Bogieblog

Determination Defined

So remember back in January when my old birdfeeder was finally retired and I got the new one?

And remember two weeks later when I showed how the squirrels were trying to pry off the heavy metal lid (it has locking mechanisms so won't just slide).

Well, they have a new tactic that is working for them. They have managed to bend the metal wires close enough to the tube, that they either chewed, or clawed the bottom off of one of the ports; How it should be (and is on most ports):

How one of the bottom ports is now (it wasn't that way when I filled it Friday evening):

That is some heavy duty plastic, embedded into PVC tubing that they have mutilated. Now the seed just spills out onto the seed catcher and the squirrels can easily scoop it out with a paw.

Who needs bears when the squirrels are this determined?

Coming Home to Roost

Art, the osprey, is on his way home (okay, he lives  here 1/2 time) and our local TV station has a graphic tracking his progress. He flew an impressive 452 miles in 19.5 hours - presumably without a rest since he was flying over the ocean. Here is another article about Art , his solar powered GPS, and the researchers tracking him.

Hoping Art has good winds, and safe passage.

One of the Pair

WS almost got a picture of the Pileated Woodpeckers last week. Actually, he got a picture of one of them, but it is so far away, and there is enough brush between the bird and WS, that you really can't see it. But, Here is the picture (cropped) so you can have fun torture yourself trying to identify where it is.

What a Pair

WS got up a bit ago, went upstairs, and yelled for me to get my but up there. He had spotted something that we have never had - a pair of pileated woddpeckers in our back yard. Unfortunately the tree cover is thick enough I can't get a picture - but it was cool to watch them while they were here!

Almost Survey Time

The time for bird counts is almost here.

The NH Audubon Society's Backyard Winter Bird Survey will be held February 9-10, 2013. 

The Cornell Great Bachyard Birdcount is going global this year, so you don't have to live in the USA or Canada to participate. The dates are February 15-19, 2013. They have also supplied great buttons if you want to place them on you blog or FaceBook page (there are a total of 5 buttons) and there are also two posters if you want to print them out and post them at work or other places.

I just saw something new;,Project Feeder Watch, which watches birds thru April 5, 2013 and they are taking new members until the beginning of February. Just be aware there is a participation fee that is used to support the administrative costs..

So, if you have a birdfeeder, or watch birds, join in on one or more watches

Squirrels Be Gone

The old bird feeder gave up the ghost last week and I replaced it with another half-broken feeder that the squirrels had worried at a couple of years ago. Here are a couple of pictures of the latest broken feeder. Note that the (heavy) plastic insides are supposed to be 3 levels high. One section is completly demolished, letting the other sections cave down inside of it.

The new feeder arrived in the middle of the week. But since I have been working 12-13 hours days (not including all the drive time), I haven't had a chance to get it out until today.

It looks really good and the top locks down so the squirrels shouldn't be able to get inside. The birds seem to be happy with it although they were a bit hesitant because they have to really lean inside the cage to get to the feed ports, but they are learning to deal with the change.

Should be interesting to see how long this one lasts!

Nuts to the Squirrels

I've had to order a new birdfeeder. Why? Because Squirrels destroyed the other one - it used to look like this (picture taken two days before Christmas):

By the Saturday after Christmas it was a little worn, the bottom plastic piece had split, but by today it was obviously in distress!

I couldn't find one with a cage locally - or at least not one that has dispenser holes large enough for the nut and seed mix I use - so I had to go online to find one. Hopefully it gets here soon as I don't think the current one will make it too much longer!

Pretty in Red

We have lots of birds visit the feeders; chickadees, tufted titmice, white and red breasted nuthatches, purple finches, juncos, blue jays, and woodpeckers. We rarely see cardinals in winter, so I got all excited when WS told me there was a cardinal out there.

Apparently the cardinal was not liking all the fuss the blue jays were making on the platform feeder (I had put out peanuts not too long ago), so decided that the seed that had been flung to the ground was just fine by him.

Pre-Christmas Weekend

Today, while making wheat-free pie crust dough, I looked out the kitchen window and saw a bunch of purple finches invade the feeders. By the time I thought to get pictures, there were only two left. Of course they insisted on staying behind a feeder, so I couldn't get any good pictures of them.

However, I did get a couple of cooperative subjects:

As you can see, we should have a white Christmas, even if we don't get the storm predicted for Monday night.

Missing Picture

I don't know what happened to the picture of the Evening Grosbeak that was supposed to appear on the last post. But here it is for all to enjoy.