Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Birdie Drama

Greetings fellow bird watchers. This is The Daily Bone and I'm your observant doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel.


Spring is in full swing here. Needless to say, the trees are full of birdie drama. We have three birdie feeders in my back yard that attract all kinds of birdies. There's a pair of cardinals living nearby. We hear them singing all day long. A white throated sparrow came by for a couple days, but moved on. Some beautiful yellow goldfinches have been around, singing like crazy. Purple finches and chipping sparrows are flitting around the pear tree.

White throated sparrow and cardinal.

However, the Great Grackle Flying PTA (Poop Tosser's Association) has been hogging up most of the seeds! Here's the big grackle boss Effluvium Scatterstool, at the lower left of the photo below, with his feathers all puffed out, singing a screechy song to his girlfriend Poopsie Sournote. Notice the little sparrows sitting on the feeder perches trying to get a few bites before the grackles chase them away. I'm sure they wish they had ear plugs so they don't have to listen to that horrible grackle song!


Later that day, while old Effluvium was presiding over a seed snarfing session with some of his buddies—I think they're names are Shiny Poopitcher, Screech Crapflinger, and Ditsy Waddlesquirt—and look who showed up. It's that Evil Squirrel Cartel operative, alias Twinkletoes!


Hmmm. I wonder what they're talking about? Whatever it is, it can't be good. I'm sure it's a deal to plunder the birdie feeder and then share the loot.


I ran out and chased off that conniving rabble!


Pfffft!

Now back to the birdie drama. The grackles have built their nests in the penthouse apartments of the surrounding evergreen bushes and trees. While their wives sit on their eggs, the menfolk perch on the top branches of our silver maple tree, bragging and showing off their greasy feathers to each other. They're also on the look out for marauding crows, hawks, and cats. You can tell if they've spotted something. They all start shouting, chuck chuck chuck scarreeeeeeech! Then their wives come out and start yelling too: churk churk churk churk churk! Screeeeech, chuck chuck taweeeeeet! What a cacophony! Then they all fly off in the direction of the intruder on their territory. I had to laugh yesterday when they decided to dive bomb alias Twinkletoes who was sitting up the tree! I guess their deal fell through after he started snitching their eggs! Well, there's no honor among thieves! Heheh!


Now the Stodgy Robin Society has been constructing their nests as well. One pair lives in the blue spruce in my front yard. Mr. and Mrs. Wormgrinder hop around proudly, yank big fat worms out of the lawn and gobble them up, and fiercely attack any of their neighbors who dare to enter their sovereign domain.


The entire Stodgy Robin Society puts on a chorus at dawn and dusk. People think their songs are so lovely: cheer up, cheerio, cheer up, cheerio, cheer up, cheerio, cheerio, chirp chirp chirp. But my doggie ears know the translation: hey you, listen up, this here's my turf, so you get lost or else I'll peck your eyeballs out!

Sheesh!

Sparrows Incorporated has been holding their annual convention and kickboxing championships over in the arbor vitae hedge. I kid you not! Those sparrows can sure fight. Sometimes even the ladies duke it out something fierce! What a noisy commotion they make! I don't know how the humans nearby get any rest.


Now the mourning doves arrive to snarf seeds off the ground. They're some of the more pleasant birdies around here.


They don't bother anybody, and they're not scared of the grackles. They like to sit on the roof tops, and sing their gentle cooing songs. They're kind of like the hippies of the birdie world. All they want is peace, love, and ice cream. But they're also not shy about getting it on anywhere they happen to be, if you know what I mean.

Hey cool it. This is a g-rated doggie blog.




19 comments:

  1. That is a lot of bird drama! We mostly have robin drama. They build their nests so low to the ground. Us terriers can jump pretty high......

    Wyatt and Tegan

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    1. Several years ago,when yours truly was a pup, a robin built
      a nest in the leaf tree about 4 feet off the ground. Well guess who discovered it right after four eggs appeared? Ghostwriter turned her back for three seconds and the nest was in the ground and the eggs disappeared without a trace. Hmmm I wonder what happened ... ?

