astromeria
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2005
- Messages
- 1,375
Another bird-lover here. I grew up bird-watching on Long Island and have been a bird-watcher everywhere I've lived...New England, Wisconsin, Northern CA, and now coastal SC. I spent last weekend on Edisto Island, SC and saw a family of pileated woodpeckers several times in the trees right by the house, as well as a painted bunting pair, many Carolina chickadees, cardinals, titmice, something similar to purple finches that the homeowner called rosy finches (new one on me), great blue herons, egrets, osprey, turkey vultures, crows, blue jays, flickers, and downy woodpeckers. We hear what are locally called "marsh hens" in the tidal marsh behind our friends' cottage--I think they may be clapper rails. Not to mention that a deer cautiously stepped from the woods several times to drink, as did a couple of raccoons from the brush by the marsh.
Here at home (small yard close to Charleston, a lake, and the beach) our most frequent feeder visitors are bluebirds (raising 2-3 broods in our nest box every year), Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, mockingbirds, cardinals, blue jays, titmice, several sparrows, warblers, and finches; downy, hariy, and especially red-bellied woodpeckers; osprey, turkey vultures, mourning doves, the occasional grackle (West Nile seems to have done a number on them and the crows--only the blue jays have recovered their former numbers). And the occasional ruby-throated hummingbird, cowbird, robin, brown thrasher, wood thrush, city pigeon (rock dove), and starling. Not to mention sanderlings, brown pelicans, and various gulls, terns, herons, and egrets in the tidal marshes and at the beach--occasionally see them overhead or at the lake, too--and the odd wood stork. there are nesting yellow-crowned night herons in a magnolia in front of the Gilliard Auditorium in Charleston,
Lately we're feeding Harvest Blend seed and meal worms from Wild Birds Unlimited as well as cold-weather suet and and warm-weather fruit & nut cakes (fit into the suet feeders). Our main feedre is a large cylinder with seed ports that close with the weight of a blue jay plus a large squirrel baffle--a clear plastic hemisphere that hangs over the top of the feeder and completely foils the squirrels, who share spilled seed on the ground with the mourning doves. Actually, the squirrels greatly prefer the acorns form the backyard oak--we pull up a few tiny oak trees pretty much every day from the acorns they bury around the yard.
The bluebirds love to feed their babies (and themselves-) the meal worms--and the mockers love them, too. With the meal worm feeder right on the kitchen window, we get a ringside seat
I include plants in the landscaping that encourage birds to nest, roost, and feed. Last year a cardinal pair built a nest in the loquat right outsid our bedroom window--we could see the babies in the nest. We sometimes put out a birdbath, but you have to remember to refresh the water every couple of days to avoid breeding mosquitos.
Here at home (small yard close to Charleston, a lake, and the beach) our most frequent feeder visitors are bluebirds (raising 2-3 broods in our nest box every year), Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, mockingbirds, cardinals, blue jays, titmice, several sparrows, warblers, and finches; downy, hariy, and especially red-bellied woodpeckers; osprey, turkey vultures, mourning doves, the occasional grackle (West Nile seems to have done a number on them and the crows--only the blue jays have recovered their former numbers). And the occasional ruby-throated hummingbird, cowbird, robin, brown thrasher, wood thrush, city pigeon (rock dove), and starling. Not to mention sanderlings, brown pelicans, and various gulls, terns, herons, and egrets in the tidal marshes and at the beach--occasionally see them overhead or at the lake, too--and the odd wood stork. there are nesting yellow-crowned night herons in a magnolia in front of the Gilliard Auditorium in Charleston,
Lately we're feeding Harvest Blend seed and meal worms from Wild Birds Unlimited as well as cold-weather suet and and warm-weather fruit & nut cakes (fit into the suet feeders). Our main feedre is a large cylinder with seed ports that close with the weight of a blue jay plus a large squirrel baffle--a clear plastic hemisphere that hangs over the top of the feeder and completely foils the squirrels, who share spilled seed on the ground with the mourning doves. Actually, the squirrels greatly prefer the acorns form the backyard oak--we pull up a few tiny oak trees pretty much every day from the acorns they bury around the yard.
The bluebirds love to feed their babies (and themselves-) the meal worms--and the mockers love them, too. With the meal worm feeder right on the kitchen window, we get a ringside seat
I include plants in the landscaping that encourage birds to nest, roost, and feed. Last year a cardinal pair built a nest in the loquat right outsid our bedroom window--we could see the babies in the nest. We sometimes put out a birdbath, but you have to remember to refresh the water every couple of days to avoid breeding mosquitos.
