Night garden visitors.....

Hi Chris! I have my resident birds that come to my feeder every morning. They know that the food will be there at about 7:30 am every morning. But this morning, I didn't get out there until 8:30 am. I could hear them out there calling and knew they weren't happy campers. I have a pair of cardinals, a family of Bluejays (5 birds), several crows, 2 pigeons, and 2 woodpeckers. And an occasional visitor that I never know what they are. (I am still learning to ID the birds.) They literally wait in the trees surrounding my property or line up on the power line squawking or chirping until I get out there. And the squirrels and the mice wait out there too. The minute I go out into the yard everyone gets excited and it gets really noisy. And then there is the race to see who gets to the feeder first. It's crazy and funny to see all the action.

Rox - The squirrels spends a lot of time trying to chase the mice away. But if it is just one mouse, the squirrels will tolerate it. I usually have 4-5 squirrels and at least 2 mice (sometimes 4).

I am going to have to get a video of all the morning action. I can't describe it .... it's just one of those things you have to see to believe. LOL!

And all this for one feeder. HA!

Here is a photo of my post feeder. I usually just keep seed in the hanging open flat feeder, not as often for the top feeder. The crows and the bluejays love raw shelled peanuts. I think they believe that the bigger something is in the feeder the better. I use the nut and fruit mix that has already been removed from the shells. It's a no-waste mix. It smells like sweet cherries every time I open the bag. Yummy smelling!! And below the baffle is a squirrel feeder. On the ground is a bowl of water, and 2 dishes that I fill up with the same nut and fruit mix. The bowls are empty by the end of the day as they all come back periodically to eat. I am always looking out to see who is eating at the feeder.

Added to say: I took this photo during the hottest part of the day when all the critters were taking a break from eating. I have photos of my visitors at the feeder, but was lazy and found it easier to take a quick photo and post it rather than try to find a photo with visitor birds and rodents. :-)

This message was edited Jun 17, 2007 10:34 PM

great feeder, looks like you have a bit of everything out there. No wonder they get anxious when you sleep late. I am going to add a fruit/nut mix to my feeders. Always like to try something new to see what newbies come to the feeder.

Thanks for the pics,
chris

You're welcome, Chris! Glad it gave you some ideas! :-)

Hey, sleepyhead.....I usually get my food out to the feeders at 6am, and there are birds waiting! Maybe they head down to your place after they eat here.

gardenpom - ROTFL! Are you still getting your Painted Buntings? I haven't seen mine since late Fall/early winter.

lol - Becky, I officially have another new "project" .... I have a perfect spot for a feeder like that ... my DH thanks you very much !

Right now we get gold finches, they are so cute, looks like a bunch of yellow canaries are flying all over the back yard.

Red - Ooooohhhhhh! So that's WHERE my gold finches went! I had a small flock of them until about the end of April and then they ALL disappeared. They were just starting to get their yellow feathers and looking so cute!

Glad to be of help with a new project for your dh! (Just don't mention my name to him though okay?! LOL)

Becky, love the setup!

Red, my goldfinches must be up there too.....they all leave in the spring....after I fatten them up all winter! Love those little birds., it's so cute the way they eat upside down.

how funny - because they DO show up here in the spring and are gone gone gone all winter !!! The kids and I get very excited when they show up. They love the fountain, so cute.

The Painted Buntings are only here in the winter. Mine went North a few months ago.

TexasPuddyPrint,

First of all hello! I just found this part of DG (usually hang on the daylily fourm) and loved following your owls in the deer blind so far. Just looking closely at your first pic - I think there were 2 chicks and 3 eggs. Look between the chick and the eggs and there is a smaller chick huddled there with his/her back to the camera. Do you see it? The 2 live ones are probably the first two. I believe I even read somewhere that older owl chicks will out compete and even eat the younger ones (hopefully only after they have already died).

http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3571968

Thanks for sharing. Lisa

Lisa - I believe you are right! I do see what looks like another chick right next to the back of the larger baby. And you are probably right about them competing for food and the younger one didn't make because the bigger/older ones pushed it out of the way. Sad. But that is how it is in nature. Good eye spotting that other baby! :-)

Lisa,

There were originally four eggs. One chick hatched and then there were three eggs. That photo you see is of the one chick...what looks like the back of a chick is part of the first hatchlings leg/thigh. The most recent photos show two chicks and one egg in the far back of the deer blind. I think the fourth egg was squished or eaten by the other chicks or perhaps the parent owl. There looked to be something like an egg shell amongst the clutter.

