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Thread: MIGRATION

  1. #1

    MIGRATION

    Migration is underway. The Fall and Spring are great for Bird watching as you never know who might stop in. I live on a flyway (Savanah River) and Blue Ridge Mountains.
    My yard is loosing birds. I may have more types of birds in Summer, but the numbers of birds are much larger in Winter. It is not even close.

    In many ways Spring Migration is better for us as the trees are mostly void of leaves and birds are exposed.
    I am the only guy in a tie

  2. #2
    Time to get out the Hummingbird feeders.
    They have been sighted on the Sc coast.

  3. #3
    Fall is "Warbler" season here as they migrate through.
    I have seen a couple, but did not get the binos on them, so will not hazard a guess. Migrating Warblers mostly do not come to feeders, and you have to catch them in the trees which are still full of leaves.

    I have also had a few Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

    Very exciting - to me. :smiley_simmons:

  4. #4
    First Golden-crowned Kinglet showed up yesterday. There are two types that Winter in my yard, this and the Ruby-crowned. They are very tiny birds and flit among the branches gleaning insect. I don't have liuck getting them to feeders, but they do go to the water. They never stop moving and are kinda hard to photo. Yesterday I took about 20 snaps and came out good as it was getting dark.

    Here is an older photo I took.
    Attachment 896
    I am the only guy in a tie

  5. #5
    Goin through my camera, see I did catch the tiny Kinglet.
    It is not a very good photo, but good enough to ID the bird.

    Attachment 897

    The one in the first photo is actually a Ruby. To tell the difference in the Gold and the Ruby, you need binos or a special photo (I have some somewhere).
    They have a vivid but tiny mark at the back of the head. It is either Gold or Red.
    It is a good bird and hard to spot from the ground. Lucky me sits in the tree tops .

  6. #6

    OMG

    I am sitting on the porch and I think I just saw a Pine Siskin drinkng at my new Branch.

    These birds look sorta like a Gold Finch, sorta like a House Finch. The OMG is because they eat the same foods. I have House Finches, Purple Finches and Gold Finches year 'round. Most of the year they are happy getting most of their food from the woods. As it gets colder, they are on the Sun Flower feeders all day. They can eat a lot.

    The Pine Siskin is a crazy migrater. It is almost as if it gets lost. It is one of the few that migrates to a different location each Winter. Since 2001 when I moved here, had them show up maybe 3 Winters. I like them but just as soon they would not return this year as I can't afford more birds.


    I was right, just snapped photos at a feeder. I hope they are moving on and not here till Spring.

    Attachment 898

  7. #7
    Yellow-rumped Warbler showed up today. This is a more common Warbler. A few will stay with me all Winter. If they discover the suet feeder, they can be a lot of fun as they will try to guard it.

    Here is a photo I took with a Sony Mavica years ago. The Bride gave it to me for Christmas. I remember we spent that Christmas at the Beach. She got me the wrong one, and I traded it in a Myrtle Beach camera store for the model I wanted. It was one of the first good digital cameras. It was big, cost $1k and put the photos on a 2.5mb floppy disk. Cameras sure have improved. Back them you could put a 100 images on the floppy. One photo from today,s cameras will not fit on a floppy.
    Attachment 907

  8. #8
    The first Junco and White-throat Sparrow showed up yesterday.
    These are regular guys who eat seed. They are both very striking birds if you have Binos.

    They like to dig around in the leaves which is not good as I have two cats. After a hundred years of bird watching, who would have guessed I would have cats?

    Most Yankee ground birds eat the Millet you can't give away in Summer. They prefer a hopper style feeder as opposed to a tube style.

    The other two big migrating seed eaters are the Song Sparrow and Chipping Sparrow which have not yet arrived.
    No problem as I have stocked in 150#s of Millet.

  9. #9
    Rose-breasted Grosbeak is in my Elm tree right now eating the buds. Last saw one 25Sept12 when they headed South. Now they are headed back North. I should get several the next days.

