Daily piccies vol 442

Big congrats on the Lifer, Chillybean. I've never heard of, nor seen, a Grasshopper Sparrow - thanks for sharing.

And I'm still intrigued with you folks who use oranges to get Orioles. So far, I've had no success. Maybe I'm just too far south and don't know when to expect to be visited by Orioles. I need to read up on the subject. Once, though, I did see and photograph an Orchard Oriole, but I think that was early in the year a long, long, long time ago.

About your orange halves, how do you have them afixed to the stump so that they don't roll off?

Hack

the people who use oranges usually hook them to the source somehow. The orioles like our tulip poplar, but blossmes are too high in the tree for good observations this year.

Hi GrannyGrunt!

Congrats on your Lifer Chillybean!

Over the years I've used different types of nesting "stuff", but a few years ago I discovered some "all-natural fibers" Nesting Material in a Farm & Fleet store where I get most of my bird seed, corn, etc. I've also seen similar brands at Wild Birds Unlimited (but it costs more).

The fluff I buy comes in a big bag and I only need to use a little at a time. Usually it lasts more than one season and rain doesn't cause a problem since it dries quickly in the suet feeder. It's very inexpensive, probably only a few dollars for a very full package.

The brand I have is called Heritage Farms and it's made in the USA. They have a toll-free phone # on the package: 800-635-3831. They also list 2 websites: www.heritagefarms.biz & www.kayhomeproducts.com. I don't know if they ship, but I'm sure you could also find similar products locally.

Hack - The Orioles will come to oranges if they're already in the area. You may not have any around right now. You might want to go to some of the websites that have bird sounds. The Orioles are VERY talkative & very distinctive. They make chattering sounds when they're in the trees as well as other types of sounds. Once you've heard what they sound like you'll probably recognize it immediately in the future. I generally hear the Orioles before I see them.

Yep, iris, I figured they had to hook the oranges down someway or other./

nutsaboutnature, I will do more research on the Orioles, but you talk on the bedding material perked my interest. I'll check around here and see what I find locally. Maybe Tractor supply - that's where I buy lots of my seed and all my suet.

I have some pics to share, too:

#1 - I am awed by how red my male House Finches are.

#2 - Here's a male cardinal and I think the Male HOFIN is just as red, maybe redder.

#3 - Saw the leaves moving and spotted this female Cardinal.

#4 - My little Brown-headed Nuthatches were all around.

#5 - Lousy pic of a Brown-thresher. I'd seen one yesterday taking a sand bath, but didn't get the 40D in time. Wish now that I had used manual focus instead of AF on this one. The leaves in the foreground messed me up.

Hack

Nutsaboutnature, Thank you for the info. I'll look into it. That is interesting how you know the Orioles are in your area. We see them before we hear them. This year what we did is watched the Iowa bird list for when people started sharing their Oriole sightings and we put out the oranges a couple days later to give time for any migration my way. They came into our area about four days later, but the oranges were always kept there until that time.

Hack, We pounded two nails into the stump, but not very far in, so we could spear the oranges on them. You might be interested in this http://www.listserv.uga.edu/archives/gabo-l.html This is the bird list for your state. When I signed on for the one run by the Iowa Ornithologists Union, the people were very helpful and guided me to different groups for info. Not only rare sightings are posted, but a lot of first of the season birds, yard birds, etc. I always enjoyed the yard bird sightings, it'd be cool when someone sees a bird for the first time. And new birders are always fun as they liven things up with their excitement.

Chillybean

Nails, huh, got to find me a stump.

Oh man, that link is great. Thanks. I watched a vidoe of Swallow-tailed Kites. Amazing

Nice variety of birds, Hack! Yes, some of the male House Finches can get really bright.

Hack and Chilly - I checked the websites I posted and couldn't find the nesting material so I called them. I spoke to a really friendly lady (told me she and her husband were in their 70's) for probably half and hour! We talked all about the birds and animals that visit both of our yards!

Anyway, they don't have it on their website. They call it a "refill" for their nesting material holder. She said it was available at some places I'm not familiar with and also Amazon, but I couldn't find it on Amazon. She was willing to sell me some if I couldn't find it, but I told her it wasn't for me so I didn't ask what shipping would cost and wasn't sure if it was even the same size that I've been buying.

