WrightwoodCalif.com Forum
Public Forums => San Gabriel Mtns Flora - Fauna => Topic started by: Randy Castello on Feb 07, 06, 07:05:48 PM
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The number of loose cats in our neighborhood always makes a big difference. It's so disappointing that people don't understand the havoc that outdoor cats cause to the wildlife population in Wrightwood. The complete food chain is disrupted ...mice, lizards, snakes, birds and squirrels.
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Update: The owl has paid another visit; on closer examination it appears to be a Great Horned Owl. I caught it watching my bird feeders this morning. I am still without a camera so no picture. It looks like it will be March before I am able to replace my lost camera.
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I am disapointed with the lack of birds too. I mounted a bird feeder hanger on our newly finished deck which two stories high above ground. The feeder has been hangin there for 2 weeks now and no birds yet. I bought seed for the flickers and other birds for our area too. I thought maybe they won't come to it because of our dogs. But the dogs aren't allowed on the deck. So what am I doing wrong?
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What about those of us who have tried all these wonderful things. I used to have birds. Now no birds come except the dove i've mentioned before. :'(
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Over the weekend a neighbor, who is an avid bird & squirrel feeder, asked about the recent disappearance of her feathered friends. Anyone else notice the recent trend?
I just noticed this posting is made on Feb 6 and the last time this issue came up was on a Feb 7 ???
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An abnormally mild winter plus your proximity to recently burned areas would probably the cause of different bird feeding patterns. Anything similar happen (recent fires/mild winters) in '06?
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How recently does she mean? On Friday our backyard (which I overlook all day) was fully of woodpeckers and Stellar's jays. We were gone over the weekend, and I already noticed this morning that the birds seem to be gone too. Didn't think of it until I saw your post, but there's nothing out there, which is kind of odd.
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She's a weekender and noticed it on Saturday and Sunday.
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Well there's nothing outside right now, and I can't think of another day that I didn't see birds. Even when it snows I see them fluttering around in the bushes. Did anything happen in 2006 that might be parallel?
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We've definately noticed the disappearance of birds. Even this time of year we'll have a lot of Woodpeckers, Stellar Jays and the smaller Juncos and finches after we fill the feader. That hasn't been the case for the last two times we've been up. