Backyard Birds (continued)

sunnyg,
ROTFL. Loved the story and the commentary, but couldn't help noticing that she started out with five goslings, then there were four, then three, then just Mommy and me! I know that the rest were following in a straggling line out of the photo frame, but it still cracked me up gave me the giggles.
KC, never heard them called flufferbutts before, but it is an apt description. I like it. ^_^
WIB,
SW

Sometimes I just make words up - I rather like that one, too. :-)

Haven't been here for a while. Yep. It's a garter snake and other than the danger to your wrens, there great to have around. Completely harmless and even when they do bite, (which is extremely rare) it feels more like a pinch. They don't have much in the teeth dept.

Was the source I read correct saying they live in water, or even spend time there?

I remember desperately wanting a pet garter snake as a child...;-). Whew, what drama in the yard, Kathleen! I swear, looking out the window is way better than TV.

I hope to pay another visit to the babies this week, and I'll try to snap some more photos.

Okay, does anyone else have Robins start yammering at 4 am? It's been warm and I've been sleeping with the sliding door open upstairs, and man oh man are those guys noisy! They have such an unusual song as well. While I can normally appreciate it, I've been having a bad bout of insomnia anyhow, and am none to pleased when then start in. ;-).

I have them in my garden in AZ and there's no water within a couple of miles. If they need water regularly, they must have quite a range.

Edited to say:
Was talking about the garter snakes, not Robins.

This message was edited May 9, 2009 2:32 PM

Finally got a picture of mama Grosbeak. She doesn't hang around the feeder long.

And the boys popped in for a bite. One of them looks smaller than the other and is certainly lower in the pecking order, he got knocked off more than once.

Been waiting for WEEKS just to get a shot of this guy and the best I could do was looking through the laundry room window.

Also: Happy Day to all you moms out there.

Thanks DP, he sure is a colorful one. Congrats on catching him.

SOOO pretty, DP!!! I know there are bluebirds not far from here, but I've never actually seen one.

I've never seen one either - he's very beautiful !

He's been haunting my back yard for several weeks now. Goes only to THAT clothes line pole, never the other one. He's very skittish also. Every time I've tried to sneak out onto my deck to get a good photograph of him, he bolts. So I just gave up and shot him through the window.

Welcome back, DP. Jonathon is validated about it being a garter snake! I've seen them cross water, but believe they get most of the moisture they need from their prey.
Thanks too for the Mother's Day wishes.
Dad used to tame blue birds on purpose. He explains how on one of the threads he left here at DG. It might help you to get a photo without wrenching out your back.
No problems with the robins waking me up at O dark thirty, but there are a couple of roosters I'm not fond of, sunnyg. You might try earplugs, or a white noise machine. You need your sleep.
Sally, congrats on getting a photo of shy Mama Grosbeak. Do you think the boys have a bit of sibling rivalry going on? LOL!
Happy Mother's Day!
WIB!
SW

Happy Mother's Day, all you mothers out here. I follow your bird thread intensely, envious of the variety and colors you have visiting your gardens, even though there is no way I could manage a home in the foothills or other wild space by myself. So, I live in town with a little backyard inviting only hummies and finches, mockers a'chasing nearby cats, doves. I love your photos and stories.

My beloved nearly-14YO Standard Poodle, Olivia, broke my heart earlier this evening. I'd finally settled down to Sunday night Dateline, having spent most of the day in the yard working, and she wandered in, tossing about a "toy" just inside the door. The toy was a baby dove about the size of my fist (plus tail). It took me a minute to pay attention. S/he was still warm. I am so sad.

Mama dove continues to nest in the spot she's been staying in all season, as doves do. She lets me just walk by her, within 3 feet of her nest in the Star Jasmin hanging on the eves of the awning covering a rear yard patio. The eggs she presently nurses are her second brood. Sadly, I cannot just lock the dogs out of the yard. I pray the other fledges stay safe. My heart is broken.

Linda

Sally, great photos of the fast moving Grosbeaks. I'm still trying to catch mine long enough to snap a decent photo.

Desert Pirate, good job through the window too!

I've lived here for 6 years and have never photographed an adult Brown-headed Cowbird until yesterday. Last year I did get a photo of a youngster that one of my Calif. Towhees was feeding, but I never saw the adults. The adult Cowbird pushes the eggs of the nesting birds out of the nest and replaces the eggs with their own for the original birds to incubate and raise.

Lazy Cows! LOL!

