Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca

Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca (http://www.pets.ca/forum/index.php)
-   Birds (http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=45)
-   -   I have two Todds! (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76800)

Dee-O-Gee May 4th, 2011 09:05 PM

I have two Todds!
 
Last year, we observed one lonely hummingbird. :( My daughter named him Todd. :)

I set my goal this year to see more than Todd so I was on a roll last evening, cleaning out my winter and Oriole feeders and thought, "what the heck," might as well bring out the hummingbird feeder while I'm at it. Made a fresh batch of nectar and hung it outside.

Came home from work today and started making dinner. Then shortly after 7:00 p.m., I saw my first hummingbird! :lightbulb:

It was a male Ruby throat hovering over the feeder. :cloud9: He came back a few more times than all of a sudden, a female white breast came shortly after! :cloud9: :cloud9:

I have never had more than one so I'm really excited that I've seen two in one sighting. :thumbs up Thought it was too early to hang the feeder but obviously, I stand corrected. :shrug:

I bought a packet of wild flower seeds that claims to attrack hummingbirds so I'm going to spread the seed in another area of my yard so I can hang a couple more feeders.

They're so beautiful. :cloud9:

hazelrunpack May 4th, 2011 09:44 PM

I'm so envious!!! Green with it!!! See? ---> :D

That's so cool!

Unfortunately, we're extremely cold here...and our hummers are due back in [I]two days!!! :yell:[/I] We have no trees even budding, much less leafing out...and nothing in bloom. The robins and yellow-rumped warblers are subsisting on crumbled suet. And the oriole is pigging out on the orange, nectar feeder and grape jelly I've been putting out for it. I was hoping the hummers were going to show better sense and stay south for a while...no such luck, eh? :o

Dee-O-Gee May 4th, 2011 09:47 PM

We haven't seen any orioles yet. :(

I was totally surprised to see not only one, but two hummers tonight. They came between 7:15 -n 8:00 p.m. then it got dark and I couldn't see them anymore. :(

Hope this is a sign that more will follow. :fingerscr

hazelrunpack May 4th, 2011 09:58 PM

I bring in the feeders at 8 and there were two yellow-rumped warblers, a downy woodpecker and a robin all there in the dusk, chowing down on suet crumbles. I waited for them to finish but it was dark enough that I was getting a little nervous about the possibility of "bear" :eek: :p

Has it been unseasonably cool there, too? We've been consistently 20° F below normal!!! :eek: I'm really rather surprised that as many migrants are passing through--I thought for sure they'd be holding off till it warmed up.

Dee-O-Gee May 4th, 2011 10:07 PM

Fortunately Hazel, we don't have any issues with bears were I live. :D

All my feeder fillings and topping ups are done during the evening hours for the early birds. [SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkGreen"]Seeing how I'm not one![/COLOR][/SIZE] :o

It has been well below normal here too. Our evening have dipped to mid 30's F but the temps are holding about 10 degrees below average.

Golf clubs are [I][B]still[/B][/I] in the basement. :wall:

dmc123 May 5th, 2011 05:00 PM

Ours are due back anytime - crazy weather here keeps getting warm then coooler - but still watching for them. the feeder is all ready.

Diane

Dee-O-Gee May 5th, 2011 08:44 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Grabbed the new and improved DSLR and snapped a picture of her today. I do believe this is the female? :shrug:

I was so excited to take the picture that my AV setting buggered up so it's a little blury. :( [SIZE="1"][COLOR="Red"]Note to self; gotta figure out zoom settings. :frustrated:[/COLOR][/SIZE]

The male came later on (closer to 8:00 p.m.) so it was too dark from inside the house to snap a picture of him.

hazelrunpack May 5th, 2011 10:37 PM

This one appears to be a male, too--notice the dark throat? The fems have white throats.

