Gonna Build a Little Pond

[Amarok]

Among the regular robins and red-winged blackbirds and chickadees and sparrows and waxwings, I've had cardinals, which I hadn't noticed before, and a few other unknowns at the pond.
One I've just identified that has been a regular lately is the dark eyed junco. I had been thinking of them as "pine cones" after seeing one land in a tree and become indistinguishable from the real ones. They are fun little guys, very active and dumb. If I stand or sit still I become invisible to them and they come quite close.

The neighbor pointed out a dead hawk on the next block a few days ago. He said the crows and magpies had mobbed it and taken it down. Go team crow!
The nest material gathering has slowed down. Shouldn't be long now before they lay their eggs and soon after that there will be little black shitheads out exploring their world. I can't wait.

 

[Amarok]

I really enjoyed this.
@Jewels Your little guy needs a crow best friend.

 

[Amarok]

A name recently added to the list, the dark eyed junco. Finally got a pic where one is visible. It was tough, since they blend so well with the rocks around the pond.

Looked out the window as I was climbing into bed last night and saw another local out for a snack.

 

[Jewels]

Interesting, that no one else could touch the bird.
We had a bunny like that.

Your little guy needs a crow best friend.

For securities sake!

Stinking vultures were circling us for an hour, we could have used the backup!






View attachment 20240421_161341.mp4

 

[Jewels]

dark eyed junco.

Never see them on the feeder. Always in groups and always grazing off the ground.

 

[Jewels]

Bar progresses, although,
No audio, no video. I downloaded it with the same result

 

[Amarok]

Thanks, J.
Frustrating.
The video was no biggy, just one of the crows on his feeding platform this morning.
I

 

[belleswell]

We have a bunch of Juncos. I had to look them up in my Audubon book when we first moved here almost 8 years ago. Out of Michigan's 120 or so
birds and ducks, we've seen 77 different species because of the pond and the feeders. I have 5 regular feeders with squirrel guard cones over them hanging
in a few spots where I can take easy pics from inside. We also have 4 finch feeders all hanging from one tree filled with thistle seed. Then we have 3 suet cages
for blocks of suet, and lastly 3 hummingbird feeders hanging close to the home for close ups of the Hummers.

Some of the rarer birds we've seen that come close to our home, but never on the feeders are a few different varieties of warblers, including a very rare
Kirtland warber. We have 6 varieties of woodpeckers, including one that never feeds at the feeders but on the ground or trees and that is a
Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker. Some other fairly rare ones we see quite often are Golden Crowned Kinglets, Ovenbirds, and Eastern Bluebirds.

Aside from the Bald Eagles who have a nest not far from our place is a very rare sighting for Michigan of a Golden Eagle. Too cool. I've seen 4 different species of
owls, but the only one that sat still in a perch overlooking our pond was a Barred Owl, and the only one I've got a bunch of pics of. It has a nest about 50 yards from our pond in a hollowed out tree. We avoid that section of our woods to give her some privacy, especially in the spring when she has a couple of owlets. We watched a Barred Owl make a kill on a muskrat in our pond one day that was too cool to see. While she was perched waiting for supper, her two owlets were making quite a racket, as if to say,
feed me now. lol

The bird feeders alone would not have allowed us to see all of the different species of birds. The pond is instrumental in the numbers and varieties of our
feathered friends.

Love the pond.


Some bird inspired music from pics of birds that come by to visit.

The Eagle Has Landed

Most of these are bts I found on the net that I jammed to. If I had to pick what I think are some of the better ones, they would be, Saying Goodbye 2012 So Far To Go Non Cover Cover DT Something O

soundcloud.com

Happy Birds

Most of these are bts I found on the net that I jammed to. If I had to pick what I think are some of the better ones, they would be, Saying Goodbye 2012 So Far To Go Non Cover Cover DT Something O

soundcloud.com

Smooth Talking Turkey

Most of these are bts I found on the net that I jammed to. If I had to pick what I think are some of the better ones, they would be, Saying Goodbye 2012 So Far To Go Non Cover Cover DT Something O

soundcloud.com

Boogie Blues

Most of these are bts I found on the net that I jammed to. If I had to pick what I think are some of the better ones, they would be, Saying Goodbye 2012 So Far To Go Non Cover Cover DT Something O

soundcloud.com

East Coast

Most of these are bts I found on the net that I jammed to. If I had to pick what I think are some of the better ones, they would be, Saying Goodbye 2012 So Far To Go Non Cover Cover DT Something O

soundcloud.com

 

[Jewels]

Yellow Shafted Northern Flicker

Map implies I should see both , however, I don't see yellows at all.


