hike. Today there are nearly no beech trees. They are almost all gone and so is the gray phase owl Karen identified. In fact we may see or hear only one owl a week when we are spending a week in the mountains. To photograph one is a rare experience.
That is soooooo sad doc!
Doc, please refresh my memory, what do the beech trees look like? Do the get little puff balls on them in the fall? JB
I heard an owl hooting this morning when I was out with the dogs, before daybreak. I haven't seen any, but heard one.
What is the bird that looks like a miniature blue jay? Has the tuft on top of it's head. I couldn't get a picture.
Tufted Titmouse?
I have not heard a screech owl in the wild in years. Since learning how to call out and track owls in the woods last year, I have only been able to call out one owl... a Great Horned Owl. Many of the owls that were prevalent in our areas can be found further north now, still in good populations! Screech Owls take a hard hit in the eastern U.S. to vehicular strikes. The number one cause of death and serious injury to screech owls is being hit by cars.
Been lurking here, since I am not feeding the birds this winter.
VWR, did you go to an Owl Prowl to learn your calls? I went to one years ago. They did tell us to keep the larger owl calls to the end, as they will pray on the smaller owls. We did get an answer back on the large owl and he flew over head.
I had one fly over when I was in the hot tub several years ago. Would never had seen him but I was out star gazing. And I have seen them fly across the road at night while driving. There are woods on both sides of the road. Thank goodness he was not after something on the road.
If any of you have a nature center near you check to see if they are having an Owl Prowl in the spring. You will enjoy it.
Karen and Chris I had no idea one could learn how to call out owls!!!Instinctively, I've always hooted back. An Owl Prowl sounds great.
Seems like qwls are appearing to my extended family, too, since my encounter with the saw whet (do you have a picture of this one Karen?)
One appeared at the gravesite Memorial service for my Greatniece, Madeline Grace in Colorado and my daughter in Vermont spotted and was able to photo this series. Enjoy
the strike
and
and
That 3rd picture of the owl in the tree is great. Thanks for sharing.
The 4th picture is showing up small when I click on it. wonder why?
The owl prowl that I went to had a good speaker that was very knowagable of the owls in the area. After the the talk and Q&A we went out side and sat in the picnic area and were taught the calls, we had to remain pretty still and quiet, it was cold out that night, we dressed warm and many brought blankets to wrap up in.
Tufted titmouse looks like this....
Today this Coopers Hawk took on two Canadian Crows near our ground feeding station. A brave soul it was but the crows kicked his butt pretty good. In this image the hawk is puttiing himself back together. Bad angle and backlighted by the sun a good image does not make yet it is an interesting capture. I'll catch this critter unawares sooner or later. Oh.....this is also through glass.
Shot from the sun room.
Nice shot, doc even though the 1st one is not really sharp, it does show the sharpness of the beak and talons.
Love all the windows in the sun room, nice view for you.
We have a lot of crows in town, started a few years ago. They stay all winter and into late spring. When food gets hard to find in a big snow I see them picking at our nextdoor neighbors garbage can. They leave the can set at curb side all winter and it doesn't have a lid. I'm surprised the plow doesn't come along and push it down the street. Then the crows would have a field day.
Doc--
Is that my NBC Orchid cactus hanging in the window?
I have a couple good-growing new plants of it available.....
I have 2 Red Epis that are doing great. One of them has bloomed twice--
and then just about died over last winter. Got all dessicated and brittle.
I rescued a couple leaves that seemed to still have some green in them--
added a few leaves I had rooting, transplanted both into 10" HB, and they both
grew into a very healthy plants last summer. Gave them a sunny spot.
Watered a lot and fed now and then....
The other one has never bloomed....I think it is a different variety of a Red Epi--
the leaves are thicker and a bit triangular. It is doing well also.
Can't wait to see both of them bloom! Especially if the the plants have different blooms.
Here they both are hanging in my LR big window. Light is so-so as the patio
roof outside interferes with full sun--even though I have skylights (dirty)....
Gita
Doc--took this photo last December----
I remember you posted a picture of these weird little roots/spikes growing
at the tips of your NBC.
I have them too---not too clear--but I hope you can see them....
edited to say--the "FLOCK" of blackbirds emptied my 3-tube feeder today!
About 4lbs. worth of seed. I banged on the window a zillion times--and they
flew off to sit in my trees--then descended again and kept at it.....till it was empty.
Also--I put raw suet out (from the meat dept. at the Grocery store) in a suet cake feeder yesterday.
The blackbirds were trashing that as well. They will eat anything!!!!
How I hate these ravenous guzzlers! I want to see the smaller birds getting their share!
They only dare to come to the feeder after the black Birds have scared off to sit in the trees
That only lasts about 5 minutes before they descend again....
The ONLY benefit is that they pick through the seeds and many of them
fall to the ground below--allowing the Doves to have a bit of food.
I think I may put out the $20+ and buy one of those squirrel-proof feeders---
where the weight of large birds (or squirrels) causes the metal outer structure of the feeder
to slip down and cover all the feeding ports. My daughter has one and it works great....
