dendrite Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 53 minutes ago, tunafish said: fascinating. Is your theory that the mom will bail if she notices the cowbird? I would call your local Audubon. Well the cowbirds are a “parasitic” bird. The mother lays eggs in the nests of other birds and doesn’t raise them on her own until they leave the nest. The cowbird eggs tend to hatch first and grow larger more rapidly and the babies can actually toss the youngins from the other bird out of the nest. So the cowbird has a distinct advantage over the other phoebes. The cowbirds are native so this is a natural thing that has been happening for some time. But I’d rather lose 1 cowbird than risk losing 4 phoebes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunafish Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 14 minutes ago, dendrite said: Well the cowbirds are a “parasitic” bird. The mother lays eggs in the nests of other birds and doesn’t raise them on her own until they leave the nest. The cowbird eggs tend to hatch first and grow larger more rapidly and the babies can actually toss the youngins from the other bird out of the nest. So the cowbird has a distinct advantage over the other phoebes. The cowbirds are native so this is a natural thing that has been happening for some time. But I’d rather lose 1 cowbird than risk losing 4 phoebes. Wow.. did not know that. I'd probably find a "safe" spot for the cowbird egg and see what happens. at lease the phoebe's will be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QCD17 Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Catbirds have adapted to recognize the cowbird eggs and will get rid of them from their nest. I'm not sure if other species also recognize them. But it's best to leave the cowbird egg because removing it might trigger the phoebe to abandon the nest altogether. Birds are weird like that. We have approximately 3 to 5 mating pairs of cowbirds roaming the yard this time of year, and they seem to always be hunting for bugs, which has benefits. The only birds I actively "discourage" from nesting are the English sparrows. When I see them claim one of the nesting boxes I will wait a few weeks and then cover the hole so that they move on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 3 hours ago, QCD17 said: Catbirds have adapted to recognize the cowbird eggs and will get rid of them from their nest. I'm not sure if other species also recognize them. But it's best to leave the cowbird egg because removing it might trigger the phoebe to abandon the nest altogether. Birds are weird like that. We have approximately 3 to 5 mating pairs of cowbirds roaming the yard this time of year, and they seem to always be hunting for bugs, which has benefits. The only birds I actively "discourage" from nesting are the English sparrows. When I see them claim one of the nesting boxes I will wait a few weeks and then cover the hole so that they move on. Blue Jays and Robins frequently toss Cowbird eggs out of their nests too. Cowbirds seems to love Warbler nests....though the Yellow Warbler in specific sometimes just build another layer of nest over the Cowbird eggs....but the other warblers rarely do this. Agreed on not touching Cowbird eggs. I've heard of so many stories of birds abandoning their nest when someone tried to "Help" out and remove the Cowbird eggs. I never read of a great explanation, but one of the ones that make the most sense is that apparently the birds will monitor the mass of their eggs and if they change substantially, they just abandon the nest and start a new one. Hopefully the Phoebe doesn't do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauntonBlizzard2013 Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Here are all the birds spotted at the feeder in my backyard along the woods 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 On 5/18/2023 at 7:54 PM, TauntonBlizzard2013 said: Here are all the birds spotted at the feeder in my backyard along the woods Thanks for this I had no idea what the oven birds were called. I have seen all of these here plus downy woodpeckers and pileated woodpeckers. The absolute winner bird is a very rare albino sparrow. She has nested in a Alberta Dwarf tree in my yard. 2 years still can't get a closeup pic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 I’ve only seen pileated woodpeckers a handful of times here but they are very cool. Big bird. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 Yesterday we were crossing over the Mt Hope Bridge heading into Bristol RI and there was a sweet looking osprey chilling on one of the guardrails They have made a big comeback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radarman Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 After the caterpillars killed off several oaks woodpeckers of all variety have taken up residence here. It sounds like a construction site after 5 AM. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauntonBlizzard2013 Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 3 hours ago, Ginx snewx said: Thanks for this I had no idea what the oven birds were called. I have seen all of these here plus downy woodpeckers and pleated woodpeckers. The absolute winner bird is a very rare albino sparrow. She has nested in a Alberta Dwarf tree in my yard. 2 years still can't get a closeup pic. That’s an awesome looking bird, my wife would flip if she saw one of those around lol. Interestingly enough, we’ve never seen or heard a woodpecker around here in the 4+ years we’ve lived here. Strange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 3 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said: That’s an awesome looking bird, my wife would flip if she saw one of those around lol. Interestingly enough, we’ve never seen or heard a woodpecker around here in the 4+ years we’ve lived here. Strange Thousands of bug infested dead and almost dead trees here. Tons of food 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Lots of pileateds up here, but we put suet out too. I think my favorite bird I’ve seen at the feeder is this guy. Only saw them for a couple of days back in 2016 and then never again. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernovice Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Smoke fetishists: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunafish Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 7 hours ago, dendrite said: Lots of pileateds up here, but we put suet out too. I think my favorite bird I’ve seen at the feeder is this guy. Only saw them for a couple of days back in 2016 and then never again. That's amazing. What a treat. I caught these guys hanging out together in May 2019. They stayed at ground level for a good 5 minutes. Just happened to look out a second story window and they caught my eye. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunafish Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Just now, tunafish said: That's amazing. What a treat. I caught these guys hanging out together in May 2019. They stayed at ground level for a good 5 minutes. Just happened to look out a second story window and they caught my eye. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunafish Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Just now, tunafish said: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted May 21, 2023 Share Posted May 21, 2023 Saw a young black bear today while out with the dog. Watched him for a long time (maybe 20-30 minutes even), just grazing, rolling around in the grass, etc. Eventually the dog spotted him and barked which caused him to take off. Didn't see any other cubs near him or mom, thought it might have been first summer on his own. Love bears, pissed that the dog barked, she was good for so long just sort of watching. 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STILL N OF PIKE Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 A.I has reached bubble level territory amongst some stocks . Nvidia in particular . Here is a satirical trading vid that gave me a laugh https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1660631978423533568 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavisStraight Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 Just pulled the first tick of the year off my leg, must have just got there, it wasn't attached yet. I sprayed around the perimeter of the house yesterday with Demon and treated the lawn with the Bayer product. Also got a new Seresto collar for the dog, still I got one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted May 22, 2023 Share Posted May 22, 2023 58 minutes ago, DavisStraight said: Just pulled the first tick of the year off my leg, must have just got there, it wasn't attached yet. I sprayed around the perimeter of the house yesterday with Demon and treated the lawn with the Bayer product. Also got a new Seresto collar for the dog, still I got one. My wife had one in her hair the other day. Lots of people have been posting around here about ticks. They ride in on the dog, she hops on the couch… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavisStraight Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 14 minutes ago, powderfreak said: My wife had one in her hair the other day. Lots of people have been posting around here about ticks. They ride in on the dog, she hops on the couch… The cat jumped on the bed and my wife found three crawling on the bed, she got them before they found her as they surely would have. I'm going to have to stay on top of pesticide this year if the ticks are going to be bad, the winter did us no favors in the department. How do you treat your dog? I've been using the Seresto collar with great success last few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 1 hour ago, DavisStraight said: The cat jumped on the bed and my wife found three crawling on the bed, she got them before they found her as they surely would have. I'm going to have to stay on top of pesticide this year if the ticks are going to be bad, the winter did us no favors in the department. How do you treat your dog? I've been using the Seresto collar with great success last few years. We did the Seresto collar for years, but have since done Brevecto (edible that works for 3 months at a time). I think they all work fairly well, but my lab swims and is in the mud so much the collar would get filthy. It’s very effective though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 On 5/18/2023 at 7:54 PM, TauntonBlizzard2013 said: Here are all the birds spotted at the feeder in my backyard along the woods How did you identify them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauntonBlizzard2013 Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 23 minutes ago, CoastalWx said: How did you identify them? Mostly sound, and I believe some pictures. You record through the app and it picks up the birds around the feeder. The bald eagle wasn’t at the feeder lol. We have a couple that hang around in the land behind the house, pretty cool. Beautiful birds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 11 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said: Mostly sound, and I believe some pictures. You record through the app and it picks up the birds around the feeder. The bald eagle wasn’t at the feeder lol. We have a couple that hang around in the land behind the house, pretty cool. Beautiful birds I saw one on our street on top of a hemlock. Was really cool to see. I saw a black crowned night Heron recently, but I guess they are common near rivers this time of year due to herring. We have a lot of herring around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted May 23, 2023 Share Posted May 23, 2023 14 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said: Mostly sound When pickles is in your area sometimes you can hear a rough-faced shag. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJO812 Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 Anyone ever been to Salem during Halloween time ? My wife wants to go this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthCoastMA Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 9 minutes ago, MJO812 said: Anyone ever been to Salem during Halloween time ? My wife wants to go this year. Yes, when I was in college. I heard that they cracked down on all the shenanigans recently..it used to be a zoo from what I remember. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJO812 Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 16 minutes ago, SouthCoastMA said: Yes, when I was in college. I heard that they cracked down on all the shenanigans recently..it used to be a zoo from what I remember. Any good places to stay? I heard it's hard to get a hotel room near there during the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted May 24, 2023 Share Posted May 24, 2023 4 hours ago, MJO812 said: Any good places to stay? I heard it's hard to get a hotel room near there during the time. Plenty of places within a 15 min drive or so. I know there is a Marriot in Peabody which is like 10-15 min away. Also, I wouldn't drive there either. I guess you could if you had to, but I know they discourage it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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