Maybe the yellow ones like trees.
🐇

 

[Psychobilly]

Maybe the yellow ones like trees.
🐇

damn mustard hippies... lol

Have to admit, given the locales of each color, they sure can cut the mustard... I'll see myself too bed lol.

 

[belleswell]

I realize this is Amarok's pond thread, so excuse my digression. Jewels had mentioned the Flickers, red and yellow shafted, so I thought
I'd chime in with some of my woodpecker knowledge.

Here is an assortment of the woodpeckers we see, many of them daily.
The Downy and Hairy woodpeckers, Red Bellied, and Pileated woodpeckers are here everyday.
The Red Headed woodpecker and the Yellow Shafted Northern Flickers are around but not seen everyday.
Neither of the last two use the feeders or suet blocks we have for them.
Both the Red Headed and Flickers are ground or tree feeders.

All of these are year round residents and do not migrate.

Here is a Northern Flicker yellow shafted.






Red Bellied - Male



Red Bellied - Female




Both the Downy and the Hairy Woodpeckers look very similar. A couple of differences are the size of a mature one
and the length of the bill. The Hairy woodpeckers are a little bigger when mature than the Downy.

Both Downy and Hairy woodpecker males have red on the back of their head whereas
the females do not. The length of the bill is an easy way to tell them apart at a quick glance if one can see them
from a side view. The bill length of the Downy seen from a side view is not quite the length of the head, where the
Hairy woodpeckers bill length seen from a side view will be about the length of the head.

Note the bill length on these next two pics as they show the difference in the bill length.

Downy woodpecker - Female - No red on the back of the head




Hairy woodpecker - Also female.



Bird Whisperer - Hairy woodpecker - Male



Pileated woodpeckers are North America's largest woodpeckers. 16 1/2 inches when mature. They are sometimes referred to
as Giant woodpeckers. Any red showing on the jaw line of one denotes it being a male. Here is a cool shot of a male that I like more that the normal pics one
sees of them on the side of a tree. They love the suet in the hanging suet cages. Because of their size, they can make
short work of a 6" x 6" suet block.







Red Headed woodpecker


Dream Theater influenced

 

[Psychobilly]

Here is an assortment of the woodpeckers we see, many of them daily.
The Downy and Hairy woodpeckers, Red Bellied, and Pileated woodpeckers are here everyday.
The Red Headed woodpecker and the Yellow Shafted Northern Flickers are around but not seen everyday.
Neither of the last two use the feeders or suet blocks we have for them.
Both the Red Headed and Flickers are ground or tree feeders.

Here is a Northern Flicker yellow shafted.
View attachment 201640


View attachment 201641


Red Bellied - Male
View attachment 201642

Female


View attachment 201643


Both the Downy and the Hairy Woodpeckers look very similar. A couple of differences are the size of a mature one
and the length of the bill. Both Downy and Hairy woodpecker males have red on the back of their head whereas
the females do not. The length of the bill is an easy way to tell them apart at a quick glance if one can see them
from a side view. The bill length of the Downy seen from a side view is not quite the length of the head, where the
Hairy woodpeckers bill length seen from a side view will be about the length of the head.

Note the bill length on these next two pics as they show the difference in the bill length.

Downy woodpecker - No red on the back of the head
View attachment 201645



Hairy woodpecker - Also female. View attachment 201646



Bird Whisperer - Hairy woodpecker - Male
View attachment 201647


Pileated woodpeckers are North America's largest woodpeckers. 16 1/2 inches when mature. Any red showing on
the jaw line of one denotes it being a male. Here is a cool shot of a male that I like more that the normal pics one
sees of them on the side of a tree. They love the suet in the hanging suet cages.

