Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by Hermskii » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:52 pm

I wish they'd make gag style deterants so they'd be extra funny like once the squirel falls it get spring projected ove a fence or something like that. Maybe fall into a pool, get electrocuted via third rail technology so the birds will be safe. Yeah! That would be awesome.

I have spent some of my day watching trump haters get electrocuted trying to steal trump signs from people's front yards. Love it.
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by Hook » Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:37 pm

Hermskii wrote:I wish they'd make gag style deterants so they'd be extra funny like once the squirel falls it get spring projected ove a fence or something like that. Maybe fall into a pool, get electrocuted via third rail technology so the birds will be safe. Yeah! That would be awesome.
Ya, that would be good! :lol:
Hermskii wrote:I have spent some of my day watching trump haters get electrocuted trying to steal trump signs from people's front yards. Love it.
Why don't they just go get their own Trump signs!?!?? :shock: :P
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Mon Jan 16, 2017 5:01 pm

Hermskii wrote:I wish they'd make gag style deterants so they'd be extra funny like once the squirel falls it get spring projected ove a fence or something like that. Maybe fall into a pool, get electrocuted via third rail technology so the birds will be safe. Yeah! That would be awesome.

I have spent some of my day watching trump haters get electrocuted trying to steal trump signs from people's front yards. Love it.
Well don't forget that there is that "Yankee Flipper" made by the Droll Yankees company. It's the one that spins and sends the squirrels flying. I posted a video earlier in the thread, remember?

And what's this about electrocuting Trump sign haters? Surely it's illegal to zap someone like that? :o
I do wish all those irate lefties would calm down. Unless the Donald's family takes his smart phone away from him after January 20th, he will surely bring himself down on his own. :lol:

And speaking of "tweets", I suppose I should go back on topic by saying that although I did see another hairy woodpecker at the suet feeder last week, visits by all species of birds has been way down for over a month. Perhaps the cold weather has finally driven them southwards. On the upside, I am saving a lot of money on seeds.
And the stock market's rather odd Trump induced rise has fattened my meager portfolio by just over 6 months worth of living too. May that last longer than the 35-40 pounds of sunflower seeds I've got on hand! :wink:
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:28 pm

Spring has finally arrived here in southern Ontario.

There wasn't much activity on the feeders all winter, overall. I had two pair of cardinals last year, one pair over-wintered the other pair did not. Last Tuesday I noticed that the male was now very attentive of his mate, and even fed her a couple of times. Then they flew off together. The males have been singing for about a month now, so I guess it is safe to assume that they are now nesting.

On the same day last week I saw my first male goldfinch since late autumn. A few females hung around on all but the very coldest days, but nary a male was to be seen. So far it seems that just that one male goldfinch is back.

I had both pairs of male and female downy woodpeckers all winter at my suet cages. But the females were shy of the males, as the boys wouldn't tolerate their former mates anywhere near the suet. But that has changed as of last week also. It seems safe to assume that the woodpeckers will be nesting soon too.

The red breasted and white breasted nuthatches are back, and very active at the feeders too. :)
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by Hermskii » Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:37 pm

We only get these birds and in the order from most common to least:

Sparrows, some other trashy kind of black bird that sucks and is ugly, Crows, Blue Jays, Robins, some sort of stork/waterbird, some sort of falcon, Cardinals, Vultures and lastly every once in a while we see a wild green parrots.

Cardinals are always a favorite. A red male is always followed by his life-long mate which is a less attractive rusty colored cardinal.

I'm really beginning to enjoy the Robins but they have been dwindling in numbers noticeably lately. They have a cute religious story about why their chest is burnt orange. Look it up.
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Wed Apr 19, 2017 4:39 pm

Hermskii wrote:We only get these birds and in the order from most common to least:

Sparrows, some other trashy kind of black bird that sucks and is ugly, Crows, Blue Jays, Robins, some sort of stork/waterbird, some sort of falcon, Cardinals, Vultures and lastly every once in a while we see a wild green parrots.

Cardinals are always a favorite. A red male is always followed by his life-long mate which is a less attractive rusty colored cardinal.

I'm really beginning to enjoy the Robins but they have been dwindling in numbers noticeably lately. They have a cute religious story about why their chest is burnt orange. Look it up.
Hey that is a cute story, although I think it applies to the UK Robin

The reason you are seeing fewer North American Robins is simply that they are migrating north to breed. It always used to seem so funny when I'd visit my parents wintering in Pt. Charlotte Florida and I'd see the Robins going about in flocks. Up here during breeding season they are very territorial and will NOT suffer another Robin on their claimed turf. I usually visited in March so I never saw this, but my mother used to say that at some point in April the Robins would start to gather in very large flocks and become quite restless. My father kept a bird bath for them and they would drink and bathe it dry in no time. He would need to refill it 3 or 4 times. Then one day they would all just be gone.

