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  1. #41
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    We've had quite a few crows in our area for 30 years, and they're quite interesting to watch. What you saw is extremely common: crows will harass hawks all day long as they pose an existential threat so they dive bomb them...similarly, smaller birds will chase off the crows who often raid their nests...a former UVM prof, Bernd Heinrich, was a world renowned expert on crows and ravens (corvids, not covids!) and his lectures were fascinating...extremely intelligent birds with complex interactions. They've been known to fashion tools, e.g. bending a piece of wire in order to retrieve food from a tube...

    Also not unusual to see crows chase foxes down our driveway, dive bomb pecking them as they go...
    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."

  2. #42
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    a noted ornithologist told me you only see an indigo bunting with runners on first and second and nobody out...even the birds miss sports.
    I can’t decide if this is fowl or foul.

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Nrrrrvous View Post
    I can’t decide if this is fowl or foul.
    Eggs actly what I was afraid of..

  4. #44
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by Devilwin View Post
    Eggs actly what I was afraid of..
    Impeckable timing.
    "That young man has an extra step on his ladder the rest of us just don't have."

  5. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    Yes. My wife and I love feeding the birds.

    We were trying to get some bluebirds to nest in our yard. I bought two beautiful nesting boxes designed specifically for bluebirds and hung them on trees in our yard.

    We attracted bluebirds using mealworms, and for a while we had several males and females around the yard and we saw them checking out the boxes.

    I have no idea what happened. They were there one day and pretty much gone the next, never to return. I assume they nested somewhere else and are busy with their young, but why did they reject our yard? Anyone have any ideas?

    We have lots of other birds coming around, including some majestic cardinals, a thrasher, a crested titmouse, finches of every variety, bluejays, and a variety of woodpeckers.

    But I really miss my bluebirds!
    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.

  6. #46
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by fidel View Post
    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.
    In NC, bluebirds begin house hunting in mid to late February.

  7. #47
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    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.
    DSC_2740.jpg

  8. #48
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Outside Philly
    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    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.
    DSC_2740.jpg
    In the immortal words of Harry Dunne: that's a nice (set of) hooters you got there!

    That's a great shot of a Barred Owl! Is that a picture you snapped from your yard? In the daytime? Thanks for sharing!

  9. #49
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by bundabergdevil View Post
    In the immortal words of Harry Dunne: that's a nice (set of) hooters you got there!

    That's a great shot of a Barred Owl! Is that a picture you snapped from your yard? In the daytime? Thanks for sharing!
    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.

  10. #50
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Two other owl shots from today, both with kills but further away than the first one:

    DSC_2597.jpg

    DSC_2671.jpg

  11. #51
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Northwest NC
    This Orchard Oriole came back and today I had my camera ready.
    085DD532-D91D-4CF7-AC9A-464EC82C74D3.jpg
    "The future ain't what it used to be."

  12. #52
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    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.
    DSC_2740.jpg
    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.

  13. #53
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Outside Philly
    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    Two other owl shots from today, both with kills but further away than the first one:

    DSC_2597.jpg

    DSC_2671.jpg
    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.

  14. #54
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    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.
    DSC_2740.jpg
    Awesome pic! If you don't mind me asking, what lens? Handheld? I'm working on my bird photography so any info is appreciated.
    "That young man has an extra step on his ladder the rest of us just don't have."

  15. #55
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh
    Cannot resist any longer. Apologies in advance. Been considering this for several days:



    [redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.

  16. #56
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by bundabergdevil View Post
    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.
    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.

  17. #57
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Quote Originally Posted by Nrrrrvous View Post
    Awesome pic! If you don't mind me asking, what lens? Handheld? I'm working on my bird photography so any info is appreciated.
    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.

  18. #58
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    Two other owl shots from today, both with kills but further away than the first one:

    DSC_2597.jpg

    DSC_2671.jpg
    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!

  19. #59
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by aimo View Post
    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

  20. #60
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by wilson View Post
    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.
    Thanks, I'm still kicking along with a D3200 w/Nikkor 55-300. Getting a few good shots here and there. Don't spend as much time with it as I would like.
    "That young man has an extra step on his ladder the rest of us just don't have."

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