Birds of the Garden

Scorpio Rising wrote:That pic and BIRD is really awesome!!!!

Thanks, Guys. I have a really kewl setup now, where I lean over the kitchen counter, set the zoom on the camera and push it right up to the window. The birds have no idea I'm just a few feet away playing paparazzi.

WOW on that 2nd shot, CN!!! That's a great close-up!

The Tree Swallows in the gardens are so entertaining to watch. I watched for a short time while a pair of Tree Swallows were building their nest in one of the house I provided for them on the edge of the garden. I love how many bugs they eat that never make it to my garden.   

Went out to check the tomatoes, and was surprised by a baby Robin sitting on the tomato cage waiting on momma to feed it.

OhioGardener wrote:Went out to check the tomatoes, and was surprised by a baby Robin sitting on the tomato cage waiting on momma to feed it.

AWWWW! I love babies!  

countrynaturals wrote:I finally got a good shot of one of our woodpeckers.

YEE-HAH! HAPPY ENDING! This morning, I found one of these guys flopping around on the bedroom balcony, evidently hit the slider and got its little bell rung. I captured it and tried to let it go in a snag behind the garage, but it went limp and I thought it was a goner. I put it in a container in a dark room and checked on it every few minutes.

At first there was no change. Then I found it sitting up, but very still. About an hour later, Bob went in to see how it was and it flew to the back of the carrier, so we knew it had recovered and was ready to go.

Like a dummy, I reached in to get it, instead of taking the carrier out to the balcony and just opening the door (I have to do everything the hard way ) Anyway, it screamed, flapped, squirmed and bit all the way from the back bedroom to the balcony. Luckily, Bob was there to open the door for me. I barely made it before he escaped and flew away. I didn't here him say thank you, but I'm sure he did and I just missed it.

OG, nice!  I love babies too!  That is a fresh one!

CN, glad it worked out; you never know.  Those stunned birds sometimes do fine, and takes them a long time!

Here's a little yellow one I don't think I posted before.

Here are 4 birds on one little sunflower plant on the kitchen balcony. From now on, I want sunflowers everywhere (which is very easy to achieve with all the seeds we hand out).  

Are those finches, chattering away?

sanderson wrote:Are those finches, chattering away?

Yup, I think so.

I love finches. This morning, a whole flock landed in the tall crepe myrtle and chattered away. Then they all flew across the street to another tree.

sanderson wrote:I love finches.  This morning, a whole flock landed in the tall crepe myrtle and chattered away.  Then they all flew across the street to another tree.

When we lived in So Cal, Bob used to hand water the backyard bushes. The finches would flock to him as he aimed the hose high into the oleanders, so they could have a nice shower on a hot day. It became a standing joke: "Where's your dad?" "He's out back, watering the finches."

Goldfinches love sunflowers And Echinacea!  I always leave my spent flowers through winter, they eat them all year long.  They molt like 4 times a year, so here, by winter, they are a dull grey and fit right in to the environment!  

We also have red/pink house finches here, they are pretty and plentiful, and practically tame!  I love them too!

Here's a fun article:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/25-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-birds-in-your-backyard?utm_source=pocket-newtab

countrynaturals wrote:Here's a fun article:

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/25-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-birds-in-your-backyard?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Interesting!  Good share!

2 doves, preening and snuggling in the big oak behind the kitchen balcony. I had to use the zoom, so it isn't very clear, but not too bad.

I love doves!  

I think doves are so sweet, but their nest building leaves a lot to be desired. Three sticks and they call it good.

On my to let the chickens out. It was cold -- mid 40s. There, on the front porch, was a little bird, just huddled there with its feathers puffed out to keep warm. We have cats in the double-digits, so it's an absoulute miracle it was still alive.

I walked right over and picked it up. It didn't resist. I brought it in and held it for about a half hour, but I'm one of those people who always has cold hands, so it took a long time to get the poor thing warm, but we had a fire going, so the house was in the 70s, not the 40s.

We put it in a soft carrier, near the wood stove and kept an eye on it.

After about another 20 minutes, it stood up and acted like it wanted to live, so I took it out back to a snag, opened the carrier and waited.

It jumped up on the carrier door and along came a cat. I chased the cat, but the bird didn't react. After waiting a few minutes, I realized the bird wasn't afraid of me, either. I picked it up and put it on my finger, where it sat perfectly tame and happy. HUH?

Evidently, somebody had raised this wild bird from a baby, then turned it loose. It's completely tame, not afraid of cats, doesn't know how to find food, and doesn't even know how to keep warm at night. It's absolutely adorable, but now we need to find it a safe place to live out its days with someone to take care of it and NO CATS!

. . . to be continued.

CN wrote:now we need to find it a safe place to live out its days with someone to take care of it and NO CATS!

. . . to be continued.

We called our local wildlife group -- closed for the winter -- but one of their volunteers specializes in song birds. Katie took it to her, where it will be quarantined for a couple of days, then turned loose with her birds. Happy Ending!

This little guy/gal was lucky to have been found by you! Someone else might not have paid attention to it sitting there, helpless. And then the cat would have come along for a nice snack. On a couple of occasions, I've held an injured bird in my hands and I'm always amazed that they weigh nothing! It's a miracle that these fragile little beauties ever survive through the winter. I'm happy for this happy ending.  

Good story!

I put the suet up and put the hummingbird feeder away last weekend!  The woodpeckers (all of them really) love it...

hammock gal wrote: I'm happy for this happy ending.  

Me too, and I'm usually oblivious. It is a miracle I noticed it sitting there so still and quiet.