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barred_owl
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« Reply #135 on: November 03, 2009, 04:39:54 PM » |
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The Bluejays are back from their annual post-fletching vacation. Some goldfinches also stopped by for a bit over the weekend.
Your Blue Jays were making arrows?? (hehehe...you meant "fledging," right?) We have kamikaze Blue Jays--they swoop down and harass the squirrels on the birdfeeder. Just this morning, a squirrel took a tumble out of the feeder tray, thanks to a jay. Go jays! |
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...I can't help rooting for the underdog underbird. |
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mouseman
Oh dear, how did I become a
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Posts: 7,103
The Validater/Validator-in-Chief
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« Reply #136 on: November 03, 2009, 10:36:08 PM » |
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The Bluejays are back from their annual post-fletching vacation. Some goldfinches also stopped by for a bit over the weekend.
Your Blue Jays were making arrows?? (hehehe...you meant "fledging," right?) We have kamikaze Blue Jays--they swoop down and harass the squirrels on the birdfeeder. Just this morning, a squirrel took a tumble out of the feeder tray, thanks to a jay. Go jays! That's not kamikaze - those are daredevils! I remember one early morning back in Israel, when I saw three hooded crows make one poor cats life miserable. They stood around the poor thing, and ever so often, one would move in and peck its tail. When it spun around to face that crow, another would hop close and peck it from behind. |
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In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away -- -
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
Lewis Carroll
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barred_owl
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« Reply #137 on: November 03, 2009, 10:40:14 PM » |
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Heh--Your story reminds me of the video I've seen of a cat being harassed by a mockingbird.
A former grad school colleague told a tale about watching a group of jays mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk that was perched in a tree. The jays, screaming the whole time, would take turns swooping down and giving the hawk a rough time, until....the hawk extended one taloned foot and caught one of the jays in midair. The rest of the jays quickly left the scene.
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...I can't help rooting for the underdog underbird. |
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pollinate
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« Reply #138 on: November 05, 2009, 12:29:48 PM » |
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The Bluejays are back from their annual post-fletching vacation. Some goldfinches also stopped by for a bit over the weekend.
Your Blue Jays were making arrows?? (hehehe...you meant "fledging," right?) Yes, I meant fledging...... Typing too fast and all of that, but the slip amuses me too... |
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While "against stupidity, even the gods themselves contend in vain" may be true,
it is not reason for us to just give up and let the stupid run this world.
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barred_owl
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« Reply #139 on: November 06, 2009, 01:02:27 PM » |
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Grackle invasion! This morning, our big birdfeeder was mobbed by Common Grackles several times. While I watched them, I observed the following: 1. the feeder tray has room for about 8 grackles on each side, but the grackles that feed there are constantly pushing and shoving each other, with 2-3 of them managing to defend their positions on the tray--lots of squawking, lunging, flapping (agonistic displays) between the birds on the feeder tray. I didn't time anything, but it seemed like the birds on the tray spent more time defending their spaces than eating; 2. the more numerous birds on the ground rarely showed any aggression toward one another, and they were subject to a hail of seed as the birds on the tray shoveled into the seed in the feeder. So, I got to wondering...Given the energy expending in the aggressive interactions on the feeder tray, were those birds selecting higher-energy seeds (e.g., black oil sunflower seeds) preferentially, while the less aggressive ground feeders might be able to "settle" for whatever fell their way (i.e., lower-quality seed rejected by the birds on the tray)? Well, check out my photos of the scene. Looks like the birds in the tray might be selecting the higher-energy sunflower seeds after all. Granted, n=1 observation (well, okay, n=2 birds in the picture), but I just couldn't help thinking about the behaviors this way. So it goes in the life of a "bird person." |
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...I can't help rooting for the underdog underbird. |
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pollinate
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« Reply #140 on: November 06, 2009, 01:40:20 PM » |
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Interesting - they both do seem to have chosen black oil sunflower. I periodically get lots of grackles and will try to pay more attention next time.
I have a hanging platform feeder that will usually sit two grackles per side. When it gets that crowded there is always some displaying between grabbing food bits. The funniest behavior is when they straighten up, abruptly fluff all their feathers and then relax them - it looks like they're inflating and deflating - especially when they take turns doing this....
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While "against stupidity, even the gods themselves contend in vain" may be true,
it is not reason for us to just give up and let the stupid run this world.
