Posted on 03/05/2005 8:07:37 AM PST by sweetliberty
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As it turned out, the previous thread on this topic generated a lot of interest and several people recommended doing it as a regular thread, so here is the second installment.
How you go about creating a bird sanctuary in your yard, or outdoor space, will depend on a number of givens, some which can modified, and others over which you have no control. One of these is geographical location or climate zone. If you live in the Colorado Rockies, you are not going to attract Cardinals, no matter how many black oil sunflower seeds you put out, and if you're on a beach in Florida, it's a pretty safe bet that there will be no snow buntings visiting your yard, the cornucopia of insects notwithstanding. Of course, if global warming keeps encroaching on us, we may soon find Alaska overrun with Parrots and Flamingos, but, I digress.
Within any given area, there are a variety of habitats, so no matter what your specific location, it is possible to vastly increase the types and numbers of birds in your immediate environment by modifying your habitat to make it more bird friendly to a wider array of birds native to your region.
Another "given" is your available space. If you live in a cottage in the woods by a stream, you will obviously have a lot more options available to you than if you live in an urban apartment with nothing more than a small porch or balcony. Of course, I think the majority of us live somewhere between those extremes. The point is, even if you have nothing more than a porch, you can still make it bird friendly, thereby increasing your enjoyment of these highly entertaining creatures. If you don't even have so much as a porch, I would suggest moving!
The purpose of this thread is to share ideas for maximizing our outdoor spaces to make them appealing to birds and butterflies, to share our experiences and knowledge or expertise, photos and resources. The discussion is pretty free-flowing and may expand to include gardening, landscaping and related topics. The direction the thread takes will really be up to the FReepers who post on it. We can focus on a different topic every week or two, or just keep it open and casual, updating the thread periodically. The main thing is that we learn and have fun.
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That's interesting. I never knew insects could distinguish between colors.
Haven't had any trouble with bugs with the new type of feeder, but the OLD type without bee guards? Good grief!
The entire feeder section would be covered (literally) in bees, and the poor, frustrated hummers would hover around it, *trying* to find a bee-free place to put their bill!
I've seen the saucer type of feeder (from the link), but the ones I've seen don't hold very much, and I'm just too lazy to clean and fill them more than once a week!
:)
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I've missed so many posts that this may have already been talked about, but did anyone see a David Letterman show this past week that had he man that loved Hummers on it? My husband told me about it. If you didn't see it...I think it was in one of the segments about Animal tricks.
This man loved watching hummers and wanted to get closer views of them. So he attached feeders to a football helment and would sit outside with it on. They filmed him, and my husband said he had hummers all around him:)
I wish I had seen it.
Becky
Hello Becky!
I've missed some posts here lately too!
I would have loved to have seen that too!!
I think it was in those segments that he does called Stupid Human Tricks:), stupid or not, I'm tempted to try:) I think that would be cool. My husband said that all thru the show they would switch the camera on him, and he would be sitting there with hummers flitting all around him.
Becky
My husband and I are funny. We worked outside and seem a bit slower going this morning. LOL! Finally had some nice weather! Today looks good too. So I'm trying to catch up on gardening. I'm way behind! Hubby is putting up a fence for our dog. :)
Catbird is back. Mockingbird now lets me know when the food is out. ;) The Jays yell at me too. I think the Chickadee and Titmice are nesting as they don't come as often. The HouseWren is around claiming the territory, I believe, but is not in that house. The starlings are still making me nuts! :) I hope you all are enjoying your birds!
Happy Memorial Day!
Becky,
That would be so cool! Give it a try. That would be an incredible experience!
I don't know where all my hummers went. I don't see nearly as many as before. I keep the feeders fresh. I just hope they didn't get something bad from neighboring feeders. Or maybe they're like so many other birds and do occasional disappearing acts and then return. The finch population is quite low now as well, and I haven't seen the Grosbeaks for a week or two. No shortage of Grackles though. They are like giant flying cockroaches. I'm getting where I don't even want to put more food in the platform feeders than the birds can eat before I leave for work in the morning (when I can chase them off), because if I do, I come back and those filthy, thieving scavengers have savaged the feeders and made a big mess in the birdbath. And wouldn't you know, they were the first to bring juveniles to the yard. Arrrrghh!!
