Birding

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Bird watching is something I hope to do a lot more of when I retire. I do enjoy watching the feeders in our yard. Somewhere we have a book so I can learn to identify them. I find it very calming to watch the birds, and just let the rest of the world go by.
 
The wife is really into birds and has bird feeders all over the place. I have tried to discourage this as the feeders attract bears, but the wife always wins these things. I do enjoy watching them and maybe one day I will learn the various types. I am more into the migratory birds who pass through twice a year. We are at the tail end of the migration of the raptors and at the flocking species are a common sight now. But they don’t stop for the feeders.
 
Plenty o' birds here, I'm seeing lots of color at the feeders & birdbaths. Every morning, I wake to a symphony of birdsong, and it's very relaxing. I still have to rise early to swap out water in the birdbaths, I do that every morning to keep the water nice & fresh... I can sit here at the dining room table, look out one window to the west, and see half a dozen birds splashing around and having a good time, lol. I lose a few honeybees (and other insects) to drowning, but I also save honeybees which are halfway to drowning... nothing wrong with honeybees, no point in letting 'em die. I don't catch all of 'em, but I save quite a few, and I reckon the nearby colony appreciates the water sources. I want the bees around to help pollinate all the flowering plants, the more of that action here, the better... between watering and the bees, I have quite a few wildflowers growing out there, plus the fruit trees & small blackberry bushes seem to be doing well. :cool:

P.S. I keep a wooden cheese knife floating in every birdbath, it allows bees caught in the bath to climb out and save themselves, or at least keeps bees alive long enough for me to rescue them. I heard that a popsicle stick will serve the same purpose, I just use the cheese knives because I had a set of half a dozen and I don't need that many, and the knives are larger than popsicle sticks. In case anybody is wondering, these knives are for spreading soft cheeses, not hacking hard cheeses, lol... :oops:
 
Every year I get a bird building a nest in my tractors exhaust. When I start the engine it blows the nest out. This time of year I need to put a coffee can over the exhaust.
Last year before I finished the facia and sofit on my tool shed robins had built nests between each rafter. Had to wait until they were done nesting before I could finish the building.
 
Mountain trapper said:
Every year I get a bird building a nest in my tractors exhaust. When I start the engine it blows the nest out. This time of year I need to put a coffee can over the exhaust.
Last year before I finished the facia and sofit on my tool shed robins had built nests between each rafter. Had to wait until they were done nesting before I could finish the building.
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God Bless you for letting them nest. :) We get a few nests a year, but none of them are in an inconvenient place. We enjoy watching them come and go.
 
Just had two large hawks or young eagles in the trees... hard to tell how large they are with this cheesy Canon cam, but these two birds were BIG! Those trees aren't small either, and this is the first time I've seen these birds on my property. They were looking around at the setup with the birdbaths & feeders, maybe they thought it was a smorgasbord, lol... I tried to get closer to 'em in the yard, but they flew off once I appeared out front. Here are the pics I took:

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Edit: Those are two of the trees stressed out from the drought, so they're sporting some dead branches... I'm trying to turn things around with the new watering system, but if the trees die, maybe these big birds will build a nest in one of 'em. Not sure how the other birds would like it, though you can see at least one small bird watching that raptor fly away... those big birds can't maneuver through the other trees (which are healthy) like the smaller birds, it's almost like that one little bird is thumbing his nose at the raptor, lol. Probably tossing in some verbal abuse: "BEAT IT, TRASH!!!" :oops:
 
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Wingnut said:
Just had two large hawks or young eagles in the trees... hard to tell how large they are with this cheesy Canon cam, but these two birds were BIG! Those trees aren't small either, and this is the first time I've seen these birds on my property. They were looking around at the setup with the birdbaths & feeders, maybe they thought it was a smorgasbord, lol... I tried to get closer to 'em in the yard, but they flew off once I appeared out front. Here are the pics I took:

View attachment 86080 View attachment 86081

Edit: Those are two of the trees stressed out from the drought, so they're sporting some dead branches... I'm trying to turn things around with the new watering system, but if the trees die, maybe these big birds will build a nest in one of 'em. Not sure how the other birds would like it, though you can see at least one small bird watching that raptor fly away... those big birds can't maneuver through the other trees (which are healthy) like the smaller birds, it's almost like that one little bird is thumbing his nose at the raptor, lol. Probably tossing in some verbal abuse: "BEAT IT, TRASH!!!" :oops:
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Great pics!! I love watching stuff like that!!
 
