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Black is beautiful Too

15 years ago

He seems to be quite happy with himself

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Comments (11)

claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Crows can even be stately when it suits them.

but sometimes they just can't resist expressing their opionion.

Claire
beegood_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
They are neat birds aren't they? Great pictures !
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That looks like #1 common black cherry in wide plank and pre-finished. With over 3" wide, it is recommended to either: 1. Blind nail and/or face nail/face screw. 2. Blind nail and glue. 3. Glue with the use of clamps to hold the planks until set. Note- glues mean you need a subfloor that is flat without correction by roofing paper or shingles. Because of the use of carpeting in many homes and it's forgiving nature, subfloors are often not flat. The reason for face nails/screws or glue is because there is not sufficient holding ability from blind nailing alone when going over 3" wide. Blind nailing by itself will hold the floor down, but it will creak and pop slightly with seasonal humidity changes. Black Cherry is fairly easy to dent, but since the floor you are choosing has a lot of character, the imperfections should be masked pretty well. Natural (unstained) is also best for floors that will be dented or scratched through the finish. It is hard to match a stain/surface finish to nearby undamaged wood. To best hide surface finish scratches, make sure the finish sheen is either satin or matte. Also, the commercial aluminum oxide finishes are generally not easy to spot fix. Most people just have the whole floor refinished every 2-10 years, depending on wear. Pre-drilling is not needed when blind nailing or face nailing a flooring cleat with most all N. American species (including black cherry). These cleats are tapered and pretty narrow in thickness. Pre-drilling is definitely needed with screws.
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My two cents.....why not get a panelled frig to match your cabinets. "Some" black appliances will look real nice. However, to me frigs in black look big scary and dominating. I feel like they are ready to charge,trample and pack me inside to keep me quiet. I think black refigerators are jealious of beautiful kitchen cabinetry and want all the attention. If you have a big screen tv from the late eighties there is always the risk of them taking off with each other in the middle of the night. If the refrigerator becomes PG you will have thousands of large original cell phone parts in gray at your door step. Do you really want this responsibility? No offence to those who have black refrigerators, my two cents is just that. All your kitchens are gorgeous! Can't help my frig weirdness ....sorry.
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Thanks, Silvia and DG. Interesting that you also found it didn't produce much, Silvia. Beautiful plants as always. Yes, I like Ichiban, too, DG, but since I only have space for hydroponic growing, I prefer not to use starts since it's hard to prevent soil contamination with plants already started and you can't get Ichiban any more except as Bonnie plants, no seeds now. You have to wash starts so much and they don't always like the transition to rockwool. Also, I've found that whatever nurseries use to push growth tends to be an ant attractant. I don't do strawberries for the same reason. The year I tried them my system was just filled with ants that wanted to be in those strawberry roots. I like Kuruma almost as much, but AFAIK Kitazawa is the only place for that and it doesn't seem worth placing an order for just one packet of seeds. I like High Bush, too, but it doesn't share space well with others, like the Brandy Boy tomato I tried this year. One of the disadvantages of my setup is that I have to pull everything at the end of the season and start fresh every fall. If things are allowed to get too large they can break the tower sides. I've got about three weeks before it will be time to put it to bed till I start seeds in August. It could go a little longer but I'll be traveling a bit and there's nobody to keep up with the nutrients while I'm gone. So Black Beauty better hurry up! :-)
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Konrad___far_north
15 years ago
Great thread of smart birds with pictures, let's see what I can find...

Crow & Raven

Picking up a Tennis ball

{{gwi:699463}}
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
That tennis ball episode is wonderful! Makes me think I should toss out some golf or pingpong balls for the crows to play with.

Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Crows with snow on their bills from digging for birdseed. Got milk?

And a crow watching the turkey display from a safe perch, looking both amazed and amused. What are those ridiculous birds doing now?

Claire
dandelion_2009
15 years ago
Claire awsome shot! The crow watching the turkeys, by the way turkey season started here last week :)
beegood_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Great shot of the crow & turkeys.Wish we had wild turkeys here. I raised them for a few years and there is no better turkey than a wild one,
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Another mostly black and beautiful bird is the Common Grackle. Voracious appetite but can be counted on to eat caterpillars and grubs as well.

I love seeing the threat posture with the bill straight up in the air.

Claire
paulsiu
15 years ago
Is that what they are doing? I thought it was weird that grackles often show up in my yard and point their head into the sky. I am thinking they may be posturing against the other grackles.

Paul
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
I read somewhere that this is a male to male threat posture and I see it here a lot. Sometimes combined with a swelling up of the feathers and a creaking call, almost like a ritual belch. None of them ever seem to attack the other so I guess it works.

A few weeks ago I was watching a male grackle at the suet feeder when a second male showed up and pointed its bill up, maybe trying to take over the suet. Grackle number one was smaller but pointed its bill up then swelled up and creaked. It must have been very impressive because grackle number two left without any suet.

Claire
deanie13
15 years ago
Well yay, so that's what the cowbirds are doing too I bet. Thanks Claire!

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