RACCOONS

11-24-15
 I had a crazy idea to film raccoons eating. Weird, right? My reasoning was that I would learn what they can do with their hands so that I could figure out how to raccoon-proof my feeders.  I go through a LOT of birdseed, suet, peanuts and actual feeders and I've long suspected that raccoons are the culprits.  Here is some footage of what goes on in my front yard EVERY SINGLE NIGHT:

 

This is a video of one of the raccoons using it's paw to hold and eat a piece of food.

Here is a video of FOUR raccoons eating at my feeders. Please notice how fat they are!

New Feeder Bird!

11-16-15

 I was looking at my feeders and I saw a couple of birds with streaks on their backs. At first I thought they were female House Finches.  But then, I saw the yellow on their wings and I realized that they were a Pine Siskins. Some of you who live in the northern climates where Pine Siskins are super common are probably thinking, "Big deal, there are so many of those at my feeders right now."
Well to all you who are thinking this right now, I have to tell you that I've never had Pine Siskins at my feeder before. I immediately got my camera and video camera and took a lot of videos and pictures. I was really excited!

ID #2

I love trying to identify birds in pictures.  Here's the second of my bird identification challenges.  I'll give you a hint: I saw this bird in Palm Springs,Ca. It was eating from a mistletoe shrub.

Id #1 Results

Congratulations

The two people to correctly identify the bird where Lisa and Audrie.
I hop that you both participate in the next ID challenge.

 

Spicy squirrels

      11-9-15

One of my biggest bird feeding problems is squirrels. If you feed birds, at one time or another you will look out your window and see a big fat squirrel sitting there, eating out of your squirrel-proof suet feeder.  I have dealt with this problem for years without much success.  Then, one time I was in a Wild Birds store looking to buy some suet and I saw a spicy pepper suet block. I bought one and a couple of the regular suet blocks. The squirrels ate the regular and left the spicy. That solved my suet problem. But, there was still one more problem. I have a feeder that holds a compacted block of seed.  It's pretty expensive and the squirrels kept eating it and would scare away all the little birds.  That would leave the squirrel alone for an hour or so to devour it.  So, I went to Wild Birds looking for a replacement for the block feeder and I saw a 'pepper coated' block feeder.  I haven't put it up yet, but when I do, I'll take a picture of it and post it.  I'll keep you advised if the squirrels leave it alone or not.

 

Owl Prowl

10-23-15
Last Sunday, I went to the Margery Adams Audubon Sanctuary and while I was there,  I was looking at the corkboard to see if there was any thing going on.  I saw a story about the founder and a map AND there was a poster saying there was going to be an owl prowl on Friday. I thought that would be super fun,  so I asked my mom if we could go. She said yes, of course . So fast forward a week: It's Friday, I get home, I'm excited and I grab my camera, and binoculars. The trip starts at 6:30PM. It is 5:30PM so my mom and I go to a Mexican restaurant to have some food before birding. The food took 30 minutes to even get to the table! Not a great start to the night. But then I got to the Audubon Sanctuary and I saw the truck that has the birds in it. I was getting excited. We went in and paid the $15 fee for the two of us and we took our seats. There were about twenty people there. The lecturer says he is from the Illinois Raptor Center, and he tells all about owls. It was a great lecture. Then we went outside to see the owls. There are owls with handlers placed about every 100 feet on the trail. They are trained owls that sit on the trainer's arms. The guide told us all about them and the natural history of their species. We saw two Eastern Screech Owls ( a red morph and a gray morph), a Snowy Owl, a Great Horned Owl,  a Short Eared Owl, a Barn Owl, and a Barred Owl.

I loved the lecture and seeing all the owls close up.  I learned a lot of facts I didn't know and found out about a great summer camp that I will definitely check out.  If you notice an Owl Prowl anywhere near you, go to it.  It'll be worth your time!

ID #1

ID #1

I love trying to identify birds in pictures, so I thought it would be fun to post a picture and see if my viewers can identify it.  I'll give you a hint:  I snapped this picture at Mount San Jacinto State Park near Palm Springs, California.