At the bird-feeders today, with the notable absence of pelicans

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, February 17. 2010

At the bird-feeders today, with the notable absence of pelicans

Just the usual old winter friends lately: SC Junco, WT Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Blue Jay, RB Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, Cardinal, Chickadee, some dang House Sparrows, Tufted Titmouse, Mourning Dove.

I need my Sharpie back to eat those overfed House Sparrows.

(It's interesting to see how just some of the Juncoes - ground-feeders - figure out how to use a hanging feeder, but most do not. Have yet to see a WT Sparrow on the hanger. I throw handfuls of seed on the ground each morning for the ground-feeders, figuring it will all be gone by late afternoon so as not to encourage rats.)

Also, a flock of Robins stopped by yesterday to finish off the Holly berries. Not a single berry left, now. I had a few early blackbirds last week - Grackles - but they are probably back in Georgia by now. I do usually see some Blackbird species around by Feb 15, trying to push the envelope.

The lack of Pelicans at my feeders would appear to disprove global warming catastrophe models. I'd write it up for a peer-reviewed journal, if the gummint or the EU would give me a generous grant: Effects of Global Warming on Pelican Occurrance at New England Bird-Feeders. $1.3 million would cover my research just fine, or at least help me get it underway. I will guarantee a research product which will help "the cause," and the $ will help me hire a handy research assistant/pelican-counter like one of Theo's so we don't lose all of our critical data:

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation, Our Essays at 09:01 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I approve of your research, BD, but I worry that Mrs. BD might not understand all the qualities that make a good research assistant.

#1 Jim G. on 2010-02-17 09:50 (Reply)

I liked Theo's caption: "Nice freckles". Heh.

And my wife does the scatter seed thing for the flying rats.... errrrr.... doves that fly by. I counted 3 dozen of the suckers on the patio the other morning. They make a tasty snack for the red tailed hawk that cruises by once in awhile. I figured it was the neighbor's cat leaving bird parts on my front lawn until the feathers started flying OVER the roof of the house.... from the hawk's last meal consumed on my roof (or blown out of the tree in my front yard).

So I tolerate the spring weeds from the bird seed just to have the wildlife calling on my patio. A couple of rounds of weed-n-feed keep down the thistle and dandelions plus gives an early spring feed to the peach trees.

#2 JoeC on 2010-02-17 10:30 (Reply)

I've got pretty much the same assortment, my juncos have figured out the hanging feeder. No pelicans but the guy up the street has some pink flamingos in his yard.

#3 Santay on 2010-02-17 11:14 (Reply)

Hey - I need my shirt back.

#4 NJSoldier on 2010-02-17 14:39 (Reply)

Re those house sparrows.We used to have problems with them to. The solution is in your feed. Because of the design of their beaks they can not feed on the black sunflower oil seeds that are by the way the best extreme cold weather seeds going. Lots & lots of food value for the native birds.

#5 Bob Devine on 2010-02-18 00:22 (Reply)

My house sparrows have figured out how to eat sunflower seeds, cause that's all I put in one of my feeders. They only show up at that feeder when my all purpose feeder is empty.

#6 straight8 on 2010-02-18 08:59 (Reply)

Interesting set up. you've got to be careful about spreading seed consistently on the ground bc if the rats don't find it, the mice will figure it out. I've been thinking a lot about switching completely to hummingbird feeders to avoid rodents and squirrels alike. The new Perky Pet models seem to be getting lots of good chatter on different blogs I've been reading so I may go with a few of the those. Good luck with the pelicans!

#7 Sue on 2010-03-03 20:08 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, February 17. 2010

At the bird-feeders today, with the notable absence of pelicans