Chilly, there are several Blain's Farm & Fleet stores in Iowa. I don't know if any of them are near you...Cedar Falls, Clinton, Davenport & Muscatine. I also don't know if all the stores carry the same items, but I suppose it's worth a try if they're close.

I always try to have oranges or grape jelly when I'm expecting the Orioles, but I do hear them first. Even after they've been here for a while, they always "chatter" for a bit before they come to where the food is. Sometimes they chatter on and off while they're eating! I've always considered them to be really "talkative" birds.

Besides the "chattering" or "rattling" sound they also have a very pretty chirping song that is extremely pleasant to listen to.




This message was edited Jul 24, 2012 5:10 PM

I noticed that, nutsaboutnature. I couldn't find it on their site earlier. You really went all out to find out about the fluff. Sadly, none of those towns are near us, nor when we visit the Iowa City area. They sound like friendly people, so maybe I can call and they could ship us some. I'd probably talk their ears off about birds. Some of my poor friends...

I forgot about that, after the Orioles arrived, they would "chatter" a bit before coming down to the oranges. It was like they were singing for their supper.

Chillybean - My only concern about directly ordering was when she looked at her catalog she said the bag looked small, but that it was hard to tell from the picture. I don't know if they have more than one size.

The ones I've bought are only about 9 X 9-inches, but thick like a pillow. It doesn't sound that large until you start using it. It really spreads out in the suet cage so I use very little at a time.

Chilly & Hack - If Farm & Fleet wasn't so far from me I'd offer to pick some up and mail it to you if they still have any left, but it's bit of a drive. My husband and I were just there a few days ago to stock up on some seed and stuff so we may not go back for a month or more. With so many people seeming to have interest in it, though, I'll try to remember to check next time as it's in a sealed bag that stores well from year-to-year.

Cute photos everyone. Chilly congrats on your lifer.

Here's a brown-headed cowbird, a female house finch, a juv scrub jay, a full house of orioles at the feeder and a Calif. thrasher.

Love all the photos, duc!
I think the House Finches always have a cute expression like they're "curious". Those Orioles are amazing. I like the way you removed the flowers from the Hummingbird feeder. I think it might work better than the Oriole feeder I have...most of them don't like to use it so I always go back to oranges & grape jelly.

I just accidently posted these two pics in one of the Wildlife threads but I'll post them again here. I find these guys hard to catch. They're extremely friendly, but they hardly ever sit still. These didn't come out that good, but I decided they were cute enough to post.

Yes, I have do a Paypal account. We don't plan to go out there for a while, though. I can check if they still have any in stock the next time we make a trip.

You can buy that nesting material straight from Farm and Fleet too.

http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/565212-bird_nester_refill.html#.UBH2d82IXZg

Thanks Mrs_Ed!

I found that link yesterday by using the item number from an old receipt, but the package looked different (& possibly smaller ?) than what I've bought in the past so I wasn't sure if it was exactly the same item. Just out of curiosity I called the toll-free website phone to find out shipping costs to Iowa or Georgia, but the lady I spoke to said they don't do International shipping (HUH??)...sooo I left it at that.

Anyway, it's probably the same stuff (or similar) so Chillybean and Hack, if either of you want to try ordering directly from Farm & Fleet, the price that's posted (before shipping) is the same price that the store charges. When I put in my own zip code plus a couple from other states, the shipping showed $4.95. The shipping remained the same when I put 2 in the cart. I didn't check more than 2 so I don't know how many you could buy for the same shipping.

Marna, I forgot that you probably also have a Farm & Fleet near you. I love that store!

LOL. international. oy.

Yes, I have a FF here, about 5 miles or so. DEfinitely the best place for bird stuff, but lots of other good stuff.

Thanks, nutsaboutnature. Isn't the time to put out nesting material the in the spring? - But, I'm still gonna' order some.

Hack

Thank you so much for finding all that out. I am thinking of ordering some now and fill up some net bags, maybe for gifts or something. Oh... I laughed... international??

1. Well, our little invisible noisemaker finally made an appearance- Northern Bobwhite
2. The nearby creek is drying up, but still has some bird activity-Killdeer
3. Orchard Oriole siblings.

You can thank Mrs_Ed for bothering to post the link to their website.

Hack, it depends on what kind of birds you have around. Most birds use it in the Spring, but Goldfinches are starting to nest now and will continue for a while. Also the lady I spoke with from Heritage Farms, had a good idea. She said she keeps some out all year that she puts where the Squirrels can get to it. She said she's seen them pulling it out to add to their nests.

