Posted in Birds, tagged birds, hawk, Photos, Wildlife on September 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
As I’ve said, I like to provide food for any of the birds that show up in my yard. I didn’t exactly mean I’d serve little birds to the hawks, but sometimes it happens that way.
This Cooper’s Hawk buzzed the feeders this evening and then perched on the fence for a few minutes. I looked outside when I heard all the little birds chirping. No one was eaten and the hawk went on his way. I have some grackle on the menu if he’d like to come back tomorrow.
Posted in Birds, tagged birds, Wildlife on September 24, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Bad birds, bad birds, what ya gonna do…
I’ve had a flock of grackles hanging around my feeders for 3 weeks now, sometimes 50 birds at once. Usually the grackles move on after a week or so but these seem determined to stay. Perhaps I need to make the yard less attractive. Four regularly filled seed feeders, suet and three bird baths may be too hospitable.
I always provide food for whatever birds show up and that has worked fine, until now. The grackles are too aggressive and they bring lots of friends. The little birds are getting knocked off the feeders and scared away until the grackles are finished. And they eat and eat and eat until nothing is left for anyone else. They can consume a suet cake in one day. The only bird that doesn’t back down to them is the Blue Jay. I had a Cooper’s Hawk show up and that chased them away for a few days but alas, they returned.
I’m considering replacing one of my feeders with the type that has the wire mesh around it so only the little birds can get in. At least the little guys will be able to eat. Also, I hear the upside down suet feeders are an option that woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches can use but not the big birds, so I can add one of those.
Anyone have a better suggestion? I’ve gone through 50 pounds of bird seed and several suet cakes a week this month.
Update 10/13/2010:
I replaced the sunflower seed in the white tube feeder with safflower and I stopped filling the tray feeder with cracked corn, nuts and millet and instead left it empty. I also left the suet holder empty. Within a week the grackles were almost gone except for one or two. The number of sparrows also declined but the number of cardinals and finches doubled.
Last weekend I put the suet back up and put seed and nuts back in the tray feeder. I’m leaving the safflower out as the finches, cardinals and chickadees are eating it. So far so good.
Posted in Birds, tagged birds, Wildlife, woodpecker on July 2, 2010 | 4 Comments »
I finally got a decent picture of one of my favorite birds, the Red Headed Woodpecker. There are several of them at Cantigny Park and a sighting of one is always a treat. Usually the bird is too high in one of the large old trees to get a good shot. Today I spotted one in range while taking pictures of flowers. I never changed to a long lens so fast in my life!
This is a gorgeous bird, a medium size woodpecker about 9 inches long with striking red, white and black colors. It is found in the United States east of the Rockies and southern Canada. Occasionally it will come to feeders, but so far I have not been lucky enough to see one in my yard.
Posted in Birds, Wildlife, Wordless Wednesday, tagged birds, robins, Wildlife on June 9, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Posted in Bunny, Wildlife, tagged Bunnies, Nature, Rabbits, Wildlife on June 1, 2010 | 3 Comments »
About a month ago I stumbled over a nest of bunnies in my front lawn. Cute little baby bunnies. When I moved aside some of the grass and twigs they looked up inquisitively at me and after a few seconds burrowed back down into the hole. From the expression on the first one’s face he was probably thinking, “You’re not my mommy!”. So I covered them up and left them alone.
Cottontail rabbits are absentee parents. The mom stops by twice a day, dusk and dawn, to nurse the babies in the nest for about 2½ to 3 weeks. The babies spend another week in the vicinity of the nest gathering there at dusk for the mother to come back and feed them. Within a few days they are weaned and are on their own. I watched the mom return most evenings from my front window (and with my binoculars; hope the neighbors weren’t concerned!). The father rabbit doesn’t do anything to help raise the young.
