Birding

[northland10]

The face of someone who is not liking the weather.

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[Annrc]

[RTH10260]

The face of someone who is not liking the weather.

IMG_0324c.jpg

or sitting on a NY court defendants seat

[northland10]

The face of someone who is not liking the weather.

IMG_0324c.jpg

or sitting on a NY court defendants seat

[northland10]

We were talking about downy woodpeckers above. Here is one of the locals. Yesterday, she took some time from pecking wood to peck a sparrow. I have seen other downy woodpeckers do that to house sparrows.

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I think the Cardinals are not pleased with sparrows either.

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And if you are going to take a picture of a cardinal, you need to include a closer shot too.

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[Shizzle Popped]

Does anybody have suggestions for larger feeders they like? I have the WBU version of the feeder below that the plastic tube cracked in the cold weather the other day while I was trying to clear a blockage. It's a good feeder but it's now $120 which is just about double what I paid for the last one.

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https://order.wbu.com/greenwood/bird-fe ... oof-feeder

[northland10]

The one you see in my previous photos is something I think I got at Menards years ago and the squirrels cannot get the seed, though they tried. I think I picked it up for $25. It has 6 perches and the larger woodpeckers can grip the wire cage to fit (though it tends to run off the others temporarily). The outer cage has a spring attachment that closes the openings in the tube if a squirrel tries to access it. I did watch a chipmunk once attempting to lift the cage at an opening while on it. It had figured out how it worked.

For the goldfinches, I will often put out a thistle sock. It appears only goldfinches and sometimes a house finch will use it. No other bird or animal bother it.

[Shizzle Popped]

The one you see in my previous photos is something I think I got at Menards years ago and the squirrels cannot get the seed, though they tried. I think I picked it up for $25. It has 6 perches and the larger woodpeckers can grip the wire cage to fit (though it tends to run off the others temporarily). The outer cage has a spring attachment that closes the openings in the tube if a squirrel tries to access it. I did watch a chipmunk once attempting to lift the cage at an opening while on it. It had figured out how it worked.

For the goldfinches, I will often put out a thistle sock. It appears only goldfinches and sometimes a house finch will use it. No other bird or animal bother it.

Thanks for the input!

I was just in Menards yesterday and I'm pretty sure they no longer sell that one. I don't have problems with squirrels since I changed out my feeder pole but squirrel resistant feeders do help with my starling infestation. I've been thinking about switching over to socks in place of thistle feeders since those seem to eventually gunk up and mold in the rain.

This is my current setup. The pole system is the Squirrel Stopper Deluxe along with a stabilizer and it actually works. If a tornado took out the house that pole would probably still be there. Expensive though. Traffic has been a bit light lately but we've had a red tail hawk hanging around some. If he becomes a regular visitor I'll have to stop feeding for a while. Under normal circumstances the birds will empty the regular seed feeders in two to three days. In the spring I generally have two finch feeders out since we sometimes get a dozen or more goldfinches at a time. The red feeder is something I picked up on a whim off of Amazon after the other large feeder broke. I actually kind of like it but it's a bit small for my needs.

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[northland10]

The squirrels have been running off and hiding in the nooks on the trees and such on a regular basis this last week. I believe this is who is responsible (sorry for the darker shot.. but it was a distance away on a gloomy grey day).

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[jcolvin2]

The squirrels have been running off and hiding in the nooks on the trees and such on a regular basis this last week. I believe this is who is responsible (sorry for the darker shot.. but it was a distance away on a gloomy grey day).

IMG_0342-2.jpg

Is that a Cooper's Hawk?

[northland10]

The squirrels have been running off and hiding in the nooks on the trees and such on a regular basis this last week. I believe this is who is responsible (sorry for the darker shot.. but it was a distance away on a gloomy grey day).

IMG_0342-2.jpg

Is that a Cooper's Hawk?

Red-tailed hawk. There are a couple that hunt a former interurban train line, now a trail near my place.

I have only spotted a Cooper's Hawk around here once.

