Bird Watching

[Jackpine Rob]

My main feeder is mounted on a 2x4 that is tacked onto the porch rail, extending out over the back yard. While it has a spot for holding suet blocks, I gave up a couple of years ago putting suet in there because the other varmints such as racoon, possum and such were literally ripping the feeder apart.

Eventually, I made a special suet holder out of plastic bucket lid for a 5 gallon bucket, which is then lowered off the end of the 2x4 holding the feeder on a coated wire line. It has worked like a champ for a couple of years, providing suet for the birds and keeping the other varmints at bay and scratching their furry little heads...

Yesterday the dog lights up in the kennel, letting me know that something is terribly wrong in the yard - it wasn't a "deer in the yard" or "that darn neighbor dog is peeing on MY mailbox" type of bark, but the real deal. I headed for the window, and watched in awe as a racoon teetered on the end of the bird feeder, and tried to "reel in" the suet holder much as you would pull in a handline. He kept getting anxious and dropping it each time it would get near his nose, when he would release the line and attempt to grab the suet. Grabbing my trusty "varmint control tool" (a broom) I quietly opened the sliding glass door and slowly snuck in behind him. The dog looks up at me, and sits down - quivering with anticipation that action is imminent on this threat...

After some careful movement, I am now directly behind the racoon, with the broom handle poised mere inches from its hindquarters. Stifling a laugh at the obvious abuse possibilities now available to me, I quickly slid the handle under him and flipped him off the feeder. He spun through the air, squalling loudly, and landed in the big pile of snow beneath the porch. For a moment, he glared up at the porch, and for a bit I thought he would come marching back up the stairs!

Finally shaking himself clear of the snow, he took one last look up at the porch, took a dump on the sidewalk, and ambled back into the woods. Strangely, the dog quietly watched him go, almost as if in sympathy with the humiliation that the racoon had been handed.

NOTE: No racoons were harmed during this incident. The distance from feeder to big snowpile is regularly jumped by squirrels, and years back the kids used to jump off for entertainment after a good snowfall.

[friendlyfisher]

That Great Gray looks like an exgirlfriend of mine.

[Dan Thiem]

I seen a picture of a fellow FMer that he should get as an avitar.

Check out msnbc-msn.com and go to week in pictures. Then go to Jan 20-27 see picture number six.

I hope the moderator don't pull the link before you see it.

Is that you Grebe?

[M.T. Bucket]

Nice! I saw one of those guys on Trout Lake in Coleraine this fall. Odd place for him.

[The Grebe]

Dan...Once I see it, I'll let you know. Danged Papparazzis follow me all over the place, I get no rest!

I just had to break a chair over ones head, he crawled out from behind the furnace down here in the basement...the bugger had hid there all night, just waiting to get a picture of me with bedhead!

I drug him outside and sure enough, the driveway was full of them snapping pictures...I guess next I'll turn up in one of those Mirror Fishing rags...."Grebe attacks, alert status Orange!"

[The Grebe]

"Okay, who did it? Who took that picture of me and my family in the pool at Mystic Lake Casino?"

It ain't easy being Grebe! The things I have to put up with? The autographs, the flashing of cameras, that is why my eyes are so red.

[Dotch]

Grebe, are you still part of the witness protection program?

From this week's Fencelines:

"Opted for size this past week while bird watching. Driving to Rochester as I did several days last week, I found it hard not to crane (no pun intended) my neck while watching the myriad of Canada geese coming and going. Can remember seeing them back in the 60’s on a school field trip to Silver Lake as a wee lad but they were nowhere near as populous as they are now. The pheasants have been active here at the ranch too. Heading off for the Mall for Men each morning there were always several glued to the road cut east of the house. One day there were all hens, the next day, a group of roosters and following that, a mixed group. They have appreciated the ear corn feeder, the leftover garden sweet corn and the oyster shell. I saw a red-bellied woodpecker at the in-laws east of Ostrander. Was just a little disappointed I couldn’t hang around longer to see Barney & Judy’s wild turkeys there for a game bird trifecta! Some signs of spring being nearer than expected? A group of 7 grackles were noted Monday morning under the feeders. Could it be that there are subtle hints of yellow returning to the goldfinches?"

[The Grebe]

Dotch...Cheez, all my covers are getting blown away!

[bigminnow]

Little Buddy, that is a great picture of a Great Gray. I saw a huge owl in our pine two nights ago. Have any of you guys had a Pileated woodpecker in your suet feeder? I had one this past fall, it's the size of crow but with large red mohawk... i watched the bird for 15 minutes before it flew away... really neat

[M.T. Bucket]

Only had one once here in town. The best way to attract pileated woodpeckers--besides having old trees in your yard--is to hang the rib cage from your deer from a tree.

[The_Duckslayer]

Quote:

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The best way to attract pileated woodpeckers--besides having old trees in your yard--is to hang the rib cage from your deer from a tree.

---

Oh yeah, I can hear the neighbors now, and I am sure the cops would want to know where I got the rib cage from! Would give it a shot if I were luck enough to live in the country though! Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[fishwidow]

We have a pileated that is absolutely demolishing a dead birch tree in our yard. There are holes that have been pecked completely through the trunk. We watched him for a while and have hung some fresh suet up, but he really seems to prefer the grubs that must be in the tree.

