Bird Migration and Misc Birding Thread

BoxsterCy

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Saw this and made me laugh. No seed in my pole feeder now. Anything hanging is demolished by squirrels. Finally raccoon proofed the squirrel proof feeder with a high enough thin pole but than the deer emptied it and than knocked it over so at an impasse right now.

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ianoconnor

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Saw this and made me laugh. No seed in my pole feeder now. Anything hanging is demolished by squirrels. Finally raccoon proofed the squirrel proof feeder with a high enough thin pole but than the deer emptied it and than knocked it over so at an impasse right now.

View attachment 141166
Get this - it's undefeated.
 
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Kinch

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To keep the raccoons and squirrels away i had to buy a kids metal saucer sled, drill a hole in the middle and screw it to the pole on top and bottom. It has to be a metal one or wont be a long term situation.
 
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TheCaptain

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To keep the raccoons and squirrels away i had to buy a kids metal saucer sled, drill a hole in the middle and screw it to the pole on top and bottom. It has to be a metal one or wont be a long term situation.
And spray it with silicone, WD40.ect, for added entertainment.
 
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BoxsterCy

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To keep the raccoons and squirrels away i had to buy a kids metal saucer sled, drill a hole in the middle and screw it to the pole on top and bottom. It has to be a metal one or wont be a long term situation.

Mine is finally raccoon and (mostly) squirrel proof but the deer from Theodore Wirth Park have eaten everything under six foot high in my hood. After they stripped all of the arborvitae and yews in the hood they went to raiding my feeder. Actually knocked it over ripping loose the screws attaching the steel pipe/pole to a 4x4 in the ground.

I've got in set up again but with no seed. Also had to discard the bird water heater. Deer just drank it dry. I really HATE deer. Not using the term hate in it's usual casual usage, I really do hate deer at a visceral level.


20250117_084020.jpg
 

madguy30

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Ice fished in the middle of Madison Wednesday afternoon and two sandhills flew overhead. They either never left, or didn't go far away and are back.

January 15th is the earliest I've seen them although I recall seeing groups flying south in early January in years past.
 
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Kinch

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Mine is finally raccoon and (mostly) squirrel proof but the deer from Theodore Wirth Park have eaten everything under six foot high in my hood. After they stripped all of the arborvitae and yews in the hood they went to raiding my feeder. Actually knocked it over ripping loose the screws attaching the steel pipe/pole to a 4x4 in the ground.

I've got in set up again but with no seed. Also had to discard the bird water heater. Deer just drank it dry. I really HATE deer. Not using the term hate in it's usual casual usage, I really do hate deer at a visceral level.


View attachment 141181
Rascals
 

wxman1

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Deer keep getting my seed feeder so I am trying suet but the birds don't seem to care for it.
 
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BoxsterCy

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Ice fished in the middle of Madison Wednesday afternoon and two sandhills flew overhead. They either never left, or didn't go far away and are back.

January 15th is the earliest I've seen them although I recall seeing groups flying south in early January in years past.

Reminds me I need to try and hike into this little marshy pond area in Bloomington to see if the Wilson's Snipes I saw there really late in the fall are over wintering.
 

MTCyclone43

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I am up in Northwest Montana 48° N. I have a huge "Murder" of Crow. I see a nice flock of Eurasian Collard-Doves. I have multiple 6-8 Bluejays. I have sporadic visits from the Magpie. I have about a dozen Northern Flickers. Every now and then I get some Mountain Chickadees. My favorite is when the pheasants visit- man are they jumpy. A Northern Flicker, European Starling, and The Rooster Pheasant. 20241115_080105.jpg
 

MTCyclone43

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How many participants on this thread are utilizing Cornell Labs "Merlin."

Edit: after reading through the entire thread- many are utilizing Merlin.

 
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MTCyclone43

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Slightly off topic maybe but I scared up a bald eagle from the tree line mowing today. Didn't know he was there until swooped down in front of me and flew across the yard, got as low as 10 ft and then lifted up and lit in our big pine tree. Sat there a while, I got within about 50ft got some pics.

View attachment 128520 ple good pics. Will
I had a Bald Eagle take out one of the Eurasian Collard-Doves last week. I heard a loud thud on the roof- followed by a second thud just moments later. I went outside to inspect and there were dove feathers everywhere. Of course, there was not a dove carcass in sight.
 
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MTCyclone43

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Water. We have 6 or 7 bird baths scattered around the property. I get the old concrete ones cheap at auctions. The birds appreciate them during dry stretches. Crow like to moisten their food in them sometimes. Bit of work to keep them filled. Also keep an old galvanized water trough that fills off the shed roof. The squirrels use it. We keep a log reaching out of it as a ladder so the squirrels don't drown.
P1290068-Enhanced-NR.jpg
I like to sink a 6-8" pole in the ground and then drill four holes in the galvanized can lid and use some washers harvested from metal screws. They have a rubber washer on them and I sandwich them inside and outside the lid. I run a deck screw through the lid and washers into the wood, which gives the lid the ability to hold water. The birds love it and they double as a big feeder in the winter.
 

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