sagebrush Posted September 22, 2016 I can tell you my experiences two days ago after I read the above post.  Went to Home Depot to gather supplies for project. I was packing the truck up. I noticed one of the boxes of mortar was not as heavy as the others...so I investigated....lo and behold, it was more than 2/3 gone...as in it had been used and returned and put back on the shelf for sale! I had to go back in....get a new box. 25 pound box from one side of the store to the other....my exercise. Why did I not get a cart? I am conditioned to do things the more difficult way I suppose. Mumbling to myself this is my brocade...for sure....*&%#@  I am at the slider doors to exit....this could be no more than 5 minutes from the time I entered Home Depot for the exchange.  On the ground is a stunned bird..not sure what kind? Not seen this at my feeder ever. its a pretty bird. maybe a cowbird if I have to guess. it is all grey and on the underside of its tail feathers is brown. It has flown into the glass. It is still alive and I am afraid it has broken its neck. It can see me looking at it because its eyes are moving around in response to me there...  I can't leave it there. and how am I going to mend the birds neck? I scoop it up with my three page paper receipts... put it in my truck on the passenger floor board.  It can move a little. but it is going nowhere.  I drive off wondering what I will do....I pass a parked semi that is off to the edge by the garden department. It has steps going into the container...it is full of hay. Probably seasonal for fall/October décor.  I pull over and see piles of hay by the curb. It is a great location to put the bird here for "recovery". The semi is going nowhere soon. I make a big pile nest for him. Hoping that he is just in shock. I make the pile by the edge of one of the many back tires where it will stay shaded and cool all day. I wish it well and he looks comfortable in its nest.  I did not return the next day to check on it. I had wanted to see if it was dead or gone. I mentioned it to my son to stop by and see it but I got busy with him buying cologne and dinner...and lost track of stopping by on the way home.  I went yesterday to return unused supplies for credit. And to buy a few other items. before I went inside I drove toward the trailer. I slowly approached the nest....just as I got close to see it was gone....a bird that looked similar(and I think it was the one I had placed in the nest) flew out from the underside of the trailer right next to the tire... It flew about 40 feet into the grassy hillside close by and stopped. I said hello and I am so glad that it could still fly and appeared better.  strange coincidences and I am glad to have the bird in my path. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted September 22, 2016 Many good hearted people here. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeblast Posted September 22, 2016 that reminds me, its time to renew my subscription to Kitty TVÂ Â (i.e., buy bird food ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 22, 2016 that reminds me, its time to renew my subscription to Kitty TV  (i.e., buy bird food ) Don't expect a "Thank you" for that!!!   So yesterday afternoon I was sitting at the window and noticed the pair of Morning Dove pecking for food as they almost always do each afternoon. Then the two went onto the drive way and mated right there. Talk about "Why don't we do it in the road"! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted September 22, 2016 Did he hop along behind her and puff up real big?  It cracks me up when the males do that.  The females just keep hunting their birdseed, real blasé about the whole thing.  There's one out in our yard that we call Puff Daddy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sagebrush Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) ya know.....the interesting thing about photography is that birds are fairly easy to photograph...as are flowers, insects, bees, natural things.....even clouds and sky.... I just can't begin to photograph people--capturing their image....and here is why.....I think they move too much. or maybe I do not like taking their photos...  I like the idea very much that birds are not busy with thoughts too....  so they are the embodiment of birdness.....  and in my observations Marblehead...re....mourning doves.....  one is rather aggressive in the pair.....  I have watched the pair at feeding at my place and one of them was on the wall eating and everytime the other one wanted to have some sunflower seed...it would try to fly up and eat and the other one would flap around and peck at it until tiny feathers would fly around.... maybe they were not coupleship though...  I might add that puff daddy is a pretty funny name.I hope tomorrow I do not cry about it.... name calling birds...... Edited September 22, 2016 by sagebrush Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeblast Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) Don't expect a "Thank you" for that!!!   So yesterday afternoon I was sitting at the window and noticed the pair of Morning Dove pecking for food as they almost always do each afternoon. Then the two went onto the drive way and mated right there. Talk about "Why don't we do it in the road"! my kitties wont be eating them, but they watch 'em like the window is a tv - my neighbor's cat however, treats my yard as her own...  I'da let 'em out, but I really dont have the patience for ticks any longer, too many around here - so they've never known what its like to hunt. had cats all my life just about. Edited September 22, 2016 by joeblast 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 22, 2016 Did he hop along behind her and puff up real big?  It cracks me up when the males do that.  The females just keep hunting their birdseed, real blasé about the whole thing.  There's one out in our yard that we call Puff Daddy. Yep. That's the way it went. And after it was all over the female shook it off and went back to the business of eating. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 22, 2016 and in my observations Marblehead...re....mourning doves..... Yeah, I know. But I did the Morning Dove for someone else's benefit.  Different birds have different natures. Some can eat peacefully together while others want to be the only one eating at any one time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted September 23, 2016 Yep. That's the way it went. And after it was all over the female shook it off and went back to the business of eating.   Sounds just like me... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 27, 2016 A truly beautiful bird! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted September 28, 2016 (edited) What an astounding bird. Â If an artist painted it exactly as is, it would look enhanced. Â The wood duck doesn't look that colorful in the Audubon pictures. Â Wow. Â I wonder, is he doing a mating display with the rust tips of his wings up? Edited September 28, 2016 by manitou Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeblast Posted September 28, 2016 just giving the hand and saying "mallard, please" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted October 2, 2016 There have been lots of birds and butterflies in the garden today. Always nice to watch them. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zerostao Posted October 9, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4PH-oS9OU 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent thunder Posted October 9, 2016 What an astounding bird.  If an artist painted it exactly as is, it would look enhanced.  The wood duck doesn't look that colorful in the Audubon pictures.  Wow.  I wonder, is he doing a mating display with the rust tips of his wings up?  I say almost this exact phrase consistently in life... particularly when marveling at the color gradations and the long sweeping runs of clouds out over the ocean at sunset. Life, she is a marvel! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue eyed snake Posted October 16, 2016 I was watching a sparrow-hawk, gliding majestically with a blue sky as a background, circling, I thought, probably looking for mice, beauty. Â then a group of around 12 to 15 Jackdaws began to circle around it, even more or less bumping into the sparrowhawk. Â after a while the hawk left, flying away, probably towards the small woodland where they have their homes. Â amazing to look at this meeting between two species, I mean, a sparrow-hawk likes to eat a juicy jackdaw... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted October 16, 2016 Not much going on with the birds here but the butterflies are still active. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue eyed snake Posted October 16, 2016 talking about butterflies, you used to post a butterfly daily, have they flown away to better places? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted October 16, 2016 talking about butterflies, you used to post a butterfly daily, have they flown away to better places?  Ah!, the butterfly collection. We are limited to how much attachments we can post. The butterflies took up a lot of my allocated attachment capacity. When I started another attachment project I had to remove them all to make room for more stuff. All the butterflies are still alive and well on my computer hard drive. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cold Posted October 16, 2016 A red tailed hawk swept low and slow using ground effect to maintain lift as it increased it's speed with a still squirming squirrel in its talons.  When we first started planting here there was nary a squirrel to be seen. Planting corn quickly changed that. They arrived from near and far to feast on one of their favorite foods. For some the journey included bringing travelling provisions, acorns walnuts and such. Soon forgotten many of these germinated and grew.  Spring was pretty wet heres'about and I am more than pleasantly surprised with the amount of walnuts, not a favorite food of the white tailed deer, and acorns growing and beginning to ripen. Acorns are a real treat to the deer around here!  Its becoming more of a wild life refuge and less of a organic farm. :wacko:LOL 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manitou Posted October 17, 2016 Sitting on a log in the woods today A perfect fall day. The earthy smell of the moist earthI breathed in deeply, filling my lungs.  A golden glow from the sun On the other side of the golden canopy of leaves Gold, yellow, red, green The dogs digging down into the earth For who knows what.  Suddenly a breeze! I fuzzy my eyes just a bit And gaze into the distant woods. Leaves falling everywhere,  My gaze fixed in one location, I watch the falling of the leaves with the periphery of my vision. I am thrown immediately into A separate reality.  Whirling, Swirling, Glad to be alive To see the earth magic. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cold Posted October 17, 2016 (edited) I too saw EARTH MAGIC when I ventured into the volunteer pumpkin patch (actually heirloom winter squash that reseeded itself from culls placed in compost pile last fall.  Lo and behold the miraculous Bounty! I carried 533 lbs. to food bank today (my guess as to about what they could distribute, quickly and without worry). I sensed a bit of relief when I replied NO when asked are you coming back any time soon. LOL Held another 600 + lbs. for delivery to others.  I rarely estimate yield ahead of harvest, but I speculated that patch would harvest out at 500 lbs. of #1 product. And about that amount in culls. I eat the culls (but not all, by any means) and offer to family and friends. Despite there being a ground hog den in the field and one pretty close, we only composted about 50 lbs.! Edited October 17, 2016 by cold 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue eyed snake Posted October 22, 2016 autumn has arrived, a robin in my backyard  4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