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  10. #10
    PVT
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Clifton, Maine, USA
    Posts
    10
    Have you had any of these pass through? (Evening Grosbeak) I took these yesterday morning. They are picking through the winter spill of black oiled sunflower seeds. This jobs normally falls on the Morning Doves, but not today. They are also passing through. The Red Breasted Grosbeak are here all year. Though I have not seen them yet. Name:  DSCN0913-002.JPG
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  11. #11
    Great looking bird. I have never seen one here.
    Apparently it is possible, so I will keep an eye out.
    Here is the range:
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  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by AgentOrange View Post
    Migration is underway. The Fall and Spring are great for Bird watching as you never know who might stop in. I live on a flyway (Savanah River) and Blue Ridge Mountains.
    My yard is loosing birds. I may have more types of birds in Summer, but the numbers of birds are much larger in Winter. It is not even close.

    In many ways Spring Migration is better for us as the trees are mostly void of leaves and birds are exposed.
    That is a quote from last year.

    Millions of my birds have left my yard. I wish them a good trip. I am waiting on Summer replacements.

  13. #13
    It has been raining all day. To brighten things up, the first Indigo Bunting arrived.
    Not many birds are blue here. All year we have the Blue Jay and Blue Bird. In Summer we get the Indigo Bunting and the Blue Grosbeak.

    Here in my yard, the Indigo shows in Spring and then is not a constant at the feeders, but shows up all Summer from time to time to eat white millet.

    Here is an old photo. I don't have any yet with my good camera. I don't bring it out in rain.

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  14. #14
    PFC
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Oneonta,NY
    Posts
    39
    Any recommendations on a Hummingbird feeder (links?). I put one up last year and still have not seen a Hummingbird in the yard.
    Steve

  15. #15
    All Hummingbirds in your area will be Ruby Throat. Males and females are easy to tell apart due to the red throat on the male.
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    They are not friendly to each other and that keeps them sorta spread out. They breed here in the US. Males do not help feed the young. When the young leave the nest they join in at the feeders and so there are many more in Fall than now. HB fight like crazy and guard a territory, especially in Spring. In my opinion, this helps toughen up the young for the long Fall migration. It is common for one to guard a feeder chasing off others. Sitting in my chair I often hear them before seeing them as the wings beat 55 times a second! They are amazing.

    Here is a female in my yard:
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    Their diet is nectar and small insects for protein. They don't just live on our sugar water, but they do love it. They must consume lots of calories due to their activity level. They eat gnats, mosquitoes and aphids, so they are good to have in the yard.

    You can attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to your backyard by setting up hummingbird feeders or by planting tubular flowers. Make sugar water mixtures with about one-quarter cup of sugar per cup of water (4X1). Change the water before it grows cloudy or discolored and remember that during hot weather sugar water ferments rapidly to produce toxic alcohol.

    Most all flowers attract Humming birds. That is the best way to attract them to your yard.
    They tend to go to plants in sunny locations as those produce more nectar than shade plants.
    Some say red attracts them more, but I don't know about that. To be on the safe side, I have several red baffles over my feeders.
    Some hang red ribbons. Here are some flowers to consider planting:
    http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html

    I have a lot of feeders, some bought and some given to me. The design most preferred here in my yard is the cheaper one by Perky Pet. I have other types out, but these get the most action - by far.

    http://www.amazon.com/Perky-Pet-203C...ords=perky+pet

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    I paint the bee guards red with spray paint as yellow jackets are attracted to yellow. The guards are not too deep. Humming Birds do not suck the liquid. A long tongue comes out of the long beak and laps it up. You can get extra ones here:
    http://www.amazon.com/Perky-Pet-Repl...f=pd_sbs_lg_14

    A few years back I lucked into a bulk buy of baffles on ebay, several were these: http://www.duncraft.com/Hummingbird-Weather-Baffle
    They are high, but durable. I like them a lot.

    The above feeder comes with a place to land. Hummingbirds can eat on the wing, but given a place to sit and stay awhile, they will. So only buy those with a landing spot.
    A good thing about this feeder is it only holds 8oz. Those big ones people leave out side for weeks ferment and turn into death traps. When you mix a batch of sugar water, make extra and store it in old water bottles. That makes refills easy to do. Don't wait till a feeder is empty.
    For mine, I have found some quart bottles that fit into the same base. When Fall arrives and the feeding really picks up, I use those as I go through over a gallon in a few days here as they fatten up for the long journey.
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    As you can see, I tend to remove a couple flowers to keep the outside cleaner. Heat expands the air in the feeder and some can seep out attracting bees. I put hot glue in the two ports with flowers to seal them. Two ports are plenty for Rubies as they don't allow a flock at the feeder. That also allows you to aim the perches for best viewing.

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