Didn't see but two chicks this past weekend...but will double check when I go back this coming weekend.

Here's is a photo from last weekend. I've put arrows on the two chicks, the one egg and what looked like a broken egg shell.

~ Cat

Great Photo's Y'all .... I have really enjoyed this thread and will be returning ocassionally to see your updates! Love the Owls .... Yep ... Barn Owl's. Heres a link with some info on these Beautiful Creatures:

http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Tyto&species=alba


I've always had a thing for Owls and for many years collected owl statues. When my Mom used to visit I had to remove the one from the mantel of the fireplace .... Owl's creeped her out .... she always said she felt like it was "watching" her! Mom is gone now and my owl statues have been boxed up for years .... some went to a thrift store, but I still have lots that I need to get rid of. Thought of listing them on e-bay, but it's just too much of a hassle. Next time Hubby takes a load of stuff to the thrift store I'm sure a couple of boxes of owl stuff will go along!

Love your photo's .... hope you keep us posted on those babies!

Yes, keep posting, they are so cute......weird, but cute.

Update on the owlets. There are only two. Guess the other egg didn't make it. The bigger one kept hissing at me all the while I was taking photos and video :o) The little one would just bob his/her head up and down all the while stepping on and off that piece of wood in the corner. Pretty much acting like a little kid that wouldn't sit still. Strange behavior indeed!

~ Cat

This message was edited Jul 8, 2007 7:52 PM

Have no idea what was going on but the bigger one turned around and just gave the little tyke a look ...and you can see by the photo after this one...how subservient the little one is.

~ Cat

LOL! My have they grown! Be careful, TexasPuddyPrint! They're starting to get big now and could be dangerous! Wonderful pix, btw.

~Kris

Here's the result of "THE LOOK" :o)

OMG, is that hilarious! The bigger one must have scolded him, ROTFL!

~Kris

Well ..... ya know how MEAN big brothers can be! I bet in the owl world .... it is no different! LOL!

Great photos! That's neat that you got video, too! When DG allows video uploads, that's one that you definitely have to share, Cat! Thanks for checking on the owls and sharing the info and photos with us! Absolutely fascinating!!!! Thank you! I've enjoyed your adventure of keeping tabs on them every weekend. :-) Very cool indeedie!

...oh and the inside of the deer blind doesn't look so bad anymore. Well, at least there isn't any varmit body parts left lying around. Seems these two are eating everything the parents bring to them.

~ Cat

Awsome .... how those babies have grown! They really are looking like Owls now! Please keep posting the pic's until these guys fledge the nest! That video would be a great tool for teaching youngsters and oldsters alike about these wonderful birds!

Great Job!

Boy they are cute!!!

Thanks for the update!

Hi Becky! I love your owl pics and birdfeeder set-up, too cool.

Cat, your pics are one in a million! What an opportunity to see owls grow up!

Thanks to both of you for sharing!

And what do I have to offer? Just an old squirrel feeder…

LOL, Maria, that's awesome! I've actually been wanting to make one similar to that for a long time. There are plans for it in a book I have. It's called the squirrel picnic table. Same as yours, except the table is longer and there are two chairs, one on each end. That's a great pic. I gotta make one now, LOL!

~Kris

Where some misguided souls land occasionally…

Becky, I have to tell you that I too have problems with the rodent population although I think mine are more of the rat variety. They usually come after dark and I had to take my feeders inside at night. The visitor in the picture started coming around when I was putting out peanuts. They went away like hot cookies but unfortunately, also attracted bigger “rodents”.


This message was edited Jul 8, 2007 9:56 PM

Kris, I guess I just gave you a reason not to build one LOL. But he was so cute...
You know you can order those feeders. I got mine here: https://www.yardgeek.com/wildlife_view_prod.cfm?SKU=02020 and they got even more here http://www.wildwoodfarms.com/squirrelfdr1.htm

Maria - LOL! Hey squirrels are the funniest critters to watch. I like your corn cob feeder and it looks like your little guest does too! :-)

I have a funny story to tell you about one of my squirrels. It's been raining here for almost a week. So of course when the weather clears up a little each day, the squirrels and birds come right to my feeders to grab something to eat before the next rain showers.

I had to walk outside to get something and was moving pretty quick. I was startled when all this commotion happened. Apparently my quick movement scared all the birds and squirrels at the feeder. They all took off like they were on fire!!!