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malcha
Creepy Lit Critter, Undead Language Lover,
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 7,474
posting live from her FCFU
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« Reply #141 on: November 06, 2009, 05:11:12 PM » |
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There's a really tall free-standing antenna right across from my window, and a hawk has adopted it as a surveillance perch this evening. I'm no birder, but it is a not too large hawk with a white speckled breast, white tail, and greyish-brown back and wings. The wings have paler undersides. It just took off again. It looks very fine and dramatic right at sunset.
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biomancer
trying to be the person my dog thinks I am
Distinguished Senior Member
Posts: 8,013
CHE Fora Hazmat Team
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« Reply #142 on: November 07, 2009, 08:04:11 AM » |
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Over the past few days I've had a lot of black-capped chickadees (and a few others) trying to stash seeds in the little gaps where the exterior brick of my house meets the edges of the window casings. (Clearly I should have investigated the state of the caulking before the weather got too cold, but I digress.)
This morning there is a little downy woodpecker hopping up and down the bricks next to the windows, pulling seeds from the stash.
There's also a mob of p!$$ed-off chickadees in the front yard. Time to refill the feeders so they can refill their stashes.
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Clueless people can be dangerous. The acidic environment they can spread often needs to be neutralized, and humor is basic. - Dellaroux
Viruses invented people so that people would invent airplanes so viruses could get around better. - R. Duda
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marfa
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« Reply #143 on: November 08, 2009, 10:44:30 AM » |
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After a rather miserable, dreary, cool, wet fall, we are having a gorgeous weekend!
Nice enough yesterday to take the canoe out in the local river. Saw lots of chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, two bald eagles, heard a sandhill crane, and saw a pileated woodpecker. Hopefully, we'll get a few more days like that, but it was great to enjoy that one!
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"It is hard to be bipartisan when the other party is dominated by crazy people. " DvF
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barred_owl
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« Reply #144 on: November 08, 2009, 10:59:11 PM » |
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Marfa, that sounds like a heavenly way to spend the day!
Saw the first juncos of the season--snowbirds, you know. I know they're around in the "off-season," but today there were several feeding quite contentedly under the birdfeeder...in 68-degree sun-shiny weather!
I also have engaged our resident deer in battle. They've been cleaning out the hanging feeder (which is squirrel-proof, but not deer-proof, apparently) every other night or so. So, today, I put my last* bloodmeal deer repellent canister at nose-level height on the pole from which the feeder is suspended, hoping that will help deter them.
*I had two canisters left, but I accidentally popped the top off of one of them and spilled bloodmeal all over the ground/floor inside our shed. I guess we won't have to worry about the deer getting into the shed now!
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...I can't help rooting for the underdog underbird. |
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cgfunmathguy
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« Reply #145 on: November 08, 2009, 11:01:04 PM » |
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The hawks are migrating, and I saw THREE different redtails this weekend. Such majestic birds.
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Alas, greatness and meaning are rarely coterminous with popular familiarity.
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johnr
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« Reply #146 on: November 09, 2009, 01:25:53 AM » |
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Kayaked right through a flock of Western Grebes today. They didn't even budge, they didn't dive and they certainly didn't fly. Once they migrate down from the great white north they don't seem to fly again until they're heading north again in the spring. I could have scooped one up with my paddle.
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"When I die, I hope it's in a committee meeting. The transition from life to death will be barely perceptible."
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marfa
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« Reply #147 on: November 09, 2009, 11:20:19 AM » |
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The hawks are migrating, and I saw THREE different redtails this weekend. Such majestic birds.
Mathguy, I'm so glad you got a little nature this weekend. I always find comfort in the big outdoors, so I hope felt renewed too! |
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"It is hard to be bipartisan when the other party is dominated by crazy people. " DvF
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mdwlark
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« Reply #148 on: November 12, 2009, 02:24:51 PM » |
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a beautiful magpie just flew by.
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marfa
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« Reply #149 on: November 13, 2009, 04:44:43 PM » |
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Saw some tundra swans migrating! Hope to have time this weekend to steal away and see the great flocks of them (10-20,000!). If you're anywhere in a 100 mile drive, it's pretty cool.... the noise is haunting!
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"It is hard to be bipartisan when the other party is dominated by crazy people. " DvF
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