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    2. Several years ago,when yours truly was a pup, a robin built
      a nest in the leaf tree about 4 feet off the ground. Well guess who discovered it right after four eggs appeared? Ghostwriter turned her back for three seconds and the nest was in the ground and the eggs disappeared without a trace. Hmmm I wonder what happened ... ?

      Delete
  2. We thought our bird TV was good!
    Lily & Edward

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  3. OMCs Birdie soap operas and drama for sure. Jumpin' catfish
    We have had a TIME with crows since last fall. They have always been around but never bothered anything. They somehow started lifting the suet cage off the shepherd's hook dropped it to the ground breaking the latch. We stopped putting out suet. Then they found the birdbath OMCs did you know they wash their road kill? Yep they have been dropping it in the bird bath and pulling the meat off the bones. LET ME JUST tell you the ordor in that bird bath was HORRID an Putrid and nasty. WE turned the big birdbath upside down and moved it. Bought a smaller one for the little birds to put under a low growing tree. Thus far no more crows
    Hugs madi your bfff

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    Replies
    1. There's always a few who spoil it for the rest! Crows are a problem around here when they gather en mass in downtown Rochester and roost there over night. They make such a mess! The City has to use fireworks to scare the crows away.

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  4. So many birdies you have there. Mom loves to listen to all the bird noises in the early morning. Those grackles would drive us nuts - go get them, Chester.

    Woos - Lightning and Misty

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  5. It sounds like you have a very active and a very noisy back yard, Chester! I'm sure it keeps you VERY busy keeping all of the birdies under control!

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  6. We get bird drama here too...once not so long ago petcretary went tout to refill the feeders and found a dead finch...its head was all pecked. Eeuuwww. Pretty birds? More like nasty birds. And they were not even in their bright summer feathers yet. We can only imagine what they do during breeding season.

    Petcretary saw a snake today, the sun was warm and this dude was risking his life in the grass...as MJF will take it on and kill it. He was not with her so petcretary guided this garden snake back to the woodsy area where he/she can easier hunt for its supper.

    And our dogwood is now blooming. While petcretary was admiring it a pair of robins was loudly scolding her...

    Doesn't your special feeder thwart those big birds and squirrel dudes? We have one like that, too, but have not needed to hang it up...yet...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That special feeder works well with squirrels. Their weight makes the seed ports close. The grackles are just light enough so the ports don't close if one sits on it. But two grackles will close them. The perches are kind of small for the grackles too.

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  7. Chester you summed it up really well. Grammy has the same bird TV at her house. Grammy is just happy that they don't have the big house with the pool so the grackles don't drop their poop in it so that Gramps has to clean it up. She does miss her mourning doves at their new house though. They are her favorites next to the goldfinches.

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  8. Wow - that drama is for the birds! Those grackles sound like such lousy neighbors. Mom found this article that has some anti grackle tips and feeders. http://www.birdschoice.com/content/tips-get-rid-grackles-your-yard

    We are happy we just have some sparrows and robins and the occasional cardinal.

    Abby Lab

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  9. Another quick comment. I just talked to my husband who is on a business trip in another state. I read him the names of the Grackles and I think he snorted tea out of his nose. Abby says Pawsome Post.

    Lin

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  10. Those grackles always seem to stir up the pot and create birdie discontent!!
    Smileys!
    Arty, Jakey & Bilbo

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  11. Oh my, not fond of grackles me! They used to nest in the guttering and just below the roof tiles at my parents'. The noise they made, if it wasn't the screeching, it was the scrabbling around on the roof. When I go home now, I have to use ear plugs or I won't get any sleep at all.

    Mara from Norway

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  12. Whoa, Chester!! There are so much birdie drama at your backyard! Spring is in finally swing here in Toronto. We'll keep eye on the birdies, too.

    Momo & Pinot xo

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  13. Wow - what drama and lots of fun too! We have a few little birds sometimes and we are seeing more hawks and bald eagles too. There were a pair of Canada Geese but they seem to have moved on.

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  14. You sure have quite the birdie soap opera going on in your yard.

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  15. My dogness, Chester, your yard is so entertaining!

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