If there are hummingbirds it [I]must[/I] be spring! :D

chico2 May 6th, 2011 08:05 AM

klm,I did the same thing yesterday,put out for the Hummers that is,I've been told if you put the nectar out early,they'll stick around for the summer..could be wrong though:shrug:
We have all our migrating birds back,even Cowbirds:thumbs up

I am glad I don't have to worry about Bears:laughing:

Melinda May 6th, 2011 08:18 AM

all our summer birds except the hummingbirds are back...maybe I should put the feeders out this weekend.

chico2 May 6th, 2011 08:30 AM

Melinda,I read somewhere,returning Hummers are looking for foodsources and I hope that's right:pray:

hazelrunpack May 6th, 2011 08:38 AM

Our hummers are due back today :goodvibes:--and we have a sunny and almost warm-ish day for them if they [I]do[/I] arrive on time. :D I've had my feeders out for some days now--the orioles were so famished when they arrived earlier that I put oranges, nectar and grape jelly out for them. They've been tanking up ever since. Normally they'd be eating bugs and drinking natural nectar but nothing is budding, much less blooming, and the bugs are in arrested development from the cold temps. :o

Melinda May 6th, 2011 09:24 AM

out of about 50 lilac tree's only our one lone bush is starting to bud....besides leaves that is, everything is so so late.

Dee-O-Gee May 6th, 2011 11:21 PM

Orioles are back!
 
1 Attachment(s)
While everything else is so late, Hummers and Orioles are back in full swing. :lightbulb:

Standing in the kitchen doing dishes and heard and very strong and loud song outside. A different chirp from days past.

Looked outside and saw 2 Orioles hanging off the hummer feeder. As I stood and watched, I kept saying, "Go to the jelly, buddies."

Low and behold, one of them discovered the new and improved jelly feeder! :lightbulb:

:sorry: another grainy picture. :frustrated:

[ATTACH]73735[/ATTACH]

Looking forward to tomorrow and the day after and the day after and next week and next month...... :cloud9:

luckypenny May 7th, 2011 11:54 AM

I don't think I've ever seen an Oriole...love the bright orange coloring :lovestruck:. Your excitement is contagious, klm :) . I know you and Hazel must have discussed it elsewhere but, would you mind going over how to prepare the jelly for me?

chico2 May 7th, 2011 12:52 PM

Is it just regular Jello jelly??
I'd like to try that,we had Orioles and GrossBeaks when I had a Cherry-Tree,but they seemed to just pass buy,on their way somewhere else:(

hazelrunpack May 7th, 2011 01:29 PM

It's just plain old grape jelly. Ours seem to prefer the cheapest variety we can find at the grocery store. Just make sure it's [B]not[/B] sugar-free--they need the sugar calories.

Our orioles split their time between the nectar feeder and the grape jelly. :D

Dee-O-Gee May 7th, 2011 04:52 PM

I buy large jars of Walmart Great Value Grape Jelly. I made my own feeders and bought double pack of plastic containers from the dollar store. This way, I keep a clean one on top of the fridge and alternate the dirty one with clean one. Makes for one less trip. :thumbs up

This website is great for any kind of bird migration. The link in particular is directed to Orioles but you can search sightings for any kind of bird and event plants! :thumbs up

[url]http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/OrioleNotes3.html[/url]

luckypenny May 7th, 2011 04:57 PM

Neat, I might try that. I was worried there was some cooking involved :laughing:. I'm going to bookmark that website too, sounds interesting. Thank you :).

Dee-O-Gee May 8th, 2011 05:19 PM

2 Attachment(s)
Hummers and Orioles were very active today. :cloud9:

These little Goldfinches ventured in to join the parade today too! :lovestruck:

[ATTACH]73760[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]73761[/ATTACH]

Just after these pictures, I packed the camera away then a Cardinal came into play. Maybe sometimen over the summer, I'll be able to snap a picture of Goldfinches, Cardinals, Orioles and hummers all under 1 picture? :shrug:

That would be kewl. :crazy:

hazelrunpack May 8th, 2011 06:25 PM

You've got a rose-breasted grosbeak and a black-capped chickadee, too, I see! :highfive:

And our hummers showed up today. :flirt:

Dee-O-Gee May 9th, 2011 08:11 PM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1008317]And our hummers showed up today. :flirt:[/QUOTE]

:clap::clap::clap:

How was the show today Hazel?

