Birds in the back yard

[Dotch]

mikey said you were just mad because you were looking at yer phone & missed the turn for Morey's...

After cleaning the floors & feeding the bottle lambs I took a break to watch the feeder activity. Saw a couple of common redpolls under the thistle feeder picking at seed the goldfinches are dropping. Redpolls were my 2nd guess earlier. Can't say for sure that's what's been in the spruce trees but can't say it isn't either. 

[Bobberineyes]

Feeders been hit or miss lately,  had a single little bird running around on the ground I couldn't identify,  google said its a dark eyed junco.. cute lil feller.

[Dotch]

Just got in from filling the bird feeders after feeding the bottle lambs. Had a couple male cardinals who are still camera shy earlier. Had 4 rooster pheasants here the other day so scattered some corn around the backyard for them. The female flicker is back. Put another suet cake in the regular feeder and within minutes there she was. Plenty of chickadees & goldfinches after their share of the sunflower feeder refill. 

[HD]

I've got 3 tube feeders for finches and redpoll's...they literally drain them all in 8 hours.

Just plain 

[glenn57]

birds around here are sporadic to say the least. some days a few stragglers...then a couple days the feeders and ground are crawling with birds?????????  then back to hardly any!!!!!

[glenn57]

had some birds yesterday. in the morning a male cardinal, momma cardinal came around later afternoon. 

most days i have swans flying over the house too!!!!

[dutchboy]

Birds are hitting the feeder pretty hard here also. They are fun t watch. Those Swans are likely a Hallucination from the rot gut beer you like.

[glenn57]

Birds are hitting the feeder pretty hard here also. They are fun t watch. Those Swans are likely a Hallucination from the rot gut beer you like.

[mike89]

had some birds yesterday. in the morning a male cardinal, momma cardinal came around later afternoon. 

most days i have swans flying over the house too!!!!

I know at my son's place in Monticello they are flying over head there to year round...   

[glenn57]

had some birds yesterday. in the morning a male cardinal, momma cardinal came around later afternoon. 

most days i have swans flying over the house too!!!!

I know at my son's place in Monticello they are flying over head there to year round...

Yea they sit in the river there. Used to have a gal that fed them. I took the grandkids there once to look and watch them, even donated 20 bucks.

Grandkids where more interested in getting to our destination.  the holiday inn water slide in ostego.

[LPS]

Before I moved here I lived on the Ottertail River just upstream from Ottertail Lake.  There were spots on the river that didn't freeze and there were swans there all winter.  I thought it was cool as heck.  I do miss that.  My brother lives on that river and pours corn on his yard and the swans come right up and get it.  They are so used to him that they stay right by him as long as he has that bucket with him.  We have just had the usual nuthatches, chicadees, both the little orange breasted and the bigger ones.  Today a squirrel ran under the grill cuz we went out and he was in the feeder.  Cooper grabbed the squirrel and I grabbed Cooper.  He dropped the squirrel and I gave him a huge head start so he would make it to the trees.  I have to look out for them better. 

[Jerkbiat]

Pine Grosbeaks and Blue Jays have really been hammering our feeder. plus the usual chikadees.

[Dotch]

Almost fergot, geese have been winging their way north the past couple nights during chores. This morning we had our first robins! 

[LPS]

We have had just one make Pine Grosbeak the last couple of days.  Very cool birds. 

[Jerkbiat]

Love the pine grosbeaks too. We have a bunch here this morning and lots of redpolls too. Bluejays should start showing up soon too. We have had starlings here this winter too, which I thought was weird.

[Bobberineyes]

I put up a tray feeder last weekend and the birds went crazy.  Lots of purple finches,  it'll be interesting to see if the forecasted rain will have any impact on it.

[Gunner55]

Seen a bluejay out along our shoreline last week 1 day.

[Dotch]

Just heard the 1st killdeer of the season moments ago whilst coming in from the barn. Afraid he's in for a rude awakening...

[Gunner55]

Used to enjoy hearing those back in my golf course days. 

[glenn57]

Just heard the 1st killdeer of the season moments ago whilst coming in from the barn. Afraid he's in for a rude awakening...

did you spike your coffee??

[Dotch]

Nope, I was over at the neighbor's looking for meadow muffins...

A group of cedar waxwings just swung thru. Still plenty of crabapples to eat. 

[glenn57]

With the rain and snow gotta go clean up the feeders. Get rid of the wet seeds.

Out finishing the driveway I did hear a cardinal singing away!!👍

[Dotch]

Red-winged blackbirds made a flyover this a.m. 

[Leech~~]

Saw 6 Robin's on the Maple tree.  They never come to the feeders. Anyone else notice that?   

[Dotch]

Guess I've never tried to attract robins to a feeder. If I did tho, I'd probably be looking at dried fruit or berries of some kind. Until the ground thaws and they can get earthworms, that's a lot of what they survive on here. Crabapples and American cranberry are a couple favorites. They like nannyberries too in the fall but they're almost all gone by now in our planting. 

[mike89]

they do like the bird bath I have!!!   

[delcecchi]

nannyberry?   Thats one I had to look up.   Says berries are edible.   Is that true?    Maybe it would be something to plant as I work on getting rid of a bunch of Buckthorn in a low area

[Dotch]

Nannyberries are edible. If they weren't I'd be dead by now. Dad gave me some to eat from the planting in our windbreak as a kid. I'd pluck a mouthful off the bushes in the fall when out plowing for a snack. Spit the seeds for a round then grab another batch on the next round. I still eat them in the fall when I'm mowing or gardening here at the ranch. The fruit contains a relatively large, flat stone and the flesh tastes a little like a prune. Would take a lot to fill a person up but for wildlife, not so much. Was reading the blurb from the SWCD and it says the bushes are adapted to a wide range of soil conditions from wet to dry. They're native & have beautiful red foliage in the fall. However, they're susceptible to powdery mildew if it's dampish or they're partially shaded, which dulls the color. I've pruned the snot out of them for easier mowing & to provide more air movement which seems to help.   

[glenn57]

Saw 6 Robin's on the Maple tree.  They never come to the feeders. Anyone else notice that?   

put out a feeder with mealworms in it, you'll have robins!!

[Leech~~]

Saw 6 Robin's on the Maple tree.  They never come to the feeders. Anyone else notice that?   

put out a feeder with mealworms in it, you'll have robins!!

Will wax worms or Euro lave work?  I got some of those!!