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4 boxes wouldn't be enough on my property! We have hundreds of swallows that come over from the farms to take a dip in the pool. My cats love them as well... I think they actually tease my cats...play with them : ) I usually have about 50 hanging out on my back gutter. We also get Blue Herons (sp?). They head for the pond but as soon as they realize we have no fish for them, they fly over to my neighbor's pond and eat all his gold fish! he ahd about 80 before the winter hit and now he is down to 12. He calls the heron "that Terradactal (sp?)"
The Tree and Barn Swallows love to dive for flying insects. And to prove what a big geek I am when it comes to song birds. During nesting season, I put out feathers from a down pillow for the swallows. They love them. The play a game where one will pick up a feather and drop it and another will dive in to catch it. They like to line their nests with feathers. See....I told you, I am bird crazy!
The Tree and Barn Swallows love to dive for flying insects. And to prove what a big geek I am when it comes to song birds. During nesting season, I put out feathers from a down pillow for the swallows. They love them. The play a game where one will pick up a feather and drop it and another will dive in to catch it. They like to line their nests with feathers. See....I told you, I am bird crazy!
I think I might just try that! I'm a bit of a bird nut myself : ) I actually talk to them..try to mimic their sounds..lol : )) The Mocking Bird is the best! Make noises and see if he mocks you - sometimes they do, other times they don't. I saved a baby mocking bird from the pool one day - big ole fat babies they have! We had a family of 4 last year... they tend to like to be on their own as adults.
Up at 6am to let the dog out. Scoured the fenced in yard to look for potential "Greyhound Victims" bunnies, squirrels, groundhogs. what do I find?
8 Wild Turkeys!!
Lock up the dog and go out with the broom. Try and shoo them over the 4 foot fence, they ram into it time and time again and just act plain stupid. Open the gates and invite them to exit, they refuse. I chase them around the yard, me yelling, them gobbling, dog freaking in the house.
Resort to putting the dog on lead, taking her into the yard, and encouraging these dumb birds to exit the yard.
They finally left, after much chaos, flapping wings, downed branches, bad flying and a disappointed greyhound.
Turkeys are quite stupid and that's why I think we eat them at Thanksgiving!
But my favourite spring birds are the tiny finches that have returned to my feeders!
Up at 6am to let the dog out. Scoured the fenced in yard to look for potential "Greyhound Victims" bunnies, squirrels, groundhogs. what do I find?
8 Wild Turkeys!!
Lock up the dog and go out with the broom. Try and shoo them over the 4 foot fence, they ram into it time and time again and just act plain stupid. Open the gates and invite them to exit, they refuse. I chase them around the yard, me yelling, them gobbling, dog freaking in the house.
Resort to putting the dog on lead, taking her into the yard, and encouraging these dumb birds to exit the yard.
They finally left, after much chaos, flapping wings, downed branches, bad flying and a disappointed greyhound.
Turkeys are quite stupid and that's why I think we eat them at Thanksgiving!
But my favourite spring birds are the tiny finches that have returned to my feeders!
That was very funny. I am sure that it probably wasn't funny for you at the time. Poor dog, I bet he/she wanted to chase a few turkeys! Turkeys aren't known for their intelligence or flying agility, as you found out. The funny thing is they found away into your yard over the fence, but could not find a way out.
I think I might just try that! I'm a bit of a bird nut myself : ) I actually talk to them..try to mimic their sounds..lol : )) The Mocking Bird is the best! Make noises and see if he mocks you - sometimes they do, other times they don't. I saved a baby mocking bird from the pool one day - big ole fat babies they have! We had a family of 4 last year... they tend to like to be on their own as adults.
Mockingbirds are very smart birds. I am surprised that they aren't the ones going after your cat! They tend to be fearless and will repeat most any sound. There have been Mockingbirds that have even been captured mimicking car alarms. Anyway, I guess I should quit going on about birds now. There are discussions to be had about "city life" and crime statistics. LOL!
I know they are nasty little buggers..nest raiders, they have even dive bombed my cat but I think they are pretty..Blue Jays
We just recently acquired some blue jays to the area. I like them because they eat wasps! We have a bit of a wasp problem out this way. One of the blue jays got eaten by a hawk last year... I saw him chasing the blue jay and I tried to throw stones at him to get him to move on but he was a persistant wee bugger! The hawk does do alot of damage - I'm constantly finding little piles of feathers in the yard... mostly doves and robins... fatter meal for them. Once and awhile we will get a homing pigeon - racing pigeon who will stay for a week or so. The hawk got the last one. A neighbor has a racing pigeon farm... you can see the pigeons hovering over his place. I feed them and give them water until they are ready to move on.
