Frustrated birder!!

[M.T. Bucket]

Argghh! It just hasn't been going well for me lately!

Had several family members ill, then finally I got sick myself so I couldn't get out. In addition I spent several weeks working out of town. Gas prices went up. Now I'm facing midterms and piles of homework.

I subscribe to the MOU listserve and it seems like rarities are popping up all over the North Shore while I can't seem to find a chance to get out. My biggest birding trip since this spring was the recent MOU pelagic trip on Lake Superior and it was pretty slow except for the Black Scoter at the end. My best sighting all autumn has been my first flock of American Tree Sparrows since April. Even though I've kept my feeders full and added two large brushpiles, birds have avoided my yard like never before and I don't know why. My birding amigo left for a month and without him every shorebird is a killdeer to me.

Just had to get it off my chest. Thanks for the group birder therapy.

[Dotch]

That's a bummer MT but take heart, there are those of us who can't find our digital cameras since our wives borrowed them so we can practice and learn the fine art of posting pictures...lol! Have noticed here in the southern MN due to the warm fall thus far, bird activity at the feeders has been somewhat sporadic. The goldfinches are at the feeders occasionally but are feeding heavily on the composite flowers in the CRP at times and at times, I have no idea where they are. The white breasted nuthatches are faithful tho, usually the first one's there in the morning and amongst the last to leave at nite. A few house finches scattered around but no large groups. Blue jays gobble down sunflower seeds after the squirrel decides he's had enough and fishes an ear of corn out of the bucket to gnaw on for dessert. Need to put out some suet cakes soon for the red-bellied woodpecker. Want to attach my suet feeders to the bottom side of a board and hang them so as to thwart those dastardly starlings. Wife tried this with the Halloween candy to keep me from eating it but to no avail. I keep clinging to the hope I'll see a hummingbird at the nectar feeders I need to take down. Okay, I'm just too lazy to take them down yet but this weekend I promise myself. There's been a rooster pheasant hanging out in the yard too. Seems to have taken a shine to the low hanging fruit on the crabapple trees. Can't wait till they get a load of the nannyberries when they get old enough to start bearing! Speaking of pheasants, have nearly been hit several times by those feathered projectiles when walking ahead of the combines, while yapping on the cell phone and measuring plots with the measuring wheel. Pheasants had a goood hatch this year and they are more numerous than they've been in a long time. Haven't seen the Huns for awhile but sooner or later, they come into the garden area to feed on the leftover sweet corn and hang out under the red-osier dogwood. Have a sunflower planting in mind for them this next year. They'll think they're in ND someplace. Waterfowl movement has been scarce as of late over the general area. Locals are gone and the northern birds haven't really shown up much. They'll probably get pushed thru in the wee hours of the morning sometime ahead of a blast of arctic air so will need the nite vision goggles to view them.

[M.T. Bucket]

Thanks Dotch. Maybe my lucks starting to turn around, I just saw my first 6 Bohemian Waxwings of the season in Bovey this morning. That's the earliest (in the year, not the morning!) I've ever seen them.

[jonny_redhorse]

I agree..MT!....I remember mentioning this in a post months ago...there just isn't the song birds in town(Hibbing) that one would think there should be....I go days without seeing a bird in my yard...my feeders I had this summer attracted pigeons...lots of pigeons(35-40)...but not many song birds...once those guys are onto a feeding area...they were there everyday...ok...a pigeon's a bird(we all like birds right?)....but...i don't like em...lol!...I see the pics and postings on the site here and amazed at the different species that show up in the southern portion of the state.......maybe I'll put the feeders out again this week for the winter...jonny

[M.T. Bucket]

I just haven't found a good, economical solution to the pigeon problem. It's tough to get away with shooting them where I'm at (I got 6 this year, but they were all injured and I could feel the neighbors' eyes on me ). I had a Peregrine Falcon (yep, it was definitely a Peregrine!) hanging out on the TV tower near my house all summer and it snagged a few, but it just couldn't keep up.

[Dotch]

Odd how some us in the south central part of the state automatically assume there are more birds in the north than there are here. There is a lot for them to eat here as long as the snow stays away. Fortuntately, have never had a pigeon issue at the feeders, only sparrows and starlings. Living in the country, one can pretty much fire at will on them. Still no chickadees at the feeders tho but am wondering if there's enough snowfall to cover the ground if they might suddenly show up. After loudly announcing his presence here at work, a blue jay hopped in the box of the pickup to forage for some kernels of corn that were scattered on the bed.

[M.T. Bucket]

I think there may be a greater diversity of birds up north during the breeding season because there is more useable habitat. However, all one needs to do is check out the Christmas Bird Count data and it's pretty obvious that there are greater numbers and more species of birds in southern Minnesota during the winter. When I lived in Illinois, we got far more species birds at the feeder than we do in northern Minnesota.