By the way, I forgot to mention a post or two ago that I started noticing that the colour on the male birds was slowly starting to get brighter as early as late January. They are of course now in full breeding glory, but by late summer it should be noticeable that their colours are already starting to fade.
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by Hermskii » Sun Apr 23, 2017 10:24 pm

Funny... the story Iheard was our Robin got the burned orange chest from fanning the flames of a fire to keep baby Jesus warm on a rather cold night. Something lie that anyways. I had never heard the other versions you pointed out or knew of another bird that carried the name of Robin. Our are large birds about the same size as a Blue Jay or small crow.
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Tue May 09, 2017 5:29 pm

I am no longer quite so envious of the video I linked to on page 1 called "Rose Breasted Grosbeak Feeding Frenzy" for I have had two males and their mates coming to my suet feeder for over a week now. I know that Rose Breasted Grosbeaks usually nest around here, but up to now they've been a very rare sight. I hope that both pairs have chosen my neighbourhood to nest and will stay around all season. They certainly are beautiful. I have learned that they winter in Mexico and South America, so they certainly are long range travelers and may well be among the first to head south in the fall.
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by EvilGrins » Wed May 24, 2017 12:04 am

This is an extreme on dealing with tree-rats, but if you're on facebook · https://www.facebook.com/WheelChairOutd ... 820046728/

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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by Hermskii » Sun May 28, 2017 2:31 pm

That was the video that gave me the idea to want to see more stuff like that done to unwanted pests. I don't want to hurt them but they will stop coming around after a few of these types of tricks.
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Mon May 29, 2017 4:45 pm

I wish I could look at stuff over at Facebookistan without having to register with them.

I swear, one of these days when I finally get back online, I'm going to try to register there with a fake name. Something like ....... oh heck I don't trust them, or this internet connection so I'm not sayin' what I'm planning to use........ something like J. Smith or Joe Doakes. It would be interesting to see if or how long I could pull it off.

And now to get back on topic:

The red breasted grosbeaks got driven off by the starlings, because those black feathered greedy guts kept robbing the suet so badly that I took it down. I've put up plain suet, because the starlings want the kind with seeds. But so far the grosbeaks haven't come back.
The number of goldfinches I am seeing has fallen to one pair. Even though I bought a nicer nyger seed feeder for them, and hung the old one around the corner of the house on the other pole I keep by the kitchen window.

I don't get it. Where did the others go? I had so many female goldfinches all last winter that they fought over the perches. Oh well, at least I'm saving money on seeds. :?
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Wed Jul 19, 2017 3:32 pm

The feeders have been up for over a year now. It has been interesting to note that since the house sparrows (another stupid import from the UK by some idiot in NY city back in 1820) have successfully bred their first set of fledglings that they have become the species of thieving marauders that drive the other birds off and clean out both the suet and the sunflower seed feeders. Up to this last month they hardly ever came by, and never touched the suet feeders on the rare occasions that they did take a few seeds. I'm wondering if they will go away eventually the same way that their UK cousins the starlings did. At this point I don't like to leave the feeders empty, because the chickadees and cardinals still want to visit too. Once in a while I still see a white breasted nuthatch too, although like the woodpeckers they have been mostly absent also.

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Here is a very upsetting story that has made it onto all of the Canadian networks. Perhaps you've seen it on social media:

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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by Hermskii » Sat Sep 15, 2018 1:52 pm

Thought you might like this bird video:


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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:55 pm

Heh heh heh, thanks Herm. You've no idea the number of times that I've fantasized about shooting the offending birds with a pellet gun. ;)

But I can't take a safe shot, it's highly illegal here to discharge any sort of weapon, and I'd run out of places to bury the little buggers anyhow. :lol:
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Re: Feeding the birds and NOT the tree-rats!

Post by a nameless entity » Sun Oct 21, 2018 3:18 pm

WOW, I never thought I'd see the Red Bellied Woodpecker at one of my feeders because I'm too far from the 16 mile creek. BUT, I had one make several feeding stops at my front yard feeder earlier this afternoon! :o :D

That's yet another first, and makes the expense of feeding the birds feel so worth it. :) 8)

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