Linda

QUESTION: Hmmm, thinking like a human psychologist here, not a bird psychologist . . . how on earth does the next generation learn to push its eggs out of that Towhee's nest in order to yadda yadda yadda? without its "mum" to teach it to do so??? Does the egg generation return to its own upon fledging? or does it spend the rest of its life with Towees? Do the Cowbirds in areas not blessed with nesting Towees select another species to treat similarly? Lots of questions. Inquiring minds wanna know.

Linda, again ^_^

I agree.....lazy cows!!! And the poor Towhees trying to feed a big bird! I've never seen a cowbird hanging around with the Towhees. Interesting thought. I saw the male that I assume goes with the female I saw earlier. The one time he sat still long enough, it was in the shade and you see the brown head. Knowing how protective birds are of their eggs, I wondered how they do the ol switcheroo.

Isn't the "ol switcherro" something that cuckoos do, as well? Is the cowbird a cuckoo cousin (we all have those...yes?)

I got curious about this and found this info online. Kind of sad, so don't read it if you don't want to get depressed.


Nesting Behavior
The Brown-headed Cowbird does not build a nest of its own. The female lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species. The host parents then raise the cowbird chick as their own. The cowbird's egg usually hatches a day or two before the host's eggs. Rapid growth allows the cowbird chick to out compete the host's chicks for food and space in the nest. The result is that the host's chicks usually perish. Female cowbirds have a long reproductive period and can lay as many as 80 eggs over a two month period.

geez, talk about the Octomom!!!!

Great photo duc, I don't feel bad anymore about collecting their eggs now. When I was a kid, and we lived in NV, in the country, we used to love to go out bird nesting and collecting eggs. We never cleaned out a whole nest. I always thought the cowbirds were mean to run off and leave someone else to raise their chicks. So I'd always take their eggs.
Twin, can you put up a temporary fence to keep the dogs away from the doves nest?
OT, my pup Spirit caught parvo, we believe from the coyotes and coydogs that live out here, so get your four legged friends vaccinations up to date. It's been really bad down here. It's a wind borne virus.
BOT, Got to be instinctive, Twincol. They just get that urge, and that's what they do.
Don't have cowbirds down here, even though we used to have a lot of cows. Don't recall seeing any since I moved back down here from NV.
Wanted to let you know that I saw, a blue jay, (Stellars) out in my front yard yesterday. Made me think of Dad and it really cheered me up! ^_^
Of course I had my camera with me, but was it turned on? Nope. Oh well . . . .
WIB!
SW

Yesterday, I got this photo of a mourning dove. There was a flock of them but this one didn't fly off with the others.
WIB,
SW

duc.....holly cow!!! That's a lot of eggs. I don't see very many around here, just a few each year. That might be a good thing.

SW..lovely dove, shame they aren't too bright.

Yeah, they behave kind of like schools of fish. They know someone is going to get it but if they mill around enough maybe it won't be them. LOL!
I have always liked the mourning doves call. Wish I could have gotten closer, so I guess he was bright enough to stay away from me.
WIB,
SW

SW, I love the doves. They're here all year and love the sunflower seeds I throw out on the ground for them and the Quail.

I'm getting more and more Orioles that are taking over the feeders.

another

Pretty birds. It's interesting to see the different types.

duc: stupid question here: What do you put in that feeder?

Great photos, duc! DH didn't believe they were Orioels. LOL!
There are no stupid questions, JD. You are not stupid, you just want to know. Looks like h.bird nectar in the feeder.
WIB,
SW

Mike, they eat the same thing hummingbirds do - water/sugar 4:1

Here's a lady oriole.

Kaper is right-sugar/water. I just take a flower out of a hole on the feeder which makes it wider for these guys to get the juice.

Your lady looks happy Kaper. Do you know if she's a Bullock's or a Hooded Oriole? The Hooded has mostly yellow on the stomach where the Bullock's is a grayish color.

This message was edited May 13, 2009 2:28 PM

Nice orioles sis and duc. They are somehow graceful looking.

Sure is pretty KC! ^_^
WIB!
SW

Yes, I think of them as graceful and elegant.

I wish we had those Orioles here.

We get some other sort of big yellow and black birds here very briefly during the summer, which are about the size of a dove. They seem to come around when the New Zealand Flax (Phormiums) are in bloom. That's the only time I ever seem to see them and they don't linger for any substantial amount of time to be able to photograph them. I always assumed they were some species of Oriole.

My sister in Thousand Oaks gets a lot of them on a year round basis.(Or so she says...)

Then again, we have a lot of those noisy green and red wild parrots which can wake the dead !

Oh, we used to get the parrots every year when we lived in Lawndale, I always planted giant sunflowers for them.

This Bald Eagle comes by every day. Our resident crows chase after it and actually hit it now and then.

Beautiful, duc! ^_^
WIB!
SW