Enjoying the birds

pikecoe

14 years ago

One of the Hummingbirds coming in for a landing.

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Comments (15)

catherinet
14 years ago
Nice pics Glenda!
I have the same brand feeder. I think its a Nature First, or something like that. I bought it 'cause it was all red. I was drowning alot of bees, and I heard if you get rid of the yellow, they aren't as attracted, and so far it has worked pretty well.
annedickinson
14 years ago
Boy you must have a great camera to stop the wing action like that. Good pics!!! I love how the feathers are ruffled (in the first pic) from backstroking to stop!!
Anne
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Comments (28)
I used to have bird feeders, but not since we have had an active population of black bears. While I like having them around, I don't want to train them to think that our house = food. Although the bears hibernate, they are awake before there are many food sources for seed eaters, and I hate to habituate the birds to my feeders and then have to remove them in early spring. I do want to put out a heated bird bath for winter, though, and may try a suet feeder since about the time I would have to bring in the feeder due to the bears waking up, there would be insects available for the suet eaters. We do have a lot of birds, but they don't spend as much time near the house as they would if we had feeders. I do plant for the birds and often have nests in shrubs near the house, seed eating birds on plants where I've let the seed heads stand, and insect eaters in the shrubbery. Purple martins eat flying bugs, so that is one of the reasons folks put up houses for them. Since you plan to put up bird houses, read up about the requirements for a house that the birds will use, the preferred size openings for different birds, and how best to site them since different types of birds look for different set-ups. Here's some general information on bird houses from the National Wildlife Federation: http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Gardening-Tips/Attracting-Nesting-Birds.aspx The link below is from Cornell University Lab of Ornithology's Project Nest Watch. If you go to the LEARN tab in the upper right part of the page, there are various articles about bird houses and landscaping for bird habitat that you may find useful. Until you have more shrubs or small trees near your feeders for landing spots, you can put a lage tree branch or old Christmas tree in a pot and fill the pot with rocks or gravel to hold it in place. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell's Project Nest Watch
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Comments (41)
terrene: Like sooey, I only count the time actually spent watching the birds. For me, this is usually 1 to 4 hours (estimated); just spread out over the whole two days. I spent more time for the Christmas Bird Count, which was one of my two PFW days, so I called that 4 to 8 hours total. Most of my productive counting is done in the early morning hours when the birds are feeding after a long night. I'll often look at my tally sheet around 10 or 11 am and see that most of the regulars are there. There's another burst of activity after I refill the feeders in the late afternoon. I do this so that there will be plenty of food in the morning and I won't feel pressured to get out there early. The rest of the day is for stragglers and fine-tuning the count. sooey: I don't really hear the cardinals in the winter - my windows are pretty tight. The Mourning Doves are a different issue. They come at dusk, but they're so wary (I think because of the hawks) that I usually don't see them. Often I'll see 2 or 3 at a time during the daytime, but when I go out to refill the feeders I'll hear that squealing sound of a flock of panicky doves taking flight. If I look up fast, I can get a rough count of the flock, maybe 10 or 12. The other birds that come at dusk with the cardinals are the native sparrows, but these are really hard to identify - little brown birds in the shadow of a big shrub. Claire
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Comments (37)
I love all these photographs, I can look at them nonstop all day long. I live out in Western MA and have a few feeding stations up, one that contains BOSS and Safflower seeds, a thistle sock and a double suet feeder. Lately my feeders are packed with different song birds, chickadees, titmice, pine siskins, finches, white breasted nuthatches, dark eyed juncos, male and female cardinals, although I believe there's only one male cardinal that I keep seeing and along with the two females. I also get occasional house sparrows but lately, they seem to be staying away. I have a bluebird house up in hopes of luring a pair to my yard to raise a family but I'm not keeping my hopes up. Yesterday I was home for the day and sitting in my living room and out my bay window in the front across the street, were two Pileated Woodpeckers, the first I've ever seen. They were working on this one tree for about 2-3 hours, one on each side of the tree and they managed to do a fantastic job carving out a couple of cavities, I was very impressed at how hard they worked. Only wish my camera had a better lense. I've had red bellied, downie and hairy woodpeckers at my suet feeders but never was lucky enough to witness a pileated so close and two for that matter, it was very exciting. Please keep the pictures coming, I so enjoy looking at them and love to hear that there are bluebirds not to far from where I live. Fingers are crossed that they come to visit my yard in the spring. Linda
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Backyard bird count coming up
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Comments (1)
I'm ready and waiting. Linda
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youreit
14 years ago
GREAT pics, Glenda! I love the first pic, too - "Call the ball! Call the ball!" LOL

