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The thread for birds and birding

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  • #136
    Re: The thread for birds and birding

    The stupid ****ing mourning doves continue to make nests in our gutters and after yesterday's rains, I have two plugged gutters that are beyond the reach of my ladder.

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    • #137
      Re: The thread for birds and birding

      Originally posted by Gurtholfin View Post
      Witnessed something a bit gruesome in the yard today.

      We have (had) a nest of grackles on the backyard line in a tree. Could hear the babies making a ruckus every time mom or dad would come back with food. Parents were protective of a circle around the nest and even buzzed the wife once when she got too close.

      Today, all of a sudden about 10 other grackles descended on the nest and where making all kinds of frantic/frenzied racket and after about 10 minutes of this, two of the babies were on the ground dead.

      I know that grackles will raid nests to eat baby birds, but this was a pack of them killing some of their own kind and they didn't eat them.


      Looked online but couldn't find any mention of this type of behavior.
      2-3 years ago I was lying in my hammock when I heard a commotion from some trees where grackles nest. A crow passed about 20 feet above me with a baby grackle in its feet and about 10-15 grackles chasing it.
      Originally posted by mookie1995
      bc is superior to bu in nearly everything. while it is sad that it has come to it, it's the truth. if bu doesn't like it, improve.
      Rep from Hokydad -"and your an old never been piece of ****"

      Originally Posted by Dirty
      Why is anyone surprised that Old Pio is acting like a grumpy old f^ck? He is a grumpy old f^ck.

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      • #138
        Re: The thread for birds and birding

        Originally posted by Gurtholfin View Post
        The stupid ****ing mourning doves continue to make nests in our gutters and after yesterday's rains, I have two plugged gutters that are beyond the reach of my ladder.
        You're gonna need a longer ladder.

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        • #139
          Re: The thread for birds and birding

          Visited the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI yesterday. Wonderful visit and tour. Saw pairs of every specie of crane in existence--the only place on the planet where that is possible. They explained how they take care of the whooping crane hatchlings, including dressing entirely in white, never making a human sound, and putting on a white sleeve with a crane's head instead of a glove to feed the chicks. The whooper chicks are never allowed to see or hear a human until they are well past imprinting stage. One crane from India actually flies over the Himalayas at altitudes of 26,000 ft in its migration. Fascinating stuff.

          It's right off of I-94/90 by the Dells, so those of you travelling between Mpls and Madison can easily and stop and see it.

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          • #140
            Re: The thread for birds and birding

            Originally posted by FreshFish View Post
            A pair of robins had built their nest under our front porch, tucked away by the front joists. I was wondering how long it would take the neighbor's cat to find it. Apparently it found the nest yesterday, as I saw the nest in the driveway and two fledgelings mewling miserably nearby. My son put on some gloves (to keep the scent off) and tried putting them back in the nest.
            One of the fledglings is still alive, two days later. We saw it being fed this evening.
            "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

            "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

            "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

            "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

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            • #141
              Re: The thread for birds and birding

              On a related subject: neighbors who put out food for stray cats in the vacant lot next to my house. I'm tempted to put up a sign that says, "I don't feed the dirty, flea infested rats near your house, so don't feed the dirty, flea-infested cats near mine!"
              If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?

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              • #142
                Re: The thread for birds and birding

                I was out in the vegetable garden a few days ago and saw not one but two hummingbirds. They were flitting about the zinnias. One flew near me and hovered for several seconds about eye level, not more than three feet away.
                "Hope is a good thing; maybe the best of things."

                "Beer is a sign that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -- Benjamin Franklin

                "Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy." -- W. B. Yeats

                "People generally are most impatient with those flaws in others about which they are most ashamed of in themselves." - folk wisdom

                Comment

                • #143
                  Re: The thread for birds and birding

                  Speaking of hummingbirds...

                  We have a bunch in the yard the past few days as they must be heading south - saw 6 at one time at the back feeder dive bombing each other.

                  Normally we have 1 or 2 during the summer and only ever saw 1 this year.


                  I'm sure they'll be gone is a few days.

                  Comment

                  • #144
                    Originally posted by Gurtholfin View Post
                    Speaking of hummingbirds...

                    We have a bunch in the yard the past few days as they must be heading south - saw 6 at one time at the back feeder dive bombing each other.

                    Normally we have 1 or 2 during the summer and only ever saw 1 this year.


                    I'm sure they'll be gone is a few days.
                    The ruby throated hummingbirds will be making to epic single night flight across the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan soon. I'd love to get the chance to be on the gulf coast some evening and watch one of the huge groups of hummingbirds as they take off.

                    Comment

                    • #145
                      Originally posted by Gurtholfin View Post
                      Witnessed something a bit gruesome in the yard today.

                      We have (had) a nest of grackles on the backyard line in a tree. Could hear the babies making a ruckus every time mom or dad would come back with food. Parents were protective of a circle around the nest and even buzzed the wife once when she got too close.

                      Today, all of a sudden about 10 other grackles descended on the nest and where making all kinds of frantic/frenzied racket and after about 10 minutes of this, two of the babies were on the ground dead.

                      I know that grackles will raid nests to eat baby birds, but this was a pack of them killing some of their own kind and they didn't eat them.


                      Looked online but couldn't find any mention of this type of behavior.
                      Cowbirds do that and they kind of look like grackles. Brood parasitism and "mafia" behavior.

                      "I have come up with a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel. ."
                      -Blackadder
                      "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here. "
                      -Casablanca
                      "They could maybe hire another officer to catch the illegal immigrant drug dealers breast feeding at Dunkin' Donuts or whatever it is! Thank you!"
                      -Somerville Speakout
                      2008 POTY

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                      • #146
                        Re: The thread for birds and birding

                        Whooping crane migration underway : http://operationmigration.org/InTheF...ay-is-the-day/

                        Posting from my phone, not seeing how to post it as a link..

                        Edit: I guess it did it automatically

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                        • #147
                          Re: The thread for birds and birding

                          Can you explain this a little bit? Are the crane's not capable of migrating on their own, or is this similar to herding cattle from their summer feeding ground to winter ground?
                          'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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                          • #148
                            Re: The thread for birds and birding

                            Originally posted by FiveHole12 View Post
                            Can you explain this a little bit? Are the crane's not capable of migrating on their own, or is this similar to herding cattle from their summer feeding ground to winter ground?
                            I think that perception comes from groups who have been breeding whoopers to preserve their population and using light aircraft to help the young ones on their first migration. The stories about raising those chicks are pretty amazing. While the chicks are being raised (for how long, I don't recall), they never see a human or hear a human voice.

                            One breed of cranes, not whoopers, of course, actually has to fly at altitudes of up to 26,000 feet to migrate over the Himalayas.

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                            • #149
                              Originally posted by FiveHole12 View Post
                              Can you explain this a little bit? Are the crane's not capable of migrating on their own, or is this similar to herding cattle from their summer feeding ground to winter ground?
                              Burd is correct I believe. They do this on the first migration to help them learn a safe and proper route.

                              There are several migrations fully underway right now. Huge flocks along the east coast but especially in the plains states are lighting up radars. I'll have tp see if I can find the picture I found that showed it. If you follow the US fish and wildlife service on Facebook you may have already seen it.
                              Last edited by Proud2baLaker; 10-12-2014, 07:23 AM.

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                              • #150
                                Re: The thread for birds and birding

                                Interesting. Thanks for the info both of you. I'm going to research it a bit.
                                'Eavesdropped the BC forum in USCHO. A range of intellects over there. Mostly gentlemen, but a couple of coarse imbeciles' - academic_index, a Brown fan

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