Patrick Sweeney Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 I finished the storm windows. while I was putting them up, I figured I'd also clean the windows, too. So, there I am, windex, paper towels, scaffolding, windows, sweating, cursing, and all the while the dog is watching. And the birds keep on feeding. At one point I'm between two sets, ten and twelve feet away, and the birds (finches mostly) won't stop feeding. The most brazen little hoser, finalist for "Hardest Working Bird in the Forest" has got to be the black-capped chickadee. Not only were they buzzing me while I was on the scaffold (thought I was there to steal food?) but they'd eat just out of arms reach. Ever seen a b-c-c eat? They either snarf food from the thistle feeders (when the finches aren't looking) or they steal from the Cardinals. Cardinal feed is too big to just crunch, so the b-c-c will steal a big seed and flutter to a branch. There, he/she clamps it to the branch with a foot, and hammers away until they've busted into it. Then they'll feed on it, spitting out bits of hull, until it is gone. They kick the hull off the branch, wipe their beak on the branch, and go back for more. Made putting up the storm windows fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Black-capped Chickadees have survived precisely because they're assertive and skillful little little ba**ards. Gotta love 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 During the latter half of August and up through the first week of October I fed over 18lb of thistle seed. The various finches were preparing to depart for the southern climes I guess. Since then I have feed maybe a 1 lb of thistle. All of a sudden it just stopped one day. I am still running around 20lb of black oil sunflower seeds and half a suet block per week. The seeds are split between the various squirrels and assorted sparrows etc. The suet blocks are being slurped up by the nut hatches mostly but I have also seen the squirrels feeding on that. I don't mind feeding the wild critters. It makes life more pleasant. Which reminds me...I need to get some corn for the deer out back. Nice little 4 point buck moved in the day before hunting season started. Since I live in the city his chances are pretty good. Doesn't hurt that at least two does also live here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdragon Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Crunch, Crunch, Belch! Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted October 19, 2004 Author Share Posted October 19, 2004 I refuse to feed the squirrels. I live in a university town, and the students are so bad at feeding the little furry-tailed rats that in some parts of town they are so brazen you practically have to kick the bastards off the sidewalk. (The squirrels, not the students.) Let them fend for themselves, they're good at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Hmm... maybe that's why Eugene has so many squirrels--it's the students! This is the (for better or worse) home of the Univ. of Oregon. The trees here in town keep getting bigger and bigger and the squirrels (as well as all those belching birds) just love 'em. However, the squirrels ARE assertive and have no qualms about stealing food and so forth. Again, the squirrel road kill every fall is nearly one-per-city-block. We have an extensive bike-lane system here in town... perhaps the squirrels have reached the point where THEY need a commute lane of their OWN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 As the weather's cooling down, the Lesser Goldfinches are turning up their appetite... just bought 60 lbs of thistle seed in preparation. And, for the first time ever "in town," I have three Lawrence's Goldfinches hanging out with the (typical) 20-30 Lesser Goldfinches. A real bonus round. And if you like hummingbirds, the southwest is the place to be. Between my five feeders (four around the front porch and one outside the office window), I go through approx 16-24 ozs of sugar water daily. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 I've always liked Cedar Waxwings, actually. Had never seen one up-close-'n-personal until one morning in Kali long, long ago... I whipped open the kitchen curtains to see GOBS of them just inches away, feasting on some bitter, awful berry on a large juniper growing right outside the window!!! Gad, were they gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 The Bohemian Waxwings will be by in the early spring to clean the berries off the Mountain Ash tree in the front yard. If I am lucky enough to be home it is quite the event. Mom get's the Cedar Waxwings in S. Idaho but we get the Bohemian version. I used to try to not feed the squirrels but realized that was an arms race I was not going to win so I go ahead and feed them. The state highway running by out front does a reasonably good job of controlling the local population. I enjoy watching them and the dog loves to chase them back and forth through the yard...only the squirrels are in the trees and the dog isn't. But she hasn't figured that out yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Purple crested finchwings? Yellow bellied sapsuckers? The incredibly elusive (non-existant) Northern spotted owl? I'd like to get excited, but... The neighbors and I had a bald eagle hanging out & cruising around over the back 40 this summer. I think it ate a few neon spotted finchadees or whatever the hell you call them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 ..."neon spotted finchadees"... LOL...!The world of birds (let alone the art of identifying them) is vast. There are regional differences, of course, and seasons to their appearance as they migrate... like whales, butterflies, etc. Now that the trees in the apartment complex have grown big and thick (I've been here 11 yrs and the complex is about 12½ yrs old), the birds that flock here each spring come in larger and larger numbers. It can be quite noisy by May, believe me! But not as noisy as thousands of frogs in a neighborhood pond all night long. Gawd. Gotta love 'em, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 I think it ate a few neon spotted finchadees or whatever the hell you call them. Doubt it...unless that is a type of fish or the finchadees were already dead. Bald eagles are pretty much just consumers of fish. They will not pass on a nice ripe bit of carrion though when times aren't plentyful. And yes, I knew you were being funny. But there might be young and impressionable kidlets that read this thread and get the whole thing incorrect on their next test. Favorite eagle related quote of late: "Leaders are like bald eagles, we don't have any here." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 All I know is that I have birds, and I feed them - ALOT of food. I feed the squirrels too, but that's to keep them away from the bird food. Birds out back, squirresl out front! I have BIG birds, hawks and eagles both. And I have the ugliest itty bitty birds you've ever seen. If my RB ever gets done with my camera I'll try to take some pics and then y'all can name them for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANeat Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 A couple of winters ago I had a Coopers Hawk try to get an easy breakfast off one of my bird feeders. He went right into the window the result was a broken screen and one dead Hawk After that I moved the feeders back a little to give the Hawks a better chance Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Waxwings are awesome... sad I don't get to see them in the southwest. And, had the first wintering Cooper's hawk sighting in the neighborhood this week. I dig those birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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