Topic: My little bums

[faux fiddy]

Not sure if any of you guys are ornithologicaly inclined but surely some of you fill up your bird feeders.

I tried my best to keep water out for them this summer while I was here, but it must have been a tough summer drought for all creatures here. There is a creek close enough, so they could find their way, but to the point.

Summer time was / is time for them to find bugs, and I finally started filing the seed feeders again last week.  I think the birds beat the squirrels to it (squirrels are another subject).  It got used up and these ferril creatures were dashing about the yard whenever I took a glance.  I am in the center of a migratory route that is forever being squeezed between the Rocky Mountains and constant development.

Tonight I threw some overcooked rice into my seed tote, flavored with pork and chicken grease, rolled it around and put it in an old net from a turkey I had saved for some reason.I think they will devour it as they are on migration and it is like a gasoline station to them.


I know they will devour it,  greasy overcooked  rice with the consistancy of poi, alone they might pass on but with seeds . This is the time of year the migratories drop in, and I am sure they look for the same feeders they looked for last winter and with any kind of oil seed they will peck at it. BTW what do you feed the little bums? 

Amazing creatures, less brightly colored this time of year, remnants of the dinosaurs. Unless of course as some believe, they are only something whipped up 6,000 years ago by a creation that invoved us too, they go back 60 milion years or more. I dunno about you but the idea of flying long distances, perhaps pole to pole every year  with your own appendages  is an exciting idea, perhaps moreso than any motorcycle. Much  quieter and even better vantage point  being in the air.

[BeSeeingYou]

Up at the lake cabin there was a Mallard who came back 3 years in a row each summer.  He had a gimpy leg so we knew it was him.  This summer he did not return.  I was a bit bummed about it.

Here at home we will be putting out the feeders soon.  We have a large three tube feeder and they empty it in two days so we go through huge amounts of seed.  Lot of woodpeckers too so we out suet for them and along with a heated bird bath.

[faux fiddy]

Up at the lake cabin there was a Mallard who came back 3 years in a row each summer.  He had a gimpy leg so we knew it was him.  This summer he did not return.  I was a bit bummed about it.

Here at home we will be putting out the feeders soon.  We have a large three tube feeder and they empty it in two days so we go through huge amounts of seed.  Lot of woodpeckers too so we out suet for them and along with a heated bird bath.

I've done at least a dozen Audubond bird counts. One trekking therough snow in Alaska and I think we reported the only swan in the Juneau/Gustavus area It was hapily swimming around in a ditch created by that was created by the US army back in the day. It also has pink salmon running up it as of 10 years ago.

Crossbills don't make it down to Oklahoma, but Lapland Longspurs do.  It takes a lot of close scrutiny in the fall colors, but some of the warblers aren't yellow rumped.

That stuff doesn't come to the feeders, but the usuals do, or like buntings they pick at the ground for what the squirrels don't get,

Perhaps a new topic- squirrels trashing the feeders, or the wiring under the hood of your car. My friend just ordered a fancy new  pellet gun and I'm sure I will borrow it or hire him as a hitman for beers. Poison water seems unsportsman like.

[BeSeeingYou]

I made an upsidedown cone from sheet metal that fits on the feeder pole.  Keeps the squirrels out but you have to keep it about 8 feet away from trees, house, or fence. Buggers will launch themselves over a six foot distance with little trouble.  I feed them corn and we have many black walnut trees in the area so they aren't too desperate.

[333]

A Yankee Flopper is the best way to beat the squirrels.

http://youtu.be/bv9wTYMw5iA