I still only have the two that I know of but I'll take 2 over none--anyday! :cloud9:

hazelrunpack May 9th, 2011 10:30 PM

omd, it stormed all day and it brought droves of birds to the feeders! At one point we had over 30 rose-breasted grosbeaks, 50 goldfinches, 3 eastern towhees, 5 Baltimore orioles, 16 purple finches, 20+ white-throated sparrows, 2 male red-winged blackbirds, an indigo bunting, chipping sparrows and the occasional hummingbird all at the feeders at the same time! :eek: I also saw Cape May, black-and-white, chestnut-sided, Magnolia, and American redstart warblers today! :highfive: Plus a female scarlet tanager (heard the male singing yesterday but haven't seen him yet).

Except for the phones and my internet going down in the storms, it was heavenly :cloud9:

clm May 9th, 2011 10:45 PM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1008498]omd, it stormed all day and it brought droves of birds to the feeders! At one point we had over 30 rose-breasted grosbeaks, 50 goldfinches, 3 eastern towhees, 5 Baltimore orioles, 16 purple finches, 20+ white-throated sparrows, 2 male red-winged blackbirds, an indigo bunting, chipping sparrows and the occasional hummingbird all at the feeders at the same time! :eek: I also saw Cape May, black-and-white, chestnut-sided, Magnolia, and American redstart warblers today! :highfive: Plus a female scarlet tanager (heard the male singing yesterday but haven't seen him yet).

Except for the phones and my internet going down in the storms, it was heavenly :cloud9:[/QUOTE]

Wow, that's an impressive array of birds. I would have been watching the feeders for hours with a crew like that. Who needs a phone or internet when you have that to watch. :D

clm

hazelrunpack May 9th, 2011 10:48 PM

Having the phones out gave me time to take some pics and watch the action so it was a well-timed storm. :thumbs up Now I just have to process all the pics.... :rolleyes: If I'm lucky, there will be another storm tomorrow so I can do that! :laughing:

Dee-O-Gee May 10th, 2011 05:28 PM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1008498]At one point we had over 30 rose-breasted grosbeaks, 50 goldfinches, 3 eastern towhees, 5 Baltimore orioles, 16 purple finches, 20+ white-throated sparrows, 2 male red-winged blackbirds, an indigo bunting, chipping sparrows and the occasional hummingbird all at the feeders at the same time! :eek: I also saw Cape May, black-and-white, chestnut-sided, Magnolia, and American redstart warblers today! :highfive: Plus a female scarlet tanager (heard the male singing yesterday but haven't seen him yet).

Except for the phones and my internet going down in the storms, it was heavenly :cloud9:[/QUOTE]

What???? You mean to tell me you didn't see a Partridge in a Pear Tree!? :D :laughing:

That would have been a spectacle to see. Such a variety. :cloud9:

hazelrunpack May 10th, 2011 11:25 PM

Nope, the partridges hang out under the hazelnut bushes. :D And I totally forgot to mention all the woodpeckers we've had--our usual three (hairy, downy, and red-bellied) with appearances put in by yellow-bellied sapsuckers and a red-headed woodpecker!! :highfive:)

Today the catbirds were back. :thumbs up

Dee-O-Gee May 11th, 2011 09:10 PM

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1008732]I totally forgot to mention all the woodpeckers we've had--our usual three (hairy, downy, and red-bellied) with appearances put in by yellow-bellied sapsuckers and a red-headed woodpecker!! :highfive:)

[COLOR="Red"][I]Kewl! I don't think I've ever seen any woodpeckers in and around my neighborhood. :([/I][/COLOR]

Today the catbirds were back. :thumbs up[/QUOTE]

What are catbirds? :shrug: I just googled them and while some images of catbirds appear to have a silky gray feathering, there are also many images of a cat face fused onto a birds body. :confused:

hazelrunpack May 12th, 2011 12:09 AM

Gak! I was processing pics for posting and ran out of fizz just as I hit the catbird pics... I'm hoping I can finish going through the last few pics tomorrow and then maybe I'll have one to post. :thumbs up Meanwhile, though, google 'gray catbird' and you'll get pics. They do have gray feathers, with a charcoal gray cap and orange in the undertail. They've got an interesting song with phrases like a mockingbird's or a brown thrasher's in tone and composition--but where the mockingbird repeats a phrase multiple times before moving on, and a thrasher repeats everything twice, a catbird sings each phrase once and moves on to the next...


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:30 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.