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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Oh, that is cool. My pictures through the window don't turn out good.
The window is under an awning, so there's not a glare, and I used a telephoto lens, which got me "past" the glass. Wish it was a little sharper, though. Maybe this year LOL!
Saw a bird today I couldn't identify, maybe you can tell me what it might be. Only got a really clear view of his wings, couldn't see his head. From what I could see, he was around the size of a robin, black, except for the feathers along the bottom edge of his wings when they were outstretched, those were white. ?? Maybe a woodpecker, but I didn't see a red head.
BTTT!!!!!!!
This morning there was a wren at the feeder. First one I've seen.
WOW! That's just a first class hummingbird pic! I need to quit trying to use the digital and break out the old Cannon!
Kinds cool here today. If your hubby's in Dallas today, GodBlessUSA, he's gotta be loving the weather! :)
Thought I saw a Goldfinch, but it's head wasn't yellow. I believe it may be a Magnolia Warbler, but I'm trying to get a better look.
Ma and Pa Woodpecker have been regular visitors since I upgraded the seed mixture, and all the advice about the Woodpecker block was right on target!
I moved the block yesterday, because the birds prefer the 'loose' food.
A squirrel found it this morning and started whittling away to the point I decided to move it OUT of their reach again!
I took the camera with me (for once...LOL!) and got pretty close before he scampered back up the tree.
Now I need an opinion...is it just me, or does this goober look like he's SMILING?
:-)
Yesterday, I stopped and bought meal worms for the bluebirds in the nestbox on the arbor. But I got just as many flycatchers interested in the worm bowl :-) as I did bluebirds.
Oh wow! Fantastic picture!
LOL! Yep, your squirrel is smiling at you!
Poor hubby has been working around the clock, I wonder if he has seen the light of day this time. I hope he can get out and about tomorrow sometime to enjoy the weather!
I saw a Magnolia Warbler here last year. Beautiful bird. I have some type of Warbler hanging around but I haven't figured out who it is yet.
GodBlessUSA, Magnolia Warblers are very pretty, but their SINGING...it's wonderful. Only see them every so often, but one was singing the other day, and it was like a stream of music so pure it hurt your ears. (Does that sound goofy?)
The Cardinals are in full song, too.
Or as my husband called it the other day-
"Screaming their heads off!"
LOL!
I also must admit yet another birdy boo-boo. What I've been calling Red Headed Woodpeckers... aren't.
They are Golden Fronted Woodpeckers, which reside almost exclusively in Texas. Still haven't gotten a pic, but Google is a wonderful thing!
Description 9 1/2" (24 cm). Barred with black and white above and buff below, like Red-bellied Woodpecker, but male has red restricted to cap; nape orange; forecrown yellow; female lacks red but has orange nape.
:)
Thanks! I have bananas planted outside my kitchen window -- the hummingbirds really like the blossoms. I get little tiny bananas, and then it freezes and the whole thing dies to the ground. When spring arrives, the plants try all over again.
More like smirking.
They are expensive and time consuming; that's for sure.
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Do they use moss sometimes for their nests? I was looking at my bluebirds through the binoculars, (they are in a house on the arbor posts) and saw something rummaging around on the ground behind. Focused in a little better, and there was a thrasher type bird raiding a flower basket that I had planted last year and bordered with green moss.
I feel like such a dummy -- I'm just now realizing that thrashers and thrushes are different birds.
Not sure what they use for nests. If they're like most birds, they use whatever is available.
Well, I can jump in here and testify that my Brown Thrashers built the sturdy foundation with twigs but stuffed it with scraps of paper and plastic for lining.
Then they abandoned it. :(
Yep/ I see them a lot. Sometimes in my yard in the evening. Any fruit left over from the day, I toss on the ground in the evening and they clean it up.
This was my first-- I didn't know their teeth were so imposing. Their incisors look like they could do some serious damage.
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