Birds seen in a three-minute time span...
 

I'm sitting on the front deck. I angled my gliding chair so I can see the Purple Martins and the feeders in the white spruce tree.


In a three minute span I saw...


- A male Baltimore oriole
- A male Orchard oriole
- Three Hummingbirds
- At least six fledgling Downy woodpeckers
- Three or four fledgling Hairy woodpeckers
- Two adult Hairy woodpeckers
- House and Purple Finches eating the orioles' grape jelly
- More House and Purple finches slurping down the oriole nectar from the large-ported feeder
- Flocks of hysterically cute young chipping sparrows
- Female and fledgling robins
- Young Tree Swallow nestlings peeping out of their box
- Nearly all of the 24+ Purple Martins
- A pair of Red Wing blackbirds


On a table next to my chair is a stack of rocks. I can't hit the side of a barn, but anytime a grackle or young grey squirrel gets on the feeders, I chuck a rock toward them.

Now I have to go pick up all the pecan-size rocks and start all over again. I think I'll get a sling shot and use dried beans for "bullets."

Wow! My DH photographs birds and would love to sit on your front deck.

We've had wonderful bird viewing also! Indigo bunting and the Yellow-bellied sap sucker were new visitors this year. May use your rock idea...that darned pileated woodpecker devours the suet cakes!

I have an English sparrow problem and wonder if all you bird watchers can offer ideas! I have one large round feeder, one smaller one and a tray feeder, all filled with black sunflower seeds. We can fill all 3 one day and 2-3 days later flocks of these English sparrows have cleaned them out!! Even my cardinals get shortchanged and I don't see many of the other small birds now, e.g. chickadees, tufted titmouse, rosy finches, junco, golden finch etc. I've seen an idea on some bird watching lists of putting a circle of wire on the top of the feeder, with wires hanging down...supposedly the Eng sparrows don't like to go around them but the other birds will. TIA!

I have your list and add 1 gorgeous male Scarlett Tanager.
PS, also have seen two Pileated Woodpecker fledglings. Dad is quite a screamer as he zooms through the trees.

WOW, what wonderful viewing you have. I had a brown little guy perch on my window at my previous home and sing to me. I would whistle back to him from my bed. Then I moved and now I get a chorus of crows at sunrise every morning. Not as pleasant sound to wake up to.

I get all the yucky birds at my feeder, I want the pretty birds,But God seemed to speak to me and said they are mine to and they need food, so now I'm content with who ever comes, I wish I could get your variety, Enjoy them.

Lucky gal! The birds fly thru here on the way up north. But they don't stay long. I'd love to have them thru out the summer instead of a few weeks spring and fall. I'd love to share a cup of coffee and watch. Material girl, try the dried mealworms. It usually brings in the prettier bug eaters instead of the seed eaters.

We feed our finches only thistle seeds from a prepackaged bag. I buy it at Wal Mart.
We had to stop feeding the larger birds as the food was attracting raccoons, opossums and a groundhog. I don't like them in my yard. My two little dogs have a separate fenced in yard inside the bigger fence so they don't bother the dogs. They come into the yard before it gets dark. The wild animals leave big poop messes.

I used to chase off the grackles until I saw them catching snakes in my yard and flying off with them and finding dead snakes that they had killed. Now I leave them alone.

Saw couple snakes in my yard over the weekend (non-venomous (rat and garter). They had eaten and yes I could tell. I leave them alone because when the neighbor gets his arse around to mowing his yard, we end up with rodents. My current yard guy is snake friendly and instructs his guys to move them and not mow them. He feels the same way. As far as anything getting to the couple humming bird feeders we have, DH just paints mixture of Vaseline, oil and iodine on the post so critters can't crawl up. It is also a deterrent to those 2 legged critters who feel it's ok to confiscate what doesn't belong to them and they can't climb the pole or just don't like the feel of the Vaseline mixture. When they leave, they often have this greasy, oily red mess between their legs. The smaller critters don't like the smell so they stay away.

Caroline in ND, I am a bird lover as well. I live in NH. We are 6 miles from the base of Monadnock Mountain. I live in the woods basically, and wildlife is plentiful. We moved here about 7 years ago, and the first year that I was here I saw a pack of coyotes walk across my backyard. My daughter saw a baby fox the other night and a raccoon last week. There are white tailed deer, moose, bear, turkeys, etc. in these woods. I am fortunate to have an abundance of birds visit my feeders. I have had Chickadees eat out of my hands on several occasions. That is quite thrilling. Right now there is a nest of FlyCatcher babies near the back porch, and I have seen a Chickadee feeding her babies through a hole in a nearby tree. I see many different kinds of Woodpeckers during the summer. The birds that I have seen here are: Red Robin, Black Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, White Breasted Nuthatch, Red Breasted Nuthatch, Dark-Eyed Juncos (or snowbirds), Catbirds, Eastern Towhees, Cardinals, Grossbeaks, Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, Yellow Breasted Northern Ficker (which is part of the woodpecker family), Sparrows, Blue Jays. I know I am leaving some out. I have seen a kingfisher as well, and once a Blue Herring landed in my backyard. I also am the unhappy neighbor of Whiporwills… they keep me awake at night. They are nocturnal. You have never lived until you’ve heard them sing. It’s like the song that never ends!

I also have trouble keeping squirrels and chipmunks away from my feeders. I like to keep a super-soaker near the door, and a whistle, but of course, it is futile, because they come back within 5 minutes.

After 14 years, we have had racoons invade and trash our feeders. Now, we are bringing the feeders in at night until we figure out a way to keep them from raiding our feeders.

Jingle I gave the birds thistles one year and the next I had them in my flowers, garden, and yard!! I still am trying to get rid of them.

Wow, that does sound like a relaxing place to see...

WOW, what a great variety of birds. especially in that short time span. Love what you said about your stack of rocks for unwanted visitors.

materialgrl: We've found that putting out finch food or thistle seed you may get the house finch and the yellow canary finch, premium wild bird seed and mixed with saffron seed will bring in cardinals, grape jelly will bring in orioles, suet cakes will bring in woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, yellow belly flickers and the pesky black birds and cow birds. In shell peanuts you will get bluejays. Bushes and trees are a must for cover. We are in northern Michigan, near Traverse City.

The indigo bunting and rose breasted grosbeak on their way north. A sprinkler will draw in all kinds of birds

I have tried the suet cakes the birds I have love it, I will look for food with saffron, I guess I dont mind so much as God made them all, And I do enjoy the ones I get,when I switch brands they seem to get upset,lol

I love my bird feeders! We get all diff kinds also. My hubby grumbles about the critters but he secretly watches the birds as much as I do! We found that putting ceyane pepper in the feeders won't bother the birds but the squirts hate it! We still get the chipmunks around tho. When we first started using the pepper we spread it on the ground around the feeders also.

You get quite the variety of birds! What fun! Around here, I get lots of chickadees, and sparrows. Had a goldfinch the other day! Such a treat. Perhaps I also need to get out my bird book and brush up a little....:)

i love watching the birds .. hummers to crows etc. we also have a scarlett tanager that loves my side mirror on my car looks at itself i guess and what a mess they leave behind.. lol

Love to bird watch...