Wiley, let me say I am enjoying your post, but since you know I garden, you're probably surprised I haven't commented yet. lol
I actually had a long post typed out, I then went to google trying to look up a few birds and my browser crashed, losing everything. This was the one time I didn't type it up in notepad!
Anyway, I enjoy just about all of the birds we get except the crows which are nasty, chasing all of the birds away from our birdbath. My favorites are the Robins which love to watch us garden. We've had repeat birds for the last few years. I can tell they are the same birds by the scars they have & was sad to see one in the road 2 years ago.
We will be out pulling weeds or moving plants, the Robins are right there. They love to hang out and wait for us to move to another garden so they can play in the just turned dirt. We also throw grubs to them.
Hummers are another favorite. We grow a lot of plants that they love, I don't need to put sugar water up any more. They will fly right by our faces when we sit on the bench.
We also get hummingbird moths. Technically they are not a bird (this was what crashed my browser) but we still enjoy them.
Love the goldfinches and all of the smaller birds that eat thistle.
I also have another bird that eats insects, from what I had in my original post that I lost, think it is related to a Tree Swallow.
I usually grow Zinnias from seed. We have a lot of birds that enjoy eating from the Zinnia heads as well as all of the Purple Cone Flower we grow. While it makes a mess of the garden, there is nothing like eating dinner in front of our bay window right in front of the bird bath & gardens, watching the bird eat & bathe. I've been known to get up during dinner to put fresh water in the bird bath.
On a related note, we were working in the gardens 2 weeks ago. I was cutting the grasses down & managed to find 1 mantis caccoon. We ended up bringing it to the new house, I twist tied it to a low branch.
If we ever sell this house I will miss the gardens the most.
Wiley, let me say I am enjoying your post, but since you know I garden, you're probably surprised I haven't commented yet. lol
I actually had a long post typed out, I then went to google trying to look up a few birds and my browser crashed, losing everything. This was the one time I didn't type it up in notepad!
Anyway, I enjoy just about all of the birds we get except the crows which are nasty, chasing all of the birds away from our birdbath. My favorites are the Robins which love to watch us garden. We've had repeat birds for the last few years. I can tell they are the same birds by the scars they have & was sad to see one in the road 2 years ago.
We will be out pulling weeds or moving plants, the Robins are right there. They love to hang out and wait for us to move to another garden so they can play in the just turned dirt. We also throw grubs to them.
Hummers are another favorite. We grow a lot of plants that they love, I don't need to put sugar water up any more. They will fly right by our faces when we sit on the bench.
We also get hummingbird moths. Technically they are not a bird (this was what crashed my browser) but we still enjoy them.
Love the goldfinches and all of the smaller birds that eat thistle.
I also have another bird that eats insects, from what I had in my original post that I lost, think it is related to a Tree Swallow.
I usually grow Zinnias from seed. We have a lot of birds that enjoy eating from the Zinnia heads as well as all of the Purple Cone Flower we grow. While it makes a mess of the garden, there is nothing like eating dinner in front of our bay window right in front of the bird bath & gardens, watching the bird eat & bathe. I've been known to get up during dinner to put fresh water in the bird bath.
On a related note, we were working in the gardens 2 weeks ago. I was cutting the grasses down & managed to find 1 mantis caccoon. We ended up bringing it to the new house, I twist tied it to a low branch.
If we ever sell this house I will miss the gardens the most.
Come on spring!
Hummingbird Moth! I was wondering what they were...we have them and I just assumed they were some strange humming bird breed. I need to purchase a larger bird bath... the mocking birds chase the poor little guys away all the time and by the time they are done bathing, I need to refill the bowl. We had a mantis cacoon last year - no one believed me when I said it was one but when the little babies came out, it was very obvious as to what they were. You can actually order the nests on-line. they are great for the garden! I have a few flowering trees / bushes but I need to plant some more as it seems with every different tree / bush you plant, different types of birds appear. We have Hawthornes that grow wild along the property boundries...the birds love them as it is a safe haven for them to hide from the hawks and other preditors.
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