Well, one squirrel was so scared it ran up to the fence and somehow missed the trellis. So it jumped up quickly on my wheelbarrow sitting right next to the fence to try to jump from there to the top of the fence to escape. (This was all happening in a matter of a few quick seconds.) I must have really scared the daylights out of this little squirrel because it missed the handle on the wheelbarrow and landed right in the middle of the tub of the wheelbarrow. With all the rain we've had, the tub was full of water and the poor little thing hit that water and literally did an amazing backflip out. On the way out it hit it's head on the edge of the tub as it was coming down from the mid-air backflip and plopped to the ground with a thud. It looked a little stunned, but quickly recovered and climbed up the trellis and escaped ....

You'd think that by now they would know I won't hurt them .... heck they wait every morning for me to come out and fill up their food dishes. LOL! Of course, I am sure not all of the neighbors are as nice to them as me! ;-) I sure wished I'd had a video camera in my hand at that moment. That would have been a good one for America's Funniest Videos! LOL!

Becky, I bet that was hilarious! My squirrels still run every time I get too close to the feeders, too.

With my new friend, everyone has been warning me about rabies because he has come around in the daylight, etc. He seems to be very young and was probably fed by people before. The way our small island has been developing, it would seem that contact with humans is almost unavoidable. Molly, one of my cats ran him out of the yard twice. Well, a raccoon could really do some damage to a cat but he just climbed up the tree politely because he knew that he was in her territory. And then you see Molly…
One other time, he could have done a number on me. I was watering my plants and looked up the tree and there he was. Not a foot away from my face with an expression like “Can I come down now?” Shortly after that, he was in the yard doing what he does best, digging holes, LOL. I have not seen him in about two weeks now.

But back to the owls, the closest I ever got to one was hearing it. I sure wished we had more owls, hawks, and whatever else it would take to control the rat population. Living at a lake sure seems to attract them.

Maria

But back to the owls, the closest I ever got to one was hearing it. I sure wished we had more owls, hawks, and whatever else it would take to control the rat population. Living at a lake sure seems to attract them.

Maria

Loved the owl pictures! Those are great.

Maria,

your 'coon friend is gorgeous. if you want to read more about 'coons and their antics, come on over to the Wildlife forum and read up on Heidi. Plus June_Ontario had a crew of 'coons too.

Awesome animal and critter photos!!

here's the link to the WildLife forum - in case you dont have it
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/wildlife/all/

Thanks tcs. Thanks to the Heidi saga, I have this relationship :)

Cat and Becky those pics are awesome!!! Cat, I think once the babies leave the nest, you should call Mike Rowe (the "Dirty Jobs" guy from Discovery Channel) to come over and clean out the deer blind. Should be right up his alley. And as Mike would say, "I can smell it now" LOL!!!.

Mark

ROFL!!! I love that show! My kids and I find ourselves watching that show ALL the time!!! Yeah Cat ..... sounds like the perfect job for him!!! LOL!

Cat- I can't wait for your next pictures of the alien birds, LOL. When they can fly, send one over my way, will you ;)

Poor Mike Rowe!

I watch that show all the time too. Saw one a couple of days ago about raising insects. Very similar to what we go through when we raise caterpillars!!! But the bugs they had were walking sticks that spray some type of horribly smelling substance as well as assassin bugs, grasshoppers, roaches, centipedes etc. UGH!!!

Am thinking by the next weekend that bigger chick should be trying out his/her wings. Didn't see the parent birds this time around. Usually one is in the deer blind and comes flying out when I rattle the door latch. Perhaps they are too busy catching varmits to keep these little guys fed 24/7!!!

~ Cat

Mike Rowe is Larry King tonight (right now). And guess what? He had his dealings with owls already. More specifically with owl pellets (as in vomit). And that was not the worst job he has ever done... yak!

I had to share these photos with y'all. These are the some of the birds lined up every morning waiting for me to fill the feeders. :-) And they are chirping and squawking at me the whole time! (Probably scolding me for making them wait for breakfast!)

Today I had a visitor that wasn't welcomed by all the other birds! They were really upset that this hawk was perched on the power line over my back yard. I bet this bird saw the mice and squirrels eating at the feeders and came by to investigate. He did NOT get a warm reception and when he finally flew off he had about 4 birds on his tail trying scare him far, far away! The mice had already finished eating and scurried back to their nest behind my fence, so they were safe .... for now.