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Any birders? Share your photos!

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
The tundra Swans were fun too. They only pass through in migration. There were a few hundred out at bear river,FB_IMG_1550500569613.jpg but there will be tens of thousands in the next month or so.

This photo made me laugh. It's like the one swan has two heads.
 

Keepur

Certified Ski Diva
@altagirl Haha, that's a funny photo! It took me a second to see the other head. I can't wait to see your spring photos of the Tundra swans and anything else you see. I wish I had some to share.

I'd love to get back to Utah for a birding trip. And skiing, of course.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Here are a few more. There were so many bald eagles this weekend.

FB_IMG_1550500982217.jpg
This is an almost adult male Northern Harrier
FB_IMG_1550500417847.jpg
Eagles keeping an eye on us...
FB_IMG_1550500977381.jpg
And I literally LOLed when I zoomed in on this photo to see the pelicans checking me out.
FB_IMG_1550500421594.jpg
 

newboots

Angel Diva
My phone photos don’t make the cut, but we were excited to see a barred owl visit (and perch, apparently for the night) just above our bird feeder, probably waiting for one of the small red squirrels. A downy woodpecker called out the alarm, as well as some chickadees nearby, and no more visitors to the bird feeder this afternoon. It was past their dinner hour anyway.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Skinning back up last Saturday saw a small 'hole' in the snow, thought maybe a marmot.
Once we got closer realized it was something totally different - so not sure if this was two 'mice?' and one bird of prey or ????? Any thoughts? I had to downgrade quality to post - hope its visible
Clearly had happened recently - had been fresh snow/wind.





snowprint.jpg
 
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WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@newboot yes I think what ever rodent it was was lunch. But I'm not sure if it was one failed and one successful attempt, or two rodents and one bird or ? Clearly one is a "light" landing and the other looks like multiple flaps with a heavier load :wink:

It finally was a bluebird day, not windy where we were, and I did some research and meadow mice do exist and live in snow where I was... too small for a marmot. ??? Although all tracks end with wing prints so maybe it was a two course meal..... maybe someone can identify the tracks?
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Any tips for why my backyard birds and animals want nothing to do with my bird feeders??? This will be my second summer at this house, and it seems the birds aren’t any more interested in my feeders yet this season as they were last year. One I left that was at the house when I moved in, and one I added. The seed stays foreeeever.. I don’t think they even really touch the feeder I added for the most part. This includes squirrels and chipmunks!!! I’ve never experienced this, it has always been pretty much “put it out, and they will come demolish the food..”. Is it my food, placement, feeders??? They also showed no interest in my bird bath which the birds used to love at my old place. This makes me so sad because I absolutely love watching them eat and play.. I can hear tons of birds, but they don’t seem to venture into my yard that much. It’s large, sunny, and we abut woods. Previously I lived more near the coast versus being more inland now, does this change anything?

I also have a hummingbird feeder that did get visits early and late season last year, but not really anything in the middle. Haven’t seen any yet this year.
 

Mary Tee

Angel Diva
Have you cleaned the feeders and bath? The finches in my backyard don't go near the feeder if the seed has gotten rain soaked. the squirrels are a mystery...I have never known them not to eat everything in sight unless it is safflower seed, which they hate.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Have you cleaned the feeders and bath? The finches in my backyard don't go near the feeder if the seed has gotten rain soaked. the squirrels are a mystery...I have never known them not to eat everything in sight unless it is safflower seed, which they hate.

Hmmm I dump out old seed and fill with fresh, but have never actually washed my feeders outside of hummingbird ones of course. Do you actually scrub out your feeders that hold seed too? The bird bath is nice and clean, I just got that back up a couple of weeks ago. It’s cement, and usually stays quite clean on it’s own, I just spray it out and refill as needed.

I was wondering if it’s my quality of seed versus other people around me or something. I just get a songbird variety, and usually large bags of the cheapest available since I used to have to refill my feeders every 1-2 days. The birds at my old house never seemed to have any issue gobbling it up, but perhaps there are more competitive options nearby and I need to step up my game a bit? Lol
 

Mary Tee

Angel Diva
I only actually wash the ones that hold thistle seed. the ones for sunflower don't seem to get funky. My birdbath does, from leaves, so I scrub that every couple of weeks. I also buy the cheapest sunflower seed I can find, so I wouldn't think that would be an issue. Could there be a predator in your yard? A neighbors cat? My mom had that issue in her neighborhood, one of her neighbors started feeding ferrel cats, but even that didn't deter the squirrels. This is a mystery.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I haven’t seen any predators, definitely no cats. The only thing I’ve seen come out of the woods specifically are deer. No large birds circling above or anything either. The feeders are on the edge of the yard and well off of the ground too, so should provide plenty of cover. I wonder if I should get a bag with more sunflower versus the mix that might have a lot of cheap fillers.. I cannot explain the squirrels, not that I want them emptying my feeder, but their lack of trying is weird to me since I’ve battled them elsewhere and they were relentless. It’s like the feeders are invisible to everything, I don’t get it. I also read that using a bubbler or waterfall type feature in a birdbath can help attract birds with the noise of the water. Might try and grab something solar powered to see if that does anything. Though I’m not sure if the bath is deep enough to feed this type if thing for long since the water evaporates pretty quickly in the summer and has to be refilled daily when it doesn’t rain.
 

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