View attachment 201648


View attachment 201649


Red Headed woodpecker
View attachment 201650

You know, I've seen one of the species we have here a few times. The Wife said it was like a Giant Wood Pecker I think ? They're really neat looking birds, but we only see them in certain areas of the woods, and only in like, Summer time. Of course I'm not very mature so I make pecker jokes, but they look really neat.

A few years ago, another species of Wood Pecker we have, was on the outside of the house pecking away, and I couldn't help myself... I started knocking on the walls from inside the house, and just mimicked what the bird did. This went on for a little while, and I kept laughing my ass off, as it went something like this:

Bird: *Peck Peck Peck*
Me: *Knock Knock Knock*
Bird: *Peck Peck*
Me: *Knock Knock*
Bird *Peck Peck Peck Peck*
Me: *Knock Knock Knock Knock*
Bird *Peck*
Me: *Knock*

After about 5 minutes the Bird flew off, probably wondering how I learned his language and insulted him for waking us up. LOL.

 

[Jewels]

Seeing any tenders on those Haskaps ?
Did everyone survive the winter?

 

[Amarok]

Seeing any tenders on those Haskaps ?
Did everyone survive the winter?

They are just leafing out now. It looks like they all made it.
My UofA apple tree is behind but everything else in the yard is waking up. Supposed to get some wet this week which will make a big difference.

Looks like you guys are warm and windy today but wet for the next few. Greening-up there yet?

 

[Jewels]

Supposed to be uglier today, but we hit 20

Yellow Dandelions
Elms are raining down oats
Poplars are dropping stickies
Lilacs are pushing grape clusters
Strawberries up
Iris up
Gophers up
I think the Robins are getting nesty, they have been around for a few weeks, but they have just started singing in the morning.

Gotta get me some Daffodils
Love those things

but wet for the next few

Last week I took a trip through Smith's bread basket, all the way to the Old Man. It was brown as a dust bowl out there, not enough stubble to hide a partridge , I don't know where all those potatoes are supposed to come from.

 

[Amarok]

Been raining for 30 hours straight. Nothing torrential but steady, precisely what was needed for animals, plants, water tables and fire prevention.

I'd started digging an overflow channel for the pond but it was on hold pending warmer weather so I've been out draining it manually through the filter barrel. I don't mind doing it that way, as it puts all the water in the middle of the berry patch, but I want peace of mind at night and if away from home.

 

[Amarok]

I'm dealing with crow drama.

I was back to feeding them throughout the day, and as predicted, they would yell at me from the railing right outside my door to let me know they were around. Often I was barely turned away from the platform before one was there eating.
Between me being away from home, and then staying inside out of the rain for a few days, and most importantly I'm thinking, going a little psycho chasing squirrels and shooting at them with my shitty BB pistol, they were freaked out. The last couple days they've been extremely worried, not wanting to come anywhere near me.

This afternoon we've started rebuilding trust. One is back to very warily eating on the lawn while I sit on the deck.

I've also managed to transfer most of the over-wintering minnows back out to the pond from the basement. The water striders are back and the snails are doing their thing. The filter is starting to get functional and the water is already clearing up.

 

[DopeDaniel]

@Amarok you may have to put on headphones and turn the volume all the way up to hear and hopefully the videos upload and play proper.

This is the noise I heard at dusk and dawn when visiting. I think it was most prevalent in the direction of that nature walk area.

There is a whoop, whoop, whoop,....call being made by something that is flying. If I point the camera up they won't fly over me, as is I have to wait a minute or two and even then I think I've only ever heard them directly overhead when I'm away from (several hundred feet) any kind of noise.

View attachment 20240502_052046.mp4
View attachment 20240502_052024.mp4

Thinking bat but idk, started when the birds came back. I can't see anything, can only hear them so I don't think it's a flicker or owl.

Anyone??

 

[Amarok]

I know that sound. The first recording especially is very familiar. It's a bird but I'm blanking on which one, though my brain is associating it with water.

 

[DopeDaniel]

I know that sound. The first recording especially is very familiar. It's a bird but I'm blanking on which one, though my brain is associating it with water.

Timing is right for some ducks but I just refuse to believe my eyesight is that bad. There are several ponds / livestock pen effluent retainments.