Birds in the back yard

[Dotch]

Pheasants are making themselves at home. 1st the roosters hung out in the grove by the small lot & moved to the plum/sumac thicket. 2 days ago it was hens in the thicket & yesterday it was both hens & roosters picking through garden leftovers in the backyard. Hope I can get some pics. 🤞

[glenn57]

2 weeks ago around home i had all kinds of birds........now not so much  still see the cardinals though!!!!!!

[Dotch]

Still seeing the pheasants slinking around between cover around the yard. Many of the other birds are suddenly AWOL. There's been a Cooper's Hawk making a swing thru the the feeder area the past couple days. Hope he's helping himself to the house sparrows while he's at it.

[Leech~~]

2 weeks ago around home i had all kinds of birds........now not so much  still see the cardinals though!!!!!!

Seeing tons of birds, squirrels and bunnies at the feeders.  I use to think retired people spent all their money at the casino's. Nope Bird seed!      

[Bobberineyes]

Money well spent Leech!! We had a lull in the bird action but this evening the sparrows and chickadees were hitting it hard, must be a storm brewing 

[glenn57]

Money well spent Leech!! We had a lull in the bird action but this evening the sparrows and chickadees were hitting it hard, must be a storm brewing 

I'd believe the birds and wildlife before the weather forecasters!!

[mike89]

I agree with that...   

[LPS]

Leech even though this is the bird thread you mentioned retirement.  Did you retire from downtown Minneapolis???   You talked about it from time to time.

[Leech~~]

Leech even though this is the bird thread you mentioned retirement.  Did you retire from downtown Minneapolis???   You talked about it from time to time.

Yep, last May.  Worked in Mfg management for over 30 years and spent the last few with my feet up at a school in the evening making sure the boilers didn't blow up!   

[Leech~~]

Money well spent Leech!! We had a lull in the bird action but this evening the sparrows and chickadees were hitting it hard, must be a storm brewing 

Well Franky says it's coming and what hits ND probably coming our way!  "Be Prepared"   

[mike89]

what a guy!!!!!   

[glenn57]

its been pretty baron of birds that past 3 weeks or so.............this morning i had a pile of finches!!!!!!! all the feeders are now full and absent of wet soggy sunflowers!!!!!!

[Steve-o]

Been seein' a few chickadees pecking at the seed pods in the birch, but otherwise, the birds have been hunkered down somewhere else.

[Jerkbiat]

It is dark when we leave for work and dark when we get home so I never know what is around until the weekend.

[LPS]

The Evening Grosbeaks cleaned us out at noon so I filled the feeder up again.

[Dotch]

You get all the good grosbeaks Barry...

Lotsa bird activity in the morning sunshine. Really makes the male cardinal's red pop against the new fallen snow. 

[Dotch]

Was doing a visual inspection of the birdfeeder levels around dusk when I got in from chores, cocoa & brandy in hand. Poppy was at my feet and was growling loudly at something. I looked down the hill to see 4 large bodies digging through the garden leftovers. Thought it was the neighbors heifer calves at first but it was just some neighborhood deer. They were fond of the sweet corn and loved the beets and radishes I hadn't tossed over to the sheep. I just hope they don't file that in their memory banks for next spring. 

[Dotch]

Yesterday was the bird activity day but there are still plenty to observe. Snapped this shot of a pheasant parked on the east side of a nannyberry clump. Not a great pic but there's also a nuthatch on the tree photobombing it. A few minutes later I saw two roosters & two hens rummaging through the sweet corn patch. A little out of range of my cell phone camera.

[Dotch]

Have had a few oddballs lately. There was a Harris's & a white-throated sparrow cleaning up under the feeders a couple days ago. There has also been a flicker using the horizontal suet feeders. Thought at first it was a male red-bellied woodpecker but was a little too large for that. Looking at him hanging upside down made it more difficult to ID until I got the binocs out.

[LPS]

For the past week it seems that the Evening Grosbeaks are not here but the Pine Grosbeaks are here now.  Sometimes as many as 6 or 8 of them. A male hit the window hard and the wife went out and picked him up and set him in the feeder.  It took a couple of hours before he started turning his head as birds ate around him.  They he finally moved and sat on the edge of the feeder. By dark he was gone so must have made it.  The exact same thing happened about 10 years ago and that on made it too.   

[Dotch]

Last week after filling the feeders the goldfinches filled every perch & covered the screen feeder. A lot of other birds too but no blue jays. Within minutes everything scattered & a sharp-shinned Hawk showed up. Was fun while it lasted. The blue jays returned and a portion of the birds. The jays seem to serve as sentinels. This guy visited this a.m.

[Bobberineyes]

Looks like dinner! Tell the Mrs were having grilled free range chicken.   

[glenn57]

Looks like dinner! Tell the Mrs were having grilled free range chicken.   

that sucka gotz a long tail!!!!!!!! he's been around a while!!!!! or...... dotch's bird food has steroids!!!!!

[Dotch]

Hadn't paid much attention to his tail but now you mention it, it is pretty long. Have been some hens blowing thru with the roosters too. Was lucky to get this picture. Under the feeder they're only about 20' - 25' from the house & really spooky. Any sudden move & they're gone, especially on a sunny day.

[glenn57]

Well I'm ready for the orioles now!!! this brand was 2 fer $6.00!

[Steve-o]

I know there is a sizeable number of robins that do not fly south for the winter.

So far I hadn't seen any robins this winter... until today.  This morning I saw robins in New Brighton AND Minnetonka.

I thought it strange that they should suddenly decide to appear today and across such a wide ranging area.  I wonder if the resident population is in the middle of a mini-migration that is taking them thru the Twin Cities right now.   

Any of you guys been seeing robins this winter on a regular basis?

[glenn57]

Nope, haven't seen a robin nor Batman  since snow flew!

[Dotch]

No, haven't seen any. A flicker is about as close to an oddball we've had. In the TC like that I'm guessing it increases the odds they'll stick around. The heat island effect, wooded habitat & higher concentration of food sources wouldn't hurt. Lotsa wide open space between those sorts of things here.

[mike89]

none this way either

[roony]

Sure been seeing a lot of pheasants along the roads lately getting grit. This hard crust on the snow isn't good for them.