Years ago I was fishing on Currituck sound and watched a pair of crows use a diversion tactic on some martins. The first flew close enough to get them all upset and chasing it away, then the second swooped in a stole an egg while they were all busy. It seemed to me that they had "planned" it out, as they were both on a pier a few houses down. The first then flew over in plain site, making a lot of noise and attracting a ton of attention. Whereas the second flew low close to the water from pier to pier until he got near the nest and then slipped in silently. It was very interesting to watch happen. (clearly there were no fishing biting at the time)
"That young man has an extra step on his ladder the rest of us just don't have."
They probably nested elsewhere, but they will be back. I've had that happen as well. Make sure the nests are out way way early, they scout out home long before actually taking residence. There are some tricks to keeping the sparrows out of the houses.
Dried (or live) mealworms will attract the bluebirds.
We're still filling the feeder and putting out suet cakes, and as much as I've been sitting still and quiet, I've gotten some really nice songbird action lately. I've been sitting with my zoom lens at the ready, and today I caught a pretty great crown jewel photo if I do say so.
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Yes! I actually had three different visits from (I'm pretty sure) this same bird today...saw two meals and then this visit came a little after 6pm.
We've been hearing the owls all the time ever since we moved into this house 6 years ago, but had only rare looks at them until recently. I was sitting with my zoom at the ready today and didn't even have to get out of my chair.
Two other owl shots from today, both with kills but further away than the first one:
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This Orchard Oriole came back and today I had my camera ready.
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"The future ain't what it used to be."
great photo! Years ago we had an owl perch in our apple tree during the dead of winter (there were about two feet of snow in the yard). He sat there from about 8 a.m. to mid afternoon, just doing the occasional head swivel...finally, after all that time, he swooped down into the snow (fairly deep) and extracted a rodent of some sort (mouse? vole? mole?) and had dinner.
Their heads are marvelously shaped for ultra good hearing, they have extraordinary ears...as such, they can hear small prey moving under the snow...most impressive.
Another fine attribute if you have a chance to see them fly nearby: they are nearly completely silent as they fly, another good hunting attribute.
You had 3 barred owls hanging around your yard? Were some of them juveniles hanging around the parents? That's quote an active yard.
I hear a couple different types of owls around us from time to time. The barred's hoot is pretty iconic and easy to recognize but most I've been able to spot was a dark shape winging away in the night after I unsettled it from it's roost.
Cool stuff.
Cannot resist any longer. Apologies in advance. Been considering this for several days:
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
I'm pretty sure this was the same owl, just 3 times in one day(!!!)...once just before 10am, once around 4pm, and then again a little after 6pm. I've notice that there's an owl travel corridor coming up out of the forest behind my house and then right beside my house toward another stand of trees across the street. Upon reading, I've learned that barred owls like to travel familiar hunting lanes like this, so now I'm learning where and when to look. It's been fun.
I upgraded my body from a Nikon D60 to a Nikon D7000 for faster processing speeds last summer, and have been very pleased with the results...wildlife is my favorite thing to shoot, and the D60 just didn't "think" fast enough to get the kind of burst photos that are essential for good animal photography.
The lens is a Sigma 150-500...the more budget-friendly alternative to Nikon branded lenses. I also bought it specifically for wildlife photography, and have also been quite pleased with it in a variety of settings. I have had to learn to shoot handheld photos with it, as aiming can be tricky and it's quite heavy, but I've been really happy with results as I've gotten better with it.
I have lots of barred owls all around me, but I can never see them! I have a lot of very, very tall trees, and I think they stay as high as possible. A couple of weeks ago, they were having a hootenanny party and it was loud! I stood on the porch and listened to them go on and on. Love my owls!
Barred owl calls have caused many forests to be considered haunted.
In case anyone hasn't heard it.https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/id