2 Week Old Cottontail
2 Week Old Cottontail
If you see a tiny bunny about the size of a softball it is not lost or abandoned, it is probably independent and will be just fine. If the babies are not yet weaned, the mother is still watching over them. Often you won’t even see the mother. They are sneaky and wait until no one is looking before they go back to the nest area. If the bunnies have fur and are hopping around they don’t need any help from humans.
3 Week Old Cottontail Rabbit
Bunny Nibbled Broccoli
And so the bunnies and I coexisted for about a week. Saturday they found my broccoli plants and my flowers and my illusions about living happily ever after with five baby bunnies came to an end. Yesterday the fencing went up around my gardens.
Posted in Environment, Wildlife, tagged Environment, Wildlife on May 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Today is Endangered Species Day.
President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Several years ago the United States Senate designated the third Friday in May as Endangered Species Day to bring awareness to the plight of various species of wildlife and their habitat due to human development.
“Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.” ~ Cree Indian Prophecy
Posted in Birds, Wildlife, tagged birds, Wildlife on May 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) was created in 1993 by visionaries at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. It is celebrated in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Central America through bird festivals and bird walks, education programs, and Bird Day.
IMBD officially takes place on the second Saturday in May each year but events can be held any time in May. Birds have their own migration schedule; some birds have already arrived at their destination and others are still on their journey.
Events and festivals are held in many communities. I’ll be attending a bird count with a group of birders on a local golf course Saturday. Other ways to participate:
For me, every day is Bird Day! Chirp.
Posted in Birds, Wildlife, tagged birds, Geese, Wildlife on April 29, 2010 | 4 Comments »
I’ve been monitoring a goose nest for the past few weeks for NestWatch. The geese, who I call Lucy and Desi, have set up housekeeping in a flower box on the Chicago Riverwalk. She has 5 eggs which should be hatching any day now.
At first I thought this would be a bad place to nest. This is a noisy, busy location with lots automobile traffic, noise, pollution, and all that comes with being in the business district. However, they are well sheltered as they are low on the riverwalk, near a bridge and don’t seem to mind all the humans in the area.
Geese Nesting in Flowerbox
When I walked by today Lucy was defending her nest from Seagulls. The Seagulls were there because a probably well-meaning person had sprinkled Cheerios in the planter box around her nest! This is a bad idea. In addition to people food not being good for a goose’s diet, the food will attract predators who may also enjoy eating a goose egg. Predators of Canada geese and their eggs include coyotes, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, and foxes, as well as gulls, eagles, crows, ravens, and magpies.
Nesting Goose Surrounded by Cheerios
I mentioned this to a few people who said they never thought about the food attracting predators to the nest. For the safety of the birds, don’t feed them at their nest.
More information about Canada Geese at All About Birds.
Posted in Birds, Wildlife, tagged birds, chicago, Wildlife on April 1, 2010 | 1 Comment »
On nice days I like to go for a lunchtime walk. Today I was walking along the Chicago River and there was a goose sitting in one of the planters.
Geese will nest in some pretty strange places so I suppose it could be a female sitting on some eggs. I don’t know enough about geese to be certain. A second goose was floating nearby on the river and neither seemed threatened by my presence.
Posted in Birds, Wildlife, tagged birds, Wildlife on February 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Be a citizen scientist and help the birds. This weekend is the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a four day event held February 12 through 15, 2010. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.
Participation is easy and anyone in the USA and Canada can contribute. You don’t even have to leave your yard; watching from the window is acceptable. Count birds for at least 15 minutes on any or all of the four days and submit your counts online.
Even if you can only identify a few species that information is important. Not sure what bird you are looking at? If you’re in the midwest, check my gallery of photos of local birds. Other good resources for identification are WhatBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds guide.
All data is valuable because it gives scientists a snapshot of where birds are and the size of the populations. There will be real-time maps and charts available online showing what others are reporting during the count.
I’ll be counting birds in my yard and at Cantigny Gardens during their bird walk on Saturday. Happy Counting.
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