• Hi Guest - Sign up now for Secret Santa 2024!
    Click here to sign up!
  • Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

Bird Watchers

You guys don't want to see the massacre that I woke up to this morning. Two red cardinals male and female laid out in my living room. Had to lock Mr. Mister AKA The Assassin up because I was afraid once I picked up the mess he would go get more. :(
 
TexasTraveler said:
You guys don't want to see the massacre that I woke up to this morning. Two red cardinals male and female laid out in my living room. Had to lock Mr. Mister AKA The Assassin up because I was afraid once I picked up the mess he would go get more. :(
Click to expand...
Ours leave us presents on the porch most days.
 
The return of the Western Kingbirds, some of my favorites. When the Mississippi Kites return, these guys give 'm hell.
 
And to be totally transparent. That's a pic from a year or so ago. I have 2 trying to sit on nests right now. As soon as they get settled in and lay their eggs, I'll do a weekly post. It takes 21 days from the day the egg is laid until the chick hatches. They only lay 2 eggs per nesting. I've watched my Mom mess with them for years. Now I have to keep up with them cuz Mom can't.
ETA:
I was opened mouthed too, the first time I saw a hummingbird chick. I was expecting to see a little bird with a long thin beak. But they are big mouthed so the mom can stuff the nectar and ants down their throats....LOL! Jeff under stands that I'm sure. 😎
 
cohibasurfer said:
And to be totally transparent. That's a pic from a year or so ago. I have 2 trying to sit on nests right now. As soon as they get settled in and lay their eggs, I'll do a weekly post. It takes 21 days from the day the egg is laid until the chick hatches. They only lay 2 eggs per nesting. I've watched my Mom mess with them for years. Now I have to keep up with them cuz Mom can't.
ETA:
I was opened mouthed too, the first time I saw a hummingbird chick. I was expecting to see a little bird with a long thin beak. But they are big mouthed so the mom can stuff the nectar and ants down their throats....LOL! Jeff under stands that I'm sure. 😎
Click to expand...
Oh trust me! Jeff completely understands having a big mouth and having someone stuff things down his big mouth and throat.
 
We live on a few acres and have yellow-bellied sapsuckers that love whatever suet I put out. Cardinals and robins galore and a barn swallow that nests above my front door. I work late a lot and it’s soooo fun to see her staring at me as I fumble with the keys!

Used to have bluebirds but they were killed. At first I thought it was my dogs but I found one in dead in the box. Apparently house sparrows are predators of bluebirds🤷🏻‍♂️

We set out basic sunflower seed in feeders. I’ve been putting out mealworms trying to attract another bluebird family.
 
okiesmoke said:
We live on a few acres and have yellow-bellied sapsuckers that love whatever suet I put out. Cardinals and robins galore and a barn swallow that nests above my front door. I work late a lot and it’s soooo fun to see her staring at me as I fumble with the keys!

Used to have bluebirds but they were killed. At first I thought it was my dogs but I found one in dead in the box. Apparently house sparrows are predators of bluebirds🤷🏻‍♂️

We set out basic sunflower seed in feeders. I’ve been putting out mealworms trying to attract another bluebird family.
Click to expand...
Had a painted bunting visit last spring. Prettiest wild bird I’ve ever seen in Oklahoma.
 
okiesmoke said:
We live on a few acres and have yellow-bellied sapsuckers that love whatever suet I put out. Cardinals and robins galore and a barn swallow that nests above my front door. I work late a lot and it’s soooo fun to see her staring at me as I fumble with the keys!

Used to have bluebirds but they were killed. At first I thought it was my dogs but I found one in dead in the box. Apparently house sparrows are predators of bluebirds🤷🏻‍♂️

We set out basic sunflower seed in feeders. I’ve been putting out mealworms trying to attract another bluebird family.
Click to expand...
I have a family of Bluebirds over at my house I feed whole roasted peanuts in the shell. When I get to go home they see me and go ape shit. I used to feed them one at a time and mess with them every day. I got them to come land on my table and pick a nut. They always choose the heaviest. LOL. But now it's throw a couple hands full out when I run by every week and split.
 
cohibasurfer said:
I have a family of Bluebirds over at my house I feed whole roasted peanuts in the shell. When I get to go home they see me and go ape shit. I used to feed them one at a time and mess with them every day. I got them to come land on my table and pick a nut. They always choose the heaviest. LOL. But now it's throw a couple hands full out when I run by every week and split.
Click to expand...
That sounds awesome!
 
My mom was an elementary school teacher and an avid bird watcher. She ALWAYS taught about birds…kind of as a stress relief for the kids, kind of a way to get students calm and refocused, kind of as a science lesson. Three times a week, five minutes or so about a bird. So many of her students became bird watchers because of her doing that in the classroom, it’s a bit of a lasting tribute.

I’m fortunate to live in a heavily wooded area with a free flowing stream right by it. My cigars on the deck are often accompanied by woodpeckers, hummingbirds, hawks, and owls. It’s great. Honestly, it’s one of the things I like the most about my house!

I noticed an increase in the number of eastern bluebirds that we have. They used to be a rather rare sighting but they’re everywhere now. Wrens are always around now, they’re fun to watch when they decide to have a wasp or two for dinner!
 
I've noticed a change in species over time around here, too. When I was a kid, I never saw Cardinals here, now they are starting to be nearly year round inhabitants. Used to see a lot more Mockingbirds - they liked to nest in the rose bushes that all got 86's when a new fence went up about 1990. We didn't have Grackles when I was a kid. My grandparents wintered in Brownsville and we'd see Grackles when we'd visit down there, I remarked that it'd be cool to have them back home and that was shot down by the locals there - they hated the Grackles. Now they are everywhere, Great Tailed Grackles. And Starlings. Eurasian Collared Doves are now thick, never had them here when I was a kid.

A lot of small birds that I don't recognize come around now. Several species, smaller than the house sparrows and even smaller than the little house finches, have started showing up in just the last handful of years. Last summer there were bunches of little yellow breasted birds, about halfway between hummingbird and house finch size, then similar looking birds with a dark gray back and bright white underside, especially in the tail. Now I'm seeing something that looks about like a sparrow but with bright white stripes on its head.
 
Just noticed a pair of Mourning Doves nesting in the Weeping Cherry Tree. This pair has become used to me smoking my cigars out by the feeder and will come within a few feet of me. Didn’t even seem too uncomfortable with me being less than two feet away to snap this photo.

Love your story about your mom Stu @punk_lawyer ! I remember two teachers that had an impact on me at that young age, and I still fondly remember it all today.
4D3919E7-2D2E-4730-AE29-D6D4B44CC1C8.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top