Never have seen an English sparrows or starlings at our feeder luckily. Urban birds as I call them. Don't particularly care for them anyhow.
Funny you mention that - the last two feeding seasons the bluejays here have taken to mimicing sharpshin/Cooper's hawk calls, to the same end. I thought I was going crazy until I finally figured out it was the jays doing all that "hawking". The sad part is that now the songbirds pay less attention to the calls, and occasionally the actual hawks will now soar through and get a songbird dinner because the little birds are used to the jays.
Ive seen them plenty of times, My friend is over run with English sparrows. They like to nest in the eaves of his old barn. Both are opportunists and will nest in any crevice of a house. Had to patch one up and evict starlings for a customer last year. Messy as anything.
I am another one that likes bluejays. We have the big Steller's jays here in Washington State. I like them because they are so audacious. They are arch enemies of crows so jays and I have this in common. Crows and Jays are constantly at war. Crows seem sly and sleazy by comparison although I like Ravens. Jays can be very wary at the feeder but when they get used to you they are quite personable. The ones we see occasionally at our feeders and suet seem to have different vocalizations for me and for my Wif. If I step outside when one is at the suet, It may fly into the foliage of the tree when it's mate cry's the alarm. When they see it is me, there is another call and back to the suet. Same for my Wif but a different "all clear" cry. When I toss peanuts they have a habit of stuffing their craw with as many unshelled peanuts as they can fit then grab 2 in their beak then come within several feet of me making funny gurgling noises as if to say "thanks" before flying away. Lots of antics when they are around!
Busy/odd moment at the feeder this evening. Never seen so many woodpeckers on the feeder at once. First picture to last picture was 2 min. Kinda excited to see 3 redheads at once. No wonder I've seen one at the feeder so often.
Im working at the wood yard this afternoon and always enjoy the birds singing in the area when I'm not using the hydro. I observed a wren foraging along the ground near truck. It hopped on the bumper then disappears into the bed as it went under the gap of the closed tailboard. There was carpenter ants in the bed from the rounds I processed today. Figured it was earing them Flew out a couple minutes later. I see them from time to time and wonder if they know food is around when I'm working on wood or using the hydro? I arrived home and while pulling in the driveway I spooked a pileated that must have been pecking at a rotted stump. It flew to the edge of the yard but I couldn't get a pic in time. First time I've seen one that close in a while.
Ms. buZZsaw heard a strange noise coming from the back of the house this afternoon. Turns out one of our resident squirrels was gnawing at the pail I keep the sunflower seed in. I've absent mindedly left it uncovered a couple times when I've refilled the feeder.
Sure does. The couple times I discovered it open there was a boatload of empty shells in and around it. During the Winter it was almost a daily thing to fill the feeder. Now its 2-3 days. I did some research on the red headed wood pecker in Connecticut. Turns out its endangered. Here's a tidbit I copy/pasted. Last confirmed sighting was 2024. The Red-headed Woodpecker is an endangered and rare breeding bird in Connecticut, often mistaken for the more common Red-bellied Woodpecker. They are rarely seen, with occasional sightings in areas like Middlesex County, appearing in open, mature forests, orchards, and beaver swamps.
That's crazy. It definitely takes a certain habitat to sustain woodpeckers, especially ones of any size. Needs to be lots of rotting/decaying stuff bugs can live in. A "dirty forest." I've never been to Connecticut but I imagine it's pretty developed?
It is the fourth densely populated state and surprisingly to outsiders it is heavily wooded. Were lucky where we live is surrounded by woods so lots of habitat for birds, especially wood peckers.
A rose-breasted grosbeak stopped to say hello. As well as the Mrs, maybe. That's an upside down suet feeder. It gets deployed when grackles, starlings, and cat birds decimate the suet. A week or two and I'll swap it out.
Glad you got to see them. Hopefully they become regulars there. Funny you mention catbirds as they are around here, but I've never seen one at the suet or seed feeder. I believe they eat mostly insects and fruit. At my cut the other day I observed and heard them the whole time I was there. One time while taking a break and sitting on my tailgate one landed less than ten feet from me and stayed for a bit. No chance to get a pic. They are rather bold and curious. Undergrowth their ideal habitat. See and hear them at the woodyard too.
I had a bundle delivery this afternoon. Im waiting for a truck to finish pumping gas so I could pull in to unload. I watched this crow fly in and land on the trash can only a few feet from people getting gas. It seemed unafraid of them. I watched it forage through the can pulling out containers. It flew away but returned after i pulled in. It was less than ten feet from me. I tossed a dog biscuit its way. It hopped down, grabbed it and flew away. Returned again to forage. Looked like either Chinese or Mexican in the foam container.