What have you got planned for the weekend? Anything?
Sounds like me and the Grackles!
I read Starlings don't cling. I brought different feeders and yes, they figure it out, starlings can cling, hang upside down, stick their fat heads in caged feeders. Can you tell they are making me nuts! :)
Just taking a guess, Is it possible that your Hummers may be nesting and that's why you don't see them as often? I hope that's the case. :)
LOL! Flying Cockroaches. I fear the Starlings will start with bringing juveniles too.
I know. I do the same thing. And the Jays. They are so funny. On one side of the platform feeder, I put a mixture of broken pieces of graham cracker, walnut pieces, shelled almonds, unshelled peanuts, golden raisins and Craisins. This is the favorite of the Jays and Titmice (except for the fruit...which is for the Mockers)....and unfortunately, the Grackles. I'm getting where I will only fill that side when I can watch it, but I will sometimes fill it in the evening after the birds are in for the night, just in case I don't have too much time before work. Sometimes the Grackles beat me up in the morning, and then the Jays are looking for their breakfast. I can't NOT give them some more. And when I put it out, one of them will circle and raise a big fuss to let the others know breakfast is on. LOL! And I love watching them "sort" through it to see what they want. It's not like they're picking any one thing over the others, but they will choose different things at different times. Or they will cock their heads this way and that, looking at it, as if to say, hmmmm....what shall I have first this morning?
Yes, I've considered that hummers are nesting, but they still have to eat...every 10 minutes. Of course, I know the feeders are are a supplement to their diet, so they may have sources closer to their nests. There are a couple around this morning, but they're not around all the time like they were. I hope that is the case.
I saw a funny sight in the yard this morning. A Brown Thrasher chasing a chipmunk...running. They are fast, even without using their wings.
Some of the birds were coming in very close when I was outside this morning. Unfortunately, their posing and my ability to focus the camera were no in sync at all. I did get a couple of shots of these guys though. they got impatient waiting for me to leave and said, "to heck with it. Let's eat."
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Well, starting to get hot here (yuk), and most the birds are still around!
STILL haven't figured out what the little black/yellow bird is, but they seem to be around only when the Goldfinches are.
Papa Woodpecker with TWO babies making regular trips to the feeder! Haven't seen Mama...maybe she took a vacation :) Got some pretty good pics of them and some other birds on the 35mm. Soon as they're developed, I'll post 'em ASAP!
I have a pair of barn swallows nesting under the eaves of my porch. They sit alot out on the electric line that runs across our front yard. Anyway, today I had my grandsons bubble gun out there blowing bubbles. One of the swallows was sitting on the line and was really watching the bubbles float past, even dove down after one. It was kind of neat. He sat there for along time watching.
Becky
One of my hummers this evening was at the feeder by the kitchen window and she kept looking down. I couldn't figure out what she was looking out. When I leaned over to check it out, there was a chipmunk just sitting there on the patio under the feeder.
There's a new baby bunny in the yard too. Just saw him this evening.
LOL! Now that is a very funny sight!
Broken pieces of graham cracker? I'll have to give that a try! :)
Nice shot of Downy! 2 at a time!
We finished putting our fence up yesterday. It was great this morning the Starlings and about 12 squirrels were all over everything and all I had to do was open the door and let the dog out. :)
I hung out a woodpecker bar yesterday eveing and I had 3 downies on it this morning....squabbling. It was funny because they usually don't squabble much. I'm thinking some of them are juveniles. There have been a lot of them around the past few days.
I feel like I spend half my weekends guarding the feeders from Grackles. They know I don't like them, too. All I have to do is open the door and let them see me and they're gone. The other birds mostly ignore me.
Good luck with the wren family!
Congratulations on your new neighbors, GodBlessUSA!
:)
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