Disappearing birds
Alisande
6 years ago
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Rose Pekelnicky
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Comments (103)Cedar rust requires two hosts - anything in the apple family and the cedar family. After the gall from the cedar tree releases it spores, it grows on the apple trees which release their spores to form new cedar galls. I planted three crabapple trees which are supposed to be cedar-rust resistant, they still get a little fungus on them but not enough to really hurt them. CT - I was thinking blue-eyed grass! I don't know what I was thinking but we call that the century plant. I have some too and yes they do reseed easily although I would not call them invasive. I found one growing in our unmowed area with the wild grass. I took them to a plant swap last year at work and one of the swappers brought plants in this year that had seeded from the plant I gave her. Mine are planted on a hot, dry hill and do fine. I have moles too, lots of them! And I love wildlife too but I draw the line at moles and voles. I don't do anything to repel them though, they are just a fact of life for me. A couple of years before the brood X cicada emergence they got huge! The size of large baking potatoes! Which apparently is not unusual, they start eating the nymphs in the last couple of years before the emergence as they work their way to the top. What I hate is when I am working in the garden and all of a sudden earthworms come up out of the ground by the dozens and I can hear the mole digging his tunnel. Luckily as the soil dries out they tend to go deeper and the tunnels aren't as bad. Back to the garden!...See MoreBirds birds birds (pics)
Comments (18)Jane, if you only have one feeder out, you might try a good mixture with black oil sunflower seeds stirred into it. Don't get the cheapie kind with those little reddish-brown "BB's" in it. I have never seen ANYTHING actually eat those. I get mine at PetSmart, and I really love the Stokes mixture that has no hulls in it. I feed it, black oiler sunflowers and safflower seed. Safflower seed goes into a feeder that doesn't have squirrel protection, because they don't really like it, but cardinals and titmice do. HOWEVER, no matter what you are feeding, there will be times when birds are not around for various reasons. I have hardly any right now, mostly due to a pair of hawks hanging about our neighborhood. And even without the hawks, birds often disappear for a few weeks now and then. One more thing...don't forget that WATER is probably even more important than seed in luring birds to your yard. You'll notice that most of Maureen's pictures feature her great birdbath. Be sure to provide several "baths" around the yard. They can be anything from decorative features to trashcan lids on the ground with 2" of water in them. I often turn clay pots upside down and put a clay saucer on top for water. Keep the water CLEAN and shallow, maybe even adding a rock in the center for birds to stand on. Good luck! Marcia...See MoreHummingbirds - where have they gone?
Comments (3)It`s quite possible they have moved on towards their wintering grounds. My Rufus are a no show today and I believe they are on their way to points south. Sure enjoyed them while they were here!...See MoreBird Recognition Of Other Birds
Comments (8)konrad: Thanks. I've noticed quite a few red-tails sitting in trees on the side of Route 1 in Chester County, PA (Route 1 is a 4-lane lightly used road here). The hawks stare into the grass median, and when they see something, they are quite focused on their prey. In fact, I had to slow down to miss one that was flying into the median. Claire: I remember reading a post here about bluebirds going to a window to ask for food. That was when I first started watching the birds. Well, I thought it was someone's imagination--until I realized it wasn't. There was a time when a mother mockingbird kept screaming at me until I chased a cat from near her nest. When I was feeding the birds regularly, the white-throats, upon seeing me, would jump up from the brush, land in the bushes, and sing to me. Probably the most amusing was when the male and female red-bellied woodpeckers--whom I always call red and rosie--landed in a tree on the side of the house and started shouting at me. I looked at the feeder with mixed nuts and saw it was empty. Once I filled it with their mixed nuts (they like the white ones and always search for them), they left me alone and ate their nuts. Here is something you may wish to try with mockingbirds. While in the yard, I may discover a mockingbird nest by observing the parents repeatedly going towards the same general area. The parents will first land on a nearby branch and look at me. This is where I must obey their rule. When the parent looks at me, I must turn away from the parent. I usually turn my back to them. Then, the parent heads for the nest and I hear the happy chirp of the chicks being fed. I don't know if this is a learned mockingbird trait or if it is instinct. However, the parent will fly away unless I look away while they go to the nest. I've been obeying their rule for years now....See MoreAlisande
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