The birds ... the birds ....
Back door motion alarm was going off this morning. It covers an edge of the patio & the adjacent landscaping. Birds set it off when they forage that area. This morning I was thrilled to see an Eastern Towhee pair. He is so handsome with that black, rust/orange, white combo.
Another bird has been traipsing down my gutter guard just under the (slate) shingle edge until it gets to the main house where it starts pecking. When it flies off, it has very dark feathers, does not look like any of the woodpeckers around here although it flies somewhat like one. The pecking is slow & steady, not a rat-a-tat-tat. Yesterday, I was chasing it off all afternoon.
No fake snakes to be had at the Co-op or Walmart (I have had success with them before). I did get a green lizard at Walmart - head is snake-y looking & will be staring the bird in the eye at the end of the gutter guard. Next stop was the fishing lure department. A blog post on woodpeckers said the one thing that does work are these shiny discs that hang, sort of like wind chimes - most birds hate them. They are used on houses, porches, in gardens, etc. I didn’t have time to order anything so I got some shiny silver jig spinners & strung them together. Using my jewelry making tool set, I got a little hole in the end of a popsicle stick, attached my shiny rig & the stick is taped to the gutter. All before the first cup of coffee, too. Will it work? I guess I will find out.
All trees in danger of falling down last night during a storm with high wind advisories are still upright, but a windy weekend is in store. If they make it to next week, they’ll be cut down.
My new lottery winner neighbors just bought a dozer to clear their little 7 acres. They're about to find out just how rocky that 7 acres is. I thought they had rented or borrowed it until I talked to my buddy up the road who knows them. I need to get them to come over here and knock some trees down.
Got my gadget for reading the wind monitor but evidently the wind speed part of the wind monitor is dead. I guess the coil is bad. Found a test for another brand that said an Ohm reading between the two coil wires should be 6-700 Ohms. Even though mine's not the same brand, it's the same basic design/concept so I should be able to measure some sort of resistance. I get no reading. Must be a burnt out spot in the coil windings.
Oh well. Still looks cool and reads wind direction.
Just ordered a 3 cup anemometer which look like toys to me but they do make good commercial ones and I found someone on ebay that refurbishes them. Very knowledgeable helpful guy. $30 and if it works, I'll grab another to have as a spare.
They use these models on big cranes so they know if they need to shut down operations due to high winds.