[Shizzle Popped]

We see a lot of Red Tails, some Cooper's, the occasional Peregrine Falcon and the rare Bald Eagle that's wandered over from the White River area.

A couple of years ago we were sitting on the patio with a friend after a morning of light hiking in Brown County State Park. It was a lovely October day and the feeders were extremely active with no less than 70 birds at the feeders and in nearby trees. Suddenly there was a mass panic and every single bird disappeared in the blink of an eye. A couple of seconds later a Cooper's settled into the tree line that runs behind my house. The birds leave when Red Tails are in the area but those birds tend be fairly noisy so they know they're coming. The Cooper's seem to come out of nowhere.

We've had an owl hanging around at night some lately but I haven't been able to identify it. From time to time we'll have a barn owl in the neighborhood for a few weeks. They can be hard to locate by sight but but their frequent loud screeches are enough to wake you up at night.

[northland10]

IIRC, red-tailed hawks generally go after various mammals and less so with birds, though they still cause the birds here to scatter. Cooper's hawks, however, feed on birds. I can see them needing to be quieter since their prey of birds can get away faster than the squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks the red-tails are after. That said, squirrels can really go fast when the hawk shows up (and are able to be completely still sitting in the nook of a tree which is so unlike normal grey squirrel behavior).

There is a great horned owl around here. I have not seen it but from time to time, I will hear it at night.

[sugar magnolia]

We love the bird seed and suet feeders from Tractor Supply. Every shape and size imaginable. I want the whole damn village....barn, farmhouse, cottage, church...all of them. We have Slinkys on all the shepherd's hooks to keep the squirrels out of ours. My kitten can sit in the window for hours watching bird TV.

[Foggy]

Ol' Wifehorn and I saw (and heard) two bald eagles flying down the Neuse the other day. There are several nesting pairs on the river.

[Shizzle Popped]

I forget about Tractor Supply. We have one about 15 minutes away but it's in a part of town I'm rarely in and it's in one of those locations where you better plan on doing a right turn into and a right out of. I get my feed from either WBU or Menard's depending on the day. The WBU has an extremely busy Starbucks in the same lot and can be an absolute nightmare to get out of. I also tend to be out early and the Menard's opens at 6 where the WBU doesn't open until 9:30. Menard's is less expensive but I have to mix my own no-mess feed which is a real PITA.

[MsDaisy 2]

We love the bird seed and suet feeders from Tractor Supply. Every shape and size imaginable. I want the whole damn village....barn, farmhouse, cottage, church...all of them. We have Slinkys on all the shepherd's hooks to keep the squirrels out of ours. My kitten can sit in the window for hours watching bird TV.

I have to say I do love squirrels, I had a pet one named Oscar when I was a teen. They are so much like cats and very affectionate. Unfortunately for Oscar my sister dropped him on his head on the concrete and he died that night. Very sad…

Our bird feeder out in front of the kitchen window is on a 10 foot cedar post covered by a 10 foot tall pice of PVC pipe. Try as they may squirrels or raccoons can’t climb the PVC pipes or get to the feeders.

I have another feeder over in the horse field I can see from my kitchen window just for the squirrels, but I only feed them in bad weather. That field over there is lined with Black Walnut trees and is full of fat squirrels.

[RTH10260]

from last year, location: Mexico

[RTH10260]

two years ago

[RTH10260]

uploaded two years ago, small docu by BBC

[AndyinPA]

Quite the conundrum.

[Chilidog]

The squirrels have been running off and hiding in the nooks on the trees and such on a regular basis this last week. I believe this is who is responsible (sorry for the darker shot.. but it was a distance away on a gloomy grey day).

IMG_0342-2.jpg

Is that a Cooper's Hawk?

Red-tailed hawk. There are a couple that hunt a former interurban train line, now a trail near my place.

I have only spotted a Cooper's Hawk around here once.

Yep. You can even see the red in the tail.

[Maybenaut]

I just saw bald eagle! It was flying up the mountain toward my house, and by the time I got my phone out to take a video image of it, it had disappeared into the fog. But it was so cool!

[northland10]

[pipistrelle]