Backyard Bird Watchers

#301
#301
We live on the lake in Ooltewah and enjoy all the varieties of birds that live on and fish in the waters all year long from Osprey to Sandhill cranes. Most days a giant blue heron or 2 with walk the sea wall and dock looking for fish, but yesterday we were drinking coffee on the porch and noticed a heron walking from the waters edge towards our home which was very unusual. It came up to a low retaining wall and struck its head with the speed of a snake and snatched up one of the many chipmunks living around. Immediately flew about 200’ to the waters edge then performed a weird contortion to swallow the chipmunk whole! We’ve lived there for 34 years and I’ve never seen a heron eat anything but fish
 
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#302
#302
K-town Vol Fan said:
My Carolina Wrens hatched probably 3 or 4 days ago. I was surprised to see the mother AND father help take care of the little ones. I'm trying to help them. Leaving food out etc.. is it a bad idea to drop some earthworms in the nest when parents are gone?
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Yes, 100% bad idea.
 
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#303
#303
UT_VOLS13 said:
Yes, 100% bad idea.
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Lol I decided against it. Instead I found some worms and set them on a table near the nest. She didn't take them.


That being said the babies are now 10 days old, getting stronger every day. The nest is right in front of small window on the door, so we watch her come and go with food throughout the day. The way the fecal sacs work is just amazing. I'm just a casual, I didnt know about that. Its also very cool trying to see what she's bringing them. I've seen lots of small spiders.
 
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#304
#304
K-town Vol Fan said:
Lol I decided against it. Instead I found some worms and set them on a table near the nest. She didn't take them.


That being said the babies are now 10 days old, getting stronger every day. The nest is right in front of small window on the door, so we watch her come and go with food throughout the day. The way the fecal sacs work is just amazing. I'm just a casual, I didnt know about that. Its also very cool trying to see what she's bringing them. I've seen lots of small spiders.
Click to expand...


Very cool to watch them feed the little ones. They(mom and dad) go back and forth all day feeding the chicks.
 
#305
#305
K-town Vol Fan said:
Lol I decided against it. Instead I found some worms and set them on a table near the nest. She didn't take them.


That being said the babies are now 10 days old, getting stronger every day. The nest is right in front of small window on the door, so we watch her come and go with food throughout the day. The way the fecal sacs work is just amazing. I'm just a casual, I didnt know about that. Its also very cool trying to see what she's bringing them. I've seen lots of small spiders.
Click to expand...
Mealworm or sunflower seeds are good for Carolina Wrens
 
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#309
#309
If you like board games I recommend one called Wingspan. It was developed by an ornithologist and it has a lot of fun facts about birds
 
#311
#311
For the third time over the last couple of years, I have found one very large hatched egg at the base of a tree in my yard. They’ve been slightly larger than a XL egg from the grocer. No real signs of a nest…. Just a recently hatched egg. Any ideas what kind of bird this could be?
 
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#312
#312
Carl Pickens said:
For the third time over the last couple of years, I have found one very large hatched egg at the base of a tree in my yard. They’ve been slightly larger than a XL egg from the grocer. No real signs of a nest…. Just a recently hatched egg. Any ideas what kind of bird this could be?
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pterosaurs?
 
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#313
#313
Certain herons, ducks, and geese have white eggs larger than those of common chickens. Some birds remove egg shells well away from their nests to discourage discovery by predators. Perhaps, an explanation may be found among this information.
 
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#314
#314
I said I'd try to get a pic of the goldfinches on the dried poppy heads at Mom's. There were 2 males and a female when we were out today. They are so skittish! They'd fly off every time I tried to get close. I blew up the pic best I could. Male above the coreopsis. Mom said she's counted 8 or 9 feeding at one time.

1655594800253.png
 
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#315
#315
Juanita said:
I said I'd try to get a pic of the goldfinches on the dried poppy heads at Mom's. There were 2 males and a female when we were out today. They are so skittish! They'd fly off every time I tried to get close. I blew up the pic best I could. Male above the coreopsis. Mom said she's counted 8 or 9 feeding at one time.

View attachment 465275
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Finally found him! Nearly went blind in the attempt. 🤪
 
#319
#319
StarRaider said:
Anyone else seeing a lot of hummingbird activity? They are swarming our feeders, maybe migrants on the way back to the Gulf.... I normally fill up (about 32 oz) every few weeks but have done it every day now for week.
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We have 4 visit ours daily. Unfortunately all of the flowers stopped blooming and the bees are trying to take over the feeder
 
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#320
#320
Rishvol said:
We have 4 visit ours daily. Unfortunately all of the flowers stopped blooming and the bees are trying to take over the feeder
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Does your feeder have bits of yellow on it, or is it just red?

I’ve read that feeders with yellow (but mostly red) have more problems with bees and wasps
 
#323
#323
walkenvol said:
Had a pair of bald eagles buzzing low (15’ high) across our back yard yesterday. One dropped a fish and they circled around a couple times but never landed to retrieve it? Awesome birds!
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I saw a pair flying at less than 50 ft over our house in March 2019 (during the BasketVols SEC semi-final win over the kensucky pusses, the Vols were behind but rallied to win after they flew over).... I took it as an omen but the next day they lost to aubie so I reckon it was their pair of eagles. Absolutely took my breath away.
 
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#324
#324
My hummingbird feeders have become a veritable circus today. Many interlopers are attempting to feed at them and being chased by the “resident owners.” While these are chasing one away, another will sneak a drink. It’s charming. My missus and I are taken with a wiley yearling which waits nearby to feed during the chases. She’s becoming our favorite.
 
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#325
#325
Can anyone ID these eggs?
This nest was found about a month ago on an island in Tellico lake, any ideas ? They were very large maybe three times the size of a chicken egg 3639DA66-62BE-4CD2-8464-59384D555B78.jpeg
 
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