Seen on Bird Feeder today

[LCHIEN]

A cardinal

[cabinetman]

That is a magnificent photo of a Cardinal. Great "shot of the moment". Wish I could hold a camera that still.

A few months ago an Eagle landed and perched so proudly on my fence outside my office window at home, only about 15 feet away. I just about took my whole office apart trying to get my camera together. Batteries were in the charger, card was in the PC port. By the time I quit shaking and got it all together, those massive wings spread out and he had liftoff.
.

[gad5264]

Great photo Loring.

[Stytooner]

Nice picture, Loring.
We have a pair or two that comes on our property. Mocking birds pretty much rule the roost though.
My cats left me a nice surprise this AM. It was about a 14" long copperhead. I think the kitten had killed it. The kitten still seems fine and playful, so I guess he did the first and only biting.

[ironhat]

You sure got the bird on that one - LOL! Nice shot!

[LCHIEN]

The female also comes around daily as well. She's a dusky reddish gray with a bright red beak.

Wonder why the males get the fancy "clothes" in the animal world. Did we evolve differently?

[Stytooner]

I'm sure you know the answer, Loring.
They say it is so they can draw a predator away from a nest better. More visibility.

[LCHIEN]

I'm sure you know the answer, Loring.
They say it is so they can draw a predator away from a nest better. More visibility.

i thought it was to impress the ladies...

[ssmith1627]

I had a shot from last fall of a cardinal sitting on a limb surrounded by the green of a large bush. My wife took it and had it made into a stamp for me. At Christmas she gave me two sheets of stamps with my photo on it -- I'd never even heard of it so I was amazed.

I've gotten obsessed lately with feeding the birds and seeing all the different types that come into our yard. I think we're up to 26 different types of birds in just under a year. I have some great blurry (haha) pictures of an Indigo Bunting that's at our feeders almost every day now. It's neat to see what birds come around just for the water / birdbaths that don't go near the feeders. Squirrels have finally found their way into our yard now as well so the birds have competition from them as well as Chippy the Chipmunk....lol.

Birding is a good combination for someone new to woodworking. I think I've built 7 or 8 bird houses now and at least 5 bird feeders.

Steve

[Ed62]

Nice shot. Is your feeder just outside a window? We have one like that, and it's hard to miss the birds when they visit.

The female also comes around daily as well. She's a dusky reddish gray with a bright red beak.

We have quite a few cardinals around here. I always think of the female as wearing lipstick.

Ed

[mater]

Nice photo.

[LCHIEN]

We seem to have one pair of cardinals (M&F) that hang around every day, a number of blue jays, and lots and lots of sparrows or chickadees and lots and lots of whitewing and mourning doves. We also have a lot of mockingbirds in the area but they don't feed at the bird feeders, I think they mostly eat insects, worms and lizards. But they are very territorial and its fun to see then drive off cats and squirrels.
We see some other transient bird types but they don't stay around very long.

Those darn sparrows have taken a liking to our windowscreens and shredded most of them looking for nesting materials. This just started last year or two ago.

I have some birdhouses up, a few years ago the sparrows loved them and were full, we could see babies poking their heads out while the parents shuttled food to them just before they fledged. But despite cleaning them out they have been unoccupied for the last three years - they're still around somewhere bulding nests from window screen material.

Anybody have plans for a good squirrel proof wooden bird feeder?

[ssmith1627]

We had grackles come in and take over our feeders for over a month. They mostly seem to have moved on now though. It was nice seeing them at first -- something so different from the chickadees and titmice and house finches. We had quite a few cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds as well. Ya gotta love having those goldfinches around.

I don't know if you can have wood and squirrel proof in the same sentence ! haha Probably more of a placement issue ? The pavillion type feeder I built sits about 4 feet off the ground so I could put a squirrel baffle on it but it wouldn't do any good. They don't bother with the pole -- they hop from the ground right up into it ! It's wide open so they don't have trouble getting to the feed. If they did, they'd just destroy the cedar feeder to get what they wanted. If you put it up on a high enough pole and use a baffle, you'd still have to place it well away from any trees they could use to jump from.

I had a wren nest it one of my 8 bird houses. She laid 5 eggs and as far as I could tell they all lived long enough to get out on their own. Otherwise, I've had no birds nesting at all. You can put out stuff for them to use for nesting materials though -- maybe that'd keep them away from the house. I've put out 2-3 foot long pieces of string numerous times and it's always gone within a day.

Probably a nerd for spending that much time worrying about birds but hey, I enjoy it.

Steve

[Ed62]

Anybody have plans for a good squirrel proof wooden bird feeder?

Not really a traditional bird feeder, but a suet feeder I made. The squirrels try their best to get the suet, but they get only a very small sampling. After an hour or so, they finally give up. The birds have no problem getting the suet. If you want a pic, let me know.

Ed

[WayneJ]

Loring,
Cement a pipe in the ground and put the bird feeder on top. Grease the pipe well and watch the fun. I found that STP works well on the pipe, the sun and rain don't seem to wash it off. The squirrels find it very hard to wash off. It works on mine.
Wayne