There is an eagle nest not to far from us. We have not seen the eagles but other people we have met in the park have some really good pics. You can't get to close, but even from a distance it looks like a tree house. I didn't think they came this far South. We usually drive about an hour North to see them.
 
Pearl said:
Another Chickadee has built a nest in a metal fence post hole (where the gate latch goes in)! Had them do it before, the chicks can't get out!! Watching closely to see if this set can get out!
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This last batch got out!! Blocking the hole so mama can't build in there again!!
 
Mom's house sits up on a bit of a cliff. An eagle just flew by in front of the window. We've had them try to fly into the house a couple of times. So far the window has kept the eagles outside, though they are big birds and it is no tiny thump when they hit.

It will be mating season soon and this is a mating grounds for eagles. There will be scores around the house and hundreds in the area.

If you ever see an eagle chase a seagull, it is a beautiful display of airmanship that you won't forget.
 
Caribou said:
If you ever see an eagle chase a seagull, it is a beautiful display of airmanship that you won't forget.
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I'm jealous. I have seen them perched, but have only seen them in flight from a distance, and never chasing prey. That must be fun to have so many so close.
 
Morgan101 said:
I'm jealous. I have seen them perched, but have only seen them in flight from a distance, and never chasing prey. That must be fun to have so many so close.
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It is quite impressive. When the fishermen get a junk fish, that they don't want to keep, they swing it around their head two or three times and toss it as far from the boat as they can. Invariably an eagle has seen the swing and know dinner is served. It will swoop down and pluck the fish out of the water.

I have seen an eagle hit a salmon that was too big and the eagle got drug into the water. Everything stopped on the seiner I was fishing on and we watched the eagle swim about a hundred yards to the beach, crawl out of the water, and then let the wind dry it's spread wings.

P.S. Everything likes to eat chicken.
 
DH and I see bald eagles and osprey quite a bit when we're fishing, it's interesting to watch them dive down to get fish. One time an osprey dove, got the fish and took back off but was flying low over the water, directly at us in the boat. Veered just around us at eye level with its catch. It was cool.
 
Hubby's shop is becoming an aviary!!😃 Had two baby bluebirds, fresh out of the nest, end up on his bookshelf two days ago. Safely rescued! Yesterday he had wrens trying to make a nest on the chain hoist hanging from the ceiling. And a mockingbird flew in and out a few times when he had the big doors open! It's like we are not even there, they just ignore the people!!😃🤔
 
I usually get a pair or two of sandhill cranes across the field in a pond area every spring but so far they havent showed up. I did see them out on the trail so I know they are about.
At the mill, the stacker position has been keeping track of the mills swallow migration for about 30 years unofficially. The record of when they arrive outside, when they nest inside the mill, n when they all leave is located inside the cabinet door for spare parts on my catwalk. No one has to do it..but after 30 years..it has become a thing.
 
We have bird feeders, and not a lot of squirrels for some reason. Tons of birds of all sorts but the only ones I know the names of are the red Cardinals , and the woodpeckers. We have little blue ones, yellow ones and large brown ones with sort of a golden chest. Oh and the dogs bark all day long at the vultures flying around over the pasture. We also have a ton of barn swallows
 
sonya123 said:
We have bird feeders, and not a lot of squirrels for some reason. Tons of birds of all sorts but the only ones I know the names of are the red Cardinals , and the woodpeckers. We have little blue ones, yellow ones and large brown ones with sort of a golden chest. Oh and the dogs bark all day long at the vultures flying around over the pasture. We also have a ton of barn swallows
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Most of my dogs would chase vultures (turkey buzzards)!
 
I was sitting here watching two eagles fight. They were too low and both wound up in the bay. Both tried to take off from the water. One made it and the other had to swim to shore. One is on the end of a pier trying to dry off in the rain. The other is on the beach. They hit the water about 50 yards from shore. The one that couldn't stay airborne when he took off probably had to swim a hundred yards as he took off towards the middle of the bay.

We have several eagles here right now. It is a daily event to have an eagle fly across the front of the house, at eye height, perhaps fifty feet away.
 
I've been seeing a pair of Painted Buntings every afternoon. The female is various shades of green. I'm on the pool float when I see them so I don't get to take their picture. We have them every year, but they are still amazing to see!!
 
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