April 2009 Archive
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| Late April 2009 |
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April 30, 2009 - Last night we
discovered our first raccoon. After hearing a slight
noise and seeing two of the cats peer into the dark out
of their favorite window, we turned on the porch light
and watched a raccoon unsuccessfully try to get
sunflower seeds from our new squirrel-proof feeder. The
feeder was a success, as it does also keep out the
resourceful gray and red squirrels.
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April
29, 2009 - Two pairs of rose breasted grosbeaks have
been seen at our feeders. The males have very
distinctive red V patterns on their chests. These two
did not look at all like last year's males (perhaps
these are the last year's juveniles, who had not yet
displayed the red patch). We need to rethink our new
arrangement of using less open trays, as these grosbeaks
seem a little too big to be comfortable on most
perches. After all, they are here to eat.
...more info and photos
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April
29, 2009 - The eastern towhee is back and as noisy as
ever stirring around the yard edges. His love for
underbrush and leaf piles and his somewhat late in the
day appearances make for a few photography challenges.
But as a fellow bird person once said while waiting in a
long line to purchase yet another bird gizmo, "Being
patient is what we birders do".
...more info and photos
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April
29, 2009 - We heard a woodpecker happily drumming on a
metal sign across the road from our home. Since they
like to hammer on the loudest thing in the neighborhood
to announce their territory, we took the camera to see
which woodpecker was trying to make a point. An
answering pounding came from right above us on our
electrical pole in the front yard. It was no woodpecker
we had ever seen. Many pictures and a brief search
showed us this was a yellow bellied sapsucker. He
may be quite common in this area, but we have never
heard him or noticed his distinctive pattern of even
horizontal and then vertical holes which he drills in a
live tree. He laps the sap and eats the insects
that the sap attracts.
...more info and photos |
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April
29, 2009 - The little house wren male is once again
selecting several bird houses (we added a few more
this year). It's amusing to watch him put three
sticks at the bottom and consider the nest started.
He is much less shy around us now than last year.
His singing is so pleasant and he is so cute, I can
see why a female wren might overlook his lack of
decorating skills.
..more info and photos
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April
22, 2009 - The chipping sparrow had us quite worried
this year. Last spring he arrived on April 5th. We
thought they forgot about us. Since we moved some
feeders around, it is a little harder to get close
pictures of this guy. He is a welcome sight and
seems to enjoy helping with under the feeder
maintenance.
...more info and photos
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April
21, 2009 - The song sparrow is an enthusiastic singer
and we look forward to all our little sparrows and to
the nesting and baby process. Unfortunately, this bird
is a common host of the cowbird. We ourselves seem to be
excellent hosts for the cowbird this year. Yikes!
...more info and photos
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April
21. 2009 - The tree swallows have returned. There is a
great deal of shuffling and reshuffling of housing in
our yard this year. Foolish us! It seemed logical that
we would not have a huge problem if we just added more
nest boxes. More on the housing situation later. Sure
hope the swallows can safely move into our neighborhood
again.
...more info and photos
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April 29, 2009 - We've been spending a lot more time in
the yard ( back, front, east side, and west side) this
spring than other years. Sudden warm weather relief
after a tedious wet winter has helped to inspire many
landscaping projects aimed at creating the best habitat
we can for the birds and ourselves. We've planted
trees, started new pocket gardens, transplanted and
seeded new areas, and put up more birdhouses.
It's been fun watching the robins
follow us around as we stir up fat, juicy earthworms.
Almost better than a quick trip to the bait shop.
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| Mid April 2009 |
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April 21, 2009 - We raised our
first purple martin house in the open area of the front
yard. After purchasing a twelve apartment building-
white, or course, with a blue roof, we had trouble
finding the appropriate pole to mount it. After
searching several stores and the internet, we were
finally equipped to start (with speedy service from the
manufacturer of the home).
After several days, the first birds swooped around the
house and stopped to look in some of the openings. These
tree swallows were quickly chased away by very
persistent house sparrows. One by one most of the
apartments were filled with very busy females, carrying
sticks and nest stuff back to their chosen apartments.
They would push and then pull the little twigs and dried
vegetation through the holes until no nest evidence hung
outside the doorway.
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We have spent quite a bit of time
cleaning the winter debris from various areas of our
yard that had heavy winter usage. After much raking and
shoveling, we rethought our options. An "Aha!" moment
occurred when we decided to use the shop vacuum that we
dedicated to the sole task of pond cleaning. It
was still a lot of 'on your knees' action, but the job
was at least brought into the age of electricity (well-
really, the age of gasoline generators). With the help
of face masks, gloves and lots of large trash
bags, we made good headway. We need less feeders, more
catch trays and more frequent maintenance sessions.
Potential black bear
spring visits, also added to our decision to put out
fewer bird feeders. This lead to some obvious results
and some surprising ones too. Instead of the increase in
overcrowding at the feeders that we expected, many of
the birds took the next flight out to greener pastures
(sorry, for the mixed metaphors, or whatever).
Those faithful few
remaining, unexpectedly came closer in (with many
pausing long enough for some great photos.
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| Early April 2009 |
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April 2, 2009 - Food Guy hung
three new birdhouses. We liked this style because the
side door can be opened for observation without
disturbing the nest. There is no chance of any nestlings
falling out as there is an acrylic panel to look
through. This panel is easily slid open for later
cleaning. A wire grid raised above the bottom keeps the
nest material fresher. Three pegs on the sides could be
useful for climbing out of the birdhouse opening.
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