[M.T. Bucket]

If you see large holes in a tree and they are rectangular in shape, that's a dead giveaway that a pileated was the culprit. If you've been up north and seen a stand of mature tamarack (sometimes other conifers) with lots of bark flaked off up the trunks, you've got a Black-backed or a Three-toed Woodpecker (rare).

[FlyingV]

Maybe someone can help me out. I have a cabin near Aitkin where I have hung the rib cage of a deer I shot last fall in a tree as a food supply for the various birds. I have a bird that is coming in that I cannot identify in my Stan Tikiela Minnesota bird book. It is light gray in color, its wings, when not in flight are a darker gray and it has a red cap on its head. It acts like a wood pecker. It is about 7 or 8 inches high. Does anybody have any ideas?

[M.T. Bucket]

Recheck page 34--Red-bellied Woodpecker.

[FlyingV]

Thanks M.T., but that is not it. My bird is definitely light gray all over the body with a medium dark gray on the back of the wings. Yours appears more "cream" colored. The wings do not have the black and white specks like your bird. Also, the red cap is more like a "beanie" cap and does not go down the back of the head. I tried to take a picture but my zoom wasn't enough and the bird is somewhat shy and I could not get close enough. Maybe its a female?

[M.T. Bucket]

Plumage-wise, the bird you describe sounds like a female Pine Grosbeak--but it wouldn't act like a woodpecker. Have you checked all of the woodpeckers with red caps--Hairy, Downy, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker? The only birds I know of other than woodpeckers that are regularly found in Minnesota that might show a beanielike red cap are Common Redpolls, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and several warblers--definitely NOT what you're seeing.

Do you know what the bird's bill looked like? Did you notice anything about it's flight? Was there only one?

[FlyingV]

M.T. I will try to post the best picture I have. Here it is.

I guess it does not have the beak of a wood pecker but it pecks at the carcass like one.

[M.T. Bucket]

You have an adult male Red-bellied Woodpecker. Aitkin is near the very north end of their range, though they occasionally turn up farther north. The reason the bird's plumage looks darker and the speckles are not as visible is because its feathers are worn. Soon it will begin to molt a few feathers at a time until its entire coat is replaced and it will be as "crisp" looking as the one in the photo I posted.

When I lived farther south I used to place hickory nuts on a platform feeder--the Red-bellies would always beat the squirrels to them.

[M.T. Bucket]

I worked on the owl survey (each route surveyed once a month) this morning. I surveyed 2 routes in Itasca County for a total of nearly 90 miles. Not a single owl (until about 10 minutes after I finished the second route--spotted a Great Gray near Little Bowstring Lake) all morning. I know that the conditions weren't the best for surveying, but with the heavy snow cover, the owls have almost completely left Itasca County. I've been seeing reports of Great Grays in central and southern Minnesota more frequently.

[FlyingV]

Thanks M.T.!

[fishwidow]

We saw two Boreals on Sunday--one near Lawrence Lake and one north of Floodwood--and four Great Grays--one north of Floodwood and three between Floodwood and Moose Lake.

[Jackpine Rob]

Went to let the pooch out this morning, and ended up trapping a male cardinal in the porch! The bird was sitting at the feeder, and freaked out as 100 lbs of brown lab went tearing out the door heading for the nearest bushes...

The cardinal darted past me into the screen porch, and began banging madly from screen to screen - shrieking the entire time. Put the dishes down, propped the door open, retreated down the stairs into the yard, put the food and water dishes in the kennel with the pooch, and watched in frustration as the cardinal continued to try battering his way through the screens.

I realized he would probably injure or kill himself without some intervention, so up the stairs I went, into the porch, and the bird's anxiety level reached fever pitch... He finally ended up clinging desperately to the screen, flapping his wings and squawking. I slowly moved in, grabbed him carefully by compressing his wings on the body, and he instantly shut up and let go of the screen. He didn't squirm a bit - just looked at me with his beady little eyes and I swear the thing looked like he was prepared to die.

Got past the door, placed him on my arm and released my grip. For a few seconds, he just stood there - then he flew over to the porch railing and sat staring at me. At that point, the female cardinal dropped in right next to him, and the 2 sat there like spectators, watching me as I backed into the porch, into the house, and slid the patio door shut.

Those 2 are regular visitors at our feeder, and I hope they haven't been spooked now.

[buzzsaw]

Here are a few shots in my backyard summer 2004.... Hummingbirds and Orioles all over the place....

[Dotch]

What? No pics of Brett Favre? LOL! Seriously, nice bird pics buzzsaw.

From Fencelines:

"Bird watching this past week included the first small flocks of local geese from Owatonna or Waseca out scouting when the puddles were at their zenith. None of them seemed to be landing in what was surely pure ice water. Another robin showed on Sunday. Even though some do stay around our MN winters, out here in the wide-open spaces they generally don’t stay long this time of year. Better cover in town and near better cover. Plus, there are more crabapples to eat. Also of note, there were a few horned larks along the road on Monday. Wonder if they’ll be nesting in the sheep pasture anytime soon? Those goldfinches just keep on pounding down the thistle seed too. Given the number there are, they must’ve eaten all the helianthus species seed they could get their beaks on in the CRP."