Gita
This message was edited Feb 10, 2011 5:37 PM
BERGER..........................I gave most of my library to my school library. I do not have reference to the question you ask about the beach trees. I do remember that beechnuts are very small. They grow in a cluster. All kinds of wildlife depended on the beechnuts. In a heavy fruiting year the turkey and grouse ate and grew to huge sizes. Many mountain birds feasted and even shared with the squirrels and chippies.
The tree was easy to spot. It's trunk was the silver gray of an elephant's leg. No other tree even came close to looking like the beach tree trunk. I frankly never paid any attention to the seed head. I don't know what it looked like. We all got interested in the nuts and the game they attracted. It's been at least thirty years since I saw a living beach tree. The hunting camp chatter usually spoke of the "Sons of Beaches" when someone found seedlings. To the best of my thinking I believe there may be one living here and there but not many. Seems I remember that a fungus got them. We have occasional seedlings or shoots that jump up from the nearly dead stump. They die off in a few years.
coleup... great series of the owl hunting! I especially like the one sitting in the tree... beautiful! That is a Barred Owl BTW.
Chris... I have not been on an owl prowl, but they sound like a lot of fun! I have a fantastic book called "How to Spot an Owl", and we have a bird caller. I also listen to bird sounds on sites like eNature.com until I learn the calls myself. Screech Owls make a hauntingly beauiful sound!
And yes, I have photographed the Saw Whet Owl. They have mesmerizing eyes!
JB ... when you say 'puff balls', are you talking about the cotton looking stuff that flies through the air, or the little brown balls (about the size of a golf ball) that fall to the ground?
The cotton comes from a Cottonwood and the balls come from a Sycamore.
Don't know if this helps or not.
doc, with the bill in sharp focus like that, it could have been a super pic if not for he darn lighting. I was getting a goldfinch highlighted by snow in the background but then all the white behind it worked against me too.
Beech trees do have those smooth silver trunks perfect for carving initials. They're alive and well in Baltimore and Anne Arundel Cos MD at least. They are related to chestnuts and oaks. Beech have very small spiky pods with few traingular nuts inside, edible and great for wildlife. (I looked this up I didn't have all of this of the top of my head)
edit oops I forgot to link to plantfiles but you wil find it under common name american beech
The bluejay came as soon as I put striped sunflower out. So did the squirrel. The squirrel came yesterday and ate all the seeds from a butt end of butternut squash I left out there.
This message was edited Feb 11, 2011 9:16 AM
Here is the best picture of the beech tree I could find so far. Hope this helps http://www.thejump.net/hunting/plant-id/american-beech.htm
Morning Everyone, thank you so much for the wonderful identification of the Beech tree.
I had the Sycamore in mind with the little brown balls on. When I was just a young girl, about 6,. my Grandfather taught me to shoot a rifle. We used the little brown balls on the tree as targets. I had forgotten the name of the tree. Thanks so much that was wonderful.
The birds are acting weird here just now. I am not sure what is going on but they are just not as active as they should be. The cold weather yesterday should have had them eating everything, when in fact, they did not even make a dent in the food in the feeder. I am wondering if we have a preditor near and they are being frightened away. I also noticed I changed the tube feeder to one I purchased from the Audubon Society , filled it with the same seed and the finches will not touch it. You just can not win.
Have a great day and thanks again for the tree information. JB
I am pretty sure one of my neighbor, two houses up, has a large Beach-Nut Tree.
To me--the most noticeable thing about it is how horizontal the branches grow.
Makes it spread out pretty wide.
I remember as a child eating those little nuts. They came three or four to a pod--
and I had to open it to get to the nuts. Kind of like a Chestnut.
Come to think of it--this same neighbor has a small Chestnut tree growing as well.
WVR--I have NEVER seen an Owl in nature.....Do you live on a farm?
I live in a development--probably not too conductive for Owls to be flying around.
Gita
JB-I also had as lack of birds this week. I just didn't seem to see them on the feeder as i expected. Maybe I didn't watch as much thru the week.
I heard song sparrow this morning. Does anyone else have a bird-call clock? I do, and I think it's cute. I sure know those twelve birds calls.
This message was edited Feb 12, 2011 10:49 AM
I had one in my Mother's room when she lived with me to keep her company. I eventually got rid of it. Too many sad memories.
Be back later. Have some computer cleaning to do. JB
Gita... I have seen owls in the wild... but not often and not up close. While there are always cases of birds (including owls) nesting in the strangest places, most owls will avoid the more rural areas where the people population is high.
My mom had one of the bird call clocks. She gave me one and my ex made me turn off the calls. After all my moves, I'm not sure where it is now.
The birds devoured the bird feeders and suet yesterday. That reminds me I need to go fill them!
The clock varies its loudnes with how bright the room is, so thankfully the owls (12 oclock) aren't blasting you out of bed. It does take some people by surprise.
I refilled suet today too. OK birdees~~~~ Its really windy. the neighbor is cutting a large pine tree. That activity may be keeping tham away for now.
We have one Ric brought it home from the Goodwill store.