Brenda
jeanner
14 years ago
Great series! Those hummingbirds are absolutely the most amazing creatures - and so feisty! Are they ruby-throated hummers? Do you get more than one kind? I would love to see some of the tropical hummers some day.
pikecoe
Original Author
14 years ago
Yes, the male has a beautiful ruby throat. I don't know if we have had any other kinds. These are all I have seen this year. Glenda
pikecoe
Original Author
14 years ago
I'll just sit here til she goes...
{{gwi:172205}}
{{gwi:172206}}
and here's the Mrs...
{{gwi:172207}}
Uh..Oh....I'm out a here...
{{gwi:172208}}
chickadeedeedee
14 years ago
WOW! I am so jealous! Those are a wonderful series of photos. Keep 'em coming please. :-)
youreit
14 years ago
Love that last pic, Glenda! I think I hear squealing tires. :D

Brenda
catherinet
14 years ago
Glenda, do your hummers feed together at the feeder? Mine just won't tolerate a second one there.
I've been to a state park where they had tons of feeders outside an observation window, and those feeders would have 5-6 hummers on each feeder.
Have you ever seen their tongue coming out? Its as long as their bill!
Mine are always clicking and chasing each other.
Have you ever seen them flying in an arc in the air, back and forth, back and forth? I'm not sure what that means.
when I wear my neon pink shirt outside, they hover right in front of me, thinking I'm a big flower!
They're sure fun to have around!
pikecoe
Original Author
14 years ago
I have had several females feed at the same time. But the male will come and run them off. Yes I have seen them flying in the arcs in the air. I really enjoy mine. I see them sitting in the dogwood tree, just waiting for me to go away so they can come and drink. Sometimes they will come to the feeders, with me sitting right under them but I have to be very still. Glenda
catherinet
14 years ago
A couple summers ago, they would hang around while I was watering in the back yard. I would put a fine spray in the air, and they would love to fly through it. Pretty soon, I'd go out and just start spraying up in the air, and that would attract them. They haven't seemed as interested this year.
jeanner
14 years ago
Your pics are too funny! I love to watch them preen with those long beaks - a built in back scratcher!

I think the flying in the arc is a territorial act ...

Last fall we took a little motorcycle trip and my BIL came over to feed the cats and water my pots (bless his heart!). It was in the middle of migration and I had a minimum of 14 hummers at a time. One of the hummingbird feeders hangs over the pots on the deck and they came right up to him while he was watering. He had never seen them so close or so many at a time and he was just amazed. Which reminds me that I need to get some pictures of the males before they leave, it won't be long :^(
catherinet
14 years ago
jeanner........do you have hummers that will feed at the same time on the same feeder?
Gosh......summer is going too fast!
I didn't have nearly the number of hummers as I had last year. How about you guys?
I do seem to have alot of cedar waxwings this year though. They never get close enough for pics though, but I hear them out there.
youreit
14 years ago
This year is hummer central at my house! I've NEVER seen so many hummers before! And it's standing room only at the feeder - four perched eating with at LEAST five waiting, hovering, perching elsewhere, giving the evil eye to those already feasting. LOL I've even seen them bump or peck another one off the feeder perch. I must admit, I've wanted to do that a couple times in the kitchen when I'm really hungry. :D

I used to have 2 feeders a couple years ago, but I didn't have enough visitors to make them both worth it. Now, I have to fill up my over-4-cup-capacity feeder daily. Not that I'm complaining! :D

I've seen them do that weaving, back-and-forth, almost hypnotic thing when they're trying to intimidate another visitor. One will sometimes "weave" another one to the ground in its attempt to scare it off.

I've even seen one following Pookie kitty when she gets too close to the feeder! It's hilarious, seeing her walking real fast, ears back, knowing SOMEthing is back there, hustling her out of the area. LOL!!!

Brenda
jeanner
14 years ago
I seem to have a few more this year, although it's hard to tell, but I've seen at least 3 males fighting over one feeder but the other feeder is at the other end of the house so it's a little tough to count. The males are starting to relent a little now, I noticed a male and a youngun together at the feeder. The females seem content to share. Last year as they migrated I noticed alot less fighting, even with the males. The cardinals do the same thing in the late fall and that's when I know winter is too close!

The cedar berries are just about ripe and the trees are loaded this year so I'm hoping to catch the waxwings feasting on them - if the starlings don't get them first :^(

Gee I'd love to see some of them Californian hummers (hint, hint!)

Enjoying the birds

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Enjoying the birds

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