Daily bird pics #394

I had a pretty good idea where he was going.....Yup, to my house! lol

I am out in the road hoping I don't scare him off!

He was here about an hour earlier too looking very soggy from the heavy rains. I have not seen the female for a bit now but he is coming multiple time a day. So I wonder if they are not already nesting.

From the 14th...not very good Myrtle Warbler spotted on a walk around the half mile circle.



corrected ID

This message was edited Apr 21, 2011 9:01 AM

I went to a web page and it suggested smooshing peanut butter or a suet cake on the tree, the only problem I can find with that is the squirrels, unless I can find a way to really smoosh it into the cracks of the tree. I did something like that before with a little that I had left of a suet cake and the squirrels squashed their faces in the tree trying to get the suet. You see, I know the Pileated is in our area, because I hear him, but can't quite locate him. So I might try that, I have been going out and seeing if I can see him on my walks, I hear the re-bellied woodpeckers, they are all over the place and the blackbirds, grackles and crows and sparrows are too. But the prize I want to photo is elusive to say the least. I am burning with jealousy about you nanny_56! I go to the Marina and sit and listen, and I go to the club and do the same, but to no avail, I don't think he is going to come to my feeder, I think it is too small and there is no way for him to brace his tail while he eats, so I have to think of an alternative to it. I may do the smooshing and see what happens, I will let you know the results. Thanks for being so understanding, I know I can go overboard sometimes and I can be a pain in the tush so thanks for not booting me off of here.

Great pics everyone!

A Glaucous Gull is in Cape May, NJ. http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/

Our Pileated was trying out some grapes on the platform the other day so you might try grapes or apples which they are supposed to really like too. Don't know if they like oranges like the red-bellied or not.

That is very cool pelle! Gosh I wish I could got to Cape May sometime!

What do I do about the squirrels? I think they like fruit too, but I will have to read up on it, it might be that we are on a 4-way corner and it is too busy. Because it gets real busy in the summer, I was thinking of trying to find a old log and somehow setting it in the yard, but I can't think of any right now. Most of the trees are alive and growing and the ones that are dead are still standing, so I may have to actually use my brain and think although it hurts my head to think LOL! I like the idea of apples more than smooshing the suet cake on the tree, our platform feeder is still up, I quit using it when I got the upside down feeder. One of our neighbors has a apple tree and I will see if I can get some apples from him when they come on, is there any way I can block the squirrels from getting the fruit? I was thinking of a kind of box where the only animals that can get the fruit are birds, they squirrels can't get to it. I can't put a baffle around the whole tree! That would be very expensive! Do you remember the boxes the onions and potatoes were in? They were slanted and you lifted the top to get them out, I thought maybe something like that, only put the slant down far enough that it is only a small slit to get the fruit out and not big enough for the squirrels to get in it. That is what I was thinking of.

Here I am chiming in at the end of a thread again. I've been silently lurking and admiring! Can't believe Calliope and Black-chinned Hummers on this thread. I always forget to check the hummer threads. Love the orioles, bluebirds, Northern Parula! Great sparrows, thrashers, towhees and quail! Just all fab!

Without the mulberry tree and with all the tree loss in my neighborhood, backyard birding this spring has been depressing. The grackles have been busy killing young house sparrows and dunking them in the pond while they rip them apart. Pulling dead birds out of the pond is depressing too. I found 4 dead ones in the pond today. It's amazing that any house sparrows make it to adulthood.

Here is a pic of some White Ibis in a pond that was nearly dried up. We really need some rain in these parts.

Red-winged Blackbird makin' noise.

Some American Golden-Plovers.

Some American Golden-Plover and then some! LOL. Elfy sorry about the loss of habitat and food source for bird in the backyard. I remember you've mentioned the deadgum neighbor cutting down the trees!

Sadly, it's not just that one neighbor. There has been tons of development in my neighborhood. The chainsaws are going every day. At least I can still go looking for birds!

I'm going to start the new thread in about a minute. I'm just trying to figure out which pic will look best as a thumbnail!

OK, after some techno difficulties (actually it was all me being stupid but let's pretend it was techno probs!), I have started the new thread, so please join us at:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1174771/