I finally found a very old pair of specs that help me see clearly enough to appreciate this thread!! Woohoo!! (Cataract surgery last week; we went for distance vision, leaving me with useless near vision until I get new reading glasses well after the next surgery)
I finally found a very old pair of specs that help me see clearly enough to appreciate this thread!! Woohoo!! (Cataract surgery last week; we went for distance vision, leaving me with useless near vision until I get new reading glasses well after the next surgery)
You really can’t see very much of this practical joker, but I tried! At lunchtime yesterday, an enormous currawong that usually hangs out in our front yard decided to raid the hanging-basket seed blocks over our back. And of course, every time he saw me rhrough the window, he’d flit to the other block!
Here, you can just make out the tip of his tail. His body is about the same size as that small watering can hanging in front of the post. All up, he’s got to be almost a yard (3’) long, beak to tail. He has a pointy beak, and is dappled in sharp black and white patches, quite stark and startling. Has most wonderful and musical calls. I’ve added a stock pic from the internet
Was going to add a track of song, but this site gives several choices that covers a nice range. Currawong are also bird mimics, so we get lovely clear magpie morning calls from this chap and his friends, adding their own twist to the call.
Cool bird! On a different note, Vic's Aussie friend got quarantined before she could go to her house as she was coming from NYC. She's stuck at a hotel and finally got internet access.
Slow season for Hummingbirds. I' rarely seeing any. As well, my busy Wren, built a nest in the Wren house, sang a few days but didn't attract a mate to this site. I haven't given up hope but as they build in a few locations, he may be setting up household elsewhere. I'm miffed.
But my yard is filled with a variety of fledglings. Robins, Blue Jays, Mourning Doves and I'm pretty sure some of these Red Finches might be youngsters.
Cool bird! On a different note, Vic's Aussie friend got quarantined before she could go to her house as she was coming from NYC. She's stuck at a hotel and finally got internet access.
Is she in NSW now? Or still in the US? There’ve been some serious muck ups with the quarantine hotels earlier on, some clusters forming around staff and travellers. But I think new protocols mean people feel a little safer even they are bored.
They’ve decoded magpie calls, and can now distinguish males from females, apparently researchers have learnt that females know when other magpies are ‘lying’!
Is she in NSW now? Or still in the US? There’ve been some serious muck ups with the quarantine hotels earlier on, some clusters forming around staff and travellers. But I think new protocols mean people feel a little safer even they are bored.
She arrived in Australia and was put in quarantine. She is from Australia and owns a home there as well as a place here in NYC.
Well, at least your friend can joke about not being in Melbourne, where 30 neighbourhoods have been completely locked down (reinforced with defence force personnel assisting health care workers) due to rapid rise in cases. (Sydney loves to feel superior to Melbourne)
Back to birds: have I posted this link to the outback miracle? Vision is a little fuzzy this morning (might be a migraine prodome) so hard to check. Sandpipers fly in from Siberia when this lake refills; how do they know??
“We have a pair of barn swallows nesting over the main door to the house. They are so beautiful, and the nest is an engineering marvel of sticks, leaves, and mud. They stick the nest to an existing building. Why they would choose our entryway is a mystery, but I love watching them from a “blind” in our bathroom,
“We have a pair of barn swallows nesting over the main door to the house. They are so beautiful, and the nest is an engineering marvel of sticks, leaves, and mud. They stick the nest to an existing building. Why they would choose our entryway is a mystery, but I love watching them from a “blind” in our bathroom,
Welcome PeggyC to post a few pictures here! Haven't seen her on MOL for a long time.
Did anyone know that like birds, squirrels take dust baths? Watched this little one dig a hole in the soil and then roll around in it. Squirrels are an intriguing and very intelligent lot.
So we moved in to South Orange a week ago and I hung up my bird feeders (thank you Morganna for your recommendation on feeder and seed). Squirrels ate 99% of the seeds. Wow. There are a lot of squirrels around here. I like squirrels, but I hope some birds will also stop by for a bite. The chipmunks here in NJ are more brazen than I am used to. They come right up to you. No fear. Cute- but lots of holes in the grass.
Any tips on how to get more birds and less squirrels to come to the feeder?
So we moved in to South Orange a week ago and I hung up my bird feeders (thank you Morganna for your recommendation on feeder and seed). Squirrels ate 99% of the seeds. Wow. There are a lot of squirrels around here. I like squirrels, but I hope some birds will also stop by for a bite. The chipmunks here in NJ are more brazen than I am used to. They come right up to you. No fear. Cute- but lots of holes in the grass.
Any tips on how to get more birds and less squirrels to come to the feeder?
They'll find you. I think I've posted here the variety of critters that raid my feeder. You might be able to supplement with bird tempting plants and if you can squeeze in a bird bath it is worth it's weight in gold. There should be some coneflowers for sale about now and they attract goldfinches. Mine get devoured by woodchucks though. Any shrubs or trees with berries? Wild strawberries grow like weeds and birds seem to like them.
They'll find you. I think I've posted here the variety of critters that raid my feeder. You might be able to supplement with bird tempting plants and if you can squeeze in a bird bath it is worth it's weight in gold. There should be some coneflowers for sale about now and they attract goldfinches. Mine get devoured by woodchucks though. Any shrubs or trees with berries? Wild strawberries grow like weeds and birds seem to like them.
My backyard is very very tiny (but a tiny slice of heaven), so no room for birdbath Or more plantings. I don’t mind the squirrels so much, except they wipe out a big feeder’s worth of seed in a day. I may have to get a second job to support their habit.
My backyard is very very tiny (but a tiny slice of heaven), so no room for birdbath Or more plantings. I don’t mind the squirrels so much, except they wipe out a big feeder’s worth of seed in a day. I may have to get a second job to support their habit.
That's why I don't fill the feeder. Just a cup or so.
This is just lovely! A chance photo of galahs on electrical wires lead to an article explaining avian seating behaviour, and also a lovely piece of musical composition (inset tweet)
My cousin on your west coast is having her birthday today (your today, my yesterday). She’s taking a break in your Santa Barbara before returning to SF; we have a Santa Barbara just down the road from Hope Island so I said we’d picnic there for breakfast and send her pics. we were joined by the friendliest little birds. A gorgeous kooka was just above our heads but flew off before I could grab a photo; I think there are some important nests nearby. apols for the quality of the pics, I haven’t cropped or edited yet. Let me know if you can’t see anything. (My close vision is still useless, this specs don’t work now the other eye is done)
The first two pics have birds on the table. The last pic has a bird balanced delicately on top of that sign, singing loudly to its mate at the top of its voice.
Oh, and the three boats nearby were just envy-making!
WEVE GOT CYGNETS! Three, beautiful, fluffy, strong swimmers very unsure of this big world. The parents brought them round to all the houses, to introduce them to all of us just a little while ago. The cygnets don’t cheep or chirp, they have a kind of breathy ‘whee’ call that’s almost nonstop. And they were very happy to try pecking at some small seeds.
I saw a surprising chase yesterday. A Hummingbird chased a sparrow away and then buzzed after the sparrow's friend. He or she drove them off about 40' , then returned to sit on various branches of the Holly tree and finished off his victory with a sampling of several Honeysuckle blossoms.
I finally found a very old pair of specs that help me see clearly enough to appreciate this thread!! Woohoo!! (Cataract surgery last week; we went for distance vision, leaving me with useless near vision until I get new reading glasses well after the next surgery)
Those pix, as usual, are wonderful.