Again, I can't guarantee it's exactly the same as what I have, but the website price is still much better than I've seen for similar products in other places, even with shipping.

Neat pics Chillybean! What's so amazing about Killdeer is even though they love water, I sometimes see them in fields with no water, although they usually don't have to fly far around here to find the river or lakes.

Here are a couple of pics of one of my unopened packages of nesting fluff. It may help you to compare what you get for future reference. the Date is just something I wrote. I tend to date everything that's consumable.

I just ordered 4 bags, plus the so-cute-they-suckered-me-into-buying, garden stake mesh bird feeders. I got one of each, the sunflower and cattail. They will make a home in the front yard this fall and winter. We'll see if they are busy when Project Feeder Watch starts. Our most active feeders are usually the homemade ones.

Congrats, Chillybean! Oh, I've seen those garden stakes in their store & have thought about getting them many times. They're adorable! I think I'll have to spring for them one of these days, particularly since we have so many birds that love our other mesh feeders.

I went to Amazon and got me the Heritage Farms nesting material holder and a bag of refill, too.

I also picked up an hour-glass shaped Sunflower Seed Feeder. I hope it holdes more seed than my current feeders.

Also, how do you all store your seed, in order to keep it fresh and unmoldy. I found that in my wild bird seed there were tiny insects crawling around. I put it out anyway and the birds didn't seem to mind. I may be buying too much at a time.

Hack

`I'm gonna get me a couple of Behrens 10-Gallon locking lid cans for my bird seed. According to the Internet Tractor Supply (we have one here) has them.

Hack

Good Morning, Hack.

We use Rubbermaid containers and ice cream buckets. Because the nuts were most prone to little crawlies, we have those in the ice cream buckets, and put in the freezer. At this time we have the space in the deep freeze, so it's not a biggie, but if we ever get a lot of meat-I'll have to rethink this.

Nutsaboutnature, I forgot to mention this... When I ordered, all of it went into the $4.95 shipping. I think the limit is ten pounds and my items fell under that.

I was out sitting right next to my bird bath when this robin, a female I think, hopped out of the bushes and jumped up to the bath - with me sitting RIGHT THERE in my wheelchair - acted as if it were not scared at all. I got closer, and closer, and it let me. Here are a few of the many pics I took of it. It finally hopped down and went back into the bushes. It came out several more times. Do robins nest on the ground?

Hack

Hack,

I heard this summer from someone who said they found a Robin's nest on the ground, but I think that is unusual. Our Robins often go under our lilac bush, but they don't nest there. I think they just hang out there. I know they will pop out when we throw berries on the ground near there.

Ok, I know this is a long post, but lots to write.

Hack, I think you'll like that nesting material holder. I've seen them at FF and they're pretty large. I've considered buying one, but like that I can hang the suet feeder anywhere. The nice thing about that holder is you can put it on a tree and it's large enough that more birds might use it, so eventually I might try one.

That large mesh feeder sounds nice. I have a huge round one that I bought several years ago before going out of town. The deer don't bother the mesh feeders, but they'll empty the others so it's nice, but it takes a lot of sunflower seed to fill it so I rarely fill it all the way. It has an attached tray and small rain cover. Sometimes all I do is fill the tray.

I buy 50lb bags of most seed and corn. Because I go through it quickly enough, I leave it in the bags and use those black metal document clips to close them. I've only had a problem with bugs once and that was in some whole corn that I believe already had the bugs when we bought the bag. I generally keep the bags in the garage, but in the Summer, my husband brings most of them down to the basement where it's cooler.

Depending on the size of your bags, you might try some food storage containers that you can buy at places like Wal-mart or Target. I've also kept seed in 5-gallon containers with lids that you can buy at home improvement stores (Menards, Home Depot, Lowes) (sometimes they're in the paint dept or with mops & brooms). They'd be much, much cheaper than the ones you're considering and they work well. You should also buy the paint can opener specifically designed for 5-gal plastic cans otherwise they're hard to open. Fresh nuts, though, should probably be kept in the fridge or freezer unless you really go through them quickly.

Wow...that Robin must have thought you were just a large Robin coming to the bird bath...Cool! The Robins in my yard generally nest in small trees and some shrubs. They build very nice nests and take great care in building them.

Chillybean, that's super that you got all that stuff for the $4.95 shipping cost. Definitely worth it! I'll have remember that for the future in case the store is out of something that the website has.

Lastly, for any of you that might want to try the nesting holder, they also have it on FF website. Here is the link.


http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/565211-bird_nester_wire.html

robins nest in shrubs or trees., but they explore the ground a lot. Very friendly birds as a rule.

nutsaboutnature, Now why didn't we ever think of using the paint can opener, like you mentioned?! We store flour and oats in those things and the battles we've had!! One determined child had oats all over the place one morning.

First picture is from Thursday, a Bobolink. This probably belongs on the Appalling Photos thread, but I was thrilled to see these birds after we thought they left. What age or gender I have no clue since the males molt out of their breeding attire.

We are still amazingly blessed with the Red-headed Woodpeckers. They started coming a week ago and have not left. They cleaned us out of the nuts in the platform today and are storing them in the power poles nearby. For the most part, it seems our visiting Red-headeds are getting along. We've seen three at once. Is that normal behaviour? In the winter, the Red-bellieds never liked any others of their kind. I sure wish I could tell them, "There's enough for all, so stop your fighting!" This photo is a youngster.

nutsaboutnature. Today I went to Tractor Supply and picked up two 20-gallon cans with lids. This should go a long way toward sealing my seeds from insects. I had been using those plastic containers that Lowe's sells in their storage area. They do not seal air-tight.

irisMA, that's what I was thinking - robins nest in shrubs or trees. They do tolerate my presence nicely.

Wow, Chillybean, a Red-headed Woodpecker, now that is just plain neat. Thanks for sharing.

Hack

Nailed me a Jay bird a few days ago. Just got around to working it up the DG.

Hack

Chillybean, I was going to take a picture of one of our 5-gallon can openers, but instead decided to post a link from Home Depot just so you could see what they look like and what they're called. They are available at pretty much any home improvement store. They're made out of hard plastic or ABS and work quite well.

http://www.homedepot.com/Paint/h_d1/N-5yc1vZar2d/Ntt-5%2520gallon%2520bucket%2520opener/searchNav-true/h_d2/Navigation?keyword=5%20gallon%20bucket%20opener&Ns=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=Paint&omni=Paint&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053#/?c=1&rpp=96

That's so cool about the Red-headed Woodpeckers and Bobolinks! We get Red-headed two or three times a year, but they don't usually stay, probably because we have so many other woodpeckers and the Red-Bellied, in particular, tend to be very territorial. We have Red-bellied, Downy and Hairy year 'round. In the winter we will sometimes see a few extra ones. I've read that they'll sometimes tolerate others in their territory during the Winter, but come Spring they want them to leave and make it very clear!

Wow, Hack, those 20-gallon cans should hold a lot! That's great. We also have a Tractor Supply not far from us.
Beautiful Blue Jay!

This message was edited Jul 28, 2012 10:28 PM

nuts, the 20-gal ones only cost a couple bucks more than the 10-gal ones - no reason not to size up. I'll transfer my seed over tomorrow.

Hack

Hi, all, I have some pics to share:

1 - My bird bath is the place to be these days. Here's a Blue Jay getting a sip of water.

2 - I still have bunches of Cardinals. Here's a male getting some sunflower seed.

3 - This Carolina Chickadee is waiting its turn at the feeder.

Hack

Nice pics, Hack! That's a mighty handsome Blue Jay. Do your Cardinals leave after a while? It's interesting, cause in our area they're here all the time...all four seasons.

With the heat we've been having, everybody uses our bird baths. The Squirrels and Deer also use them year 'round. During the Summer I also add a couple of large flower pot trays (the red clay ones) way in the back of the yard. They get heavy use as well and many of the ground-feeding birds love them.

Seems as if all our Baltimore Orioles have left.....where did the summer go?????

nanny, Interesting that you mentioned the Orioles. Our last sighting of any Oriole was Friday, but we were gone half the day yesterday and much of this morning. Well, for us to see the Orioles this long is truly amazing. Last year all we got was two weeks out of them.

Thank you for the link to the opener, nutsaboutnature. I'll show that to my husband when he awakes from his nap.

Hack, cute little chickadee. We still don't have them... well, the Black-capped... But they're closer. They were seen at the creek this spring. People do not understand how we can be feeding all these woodpeckers, and not have a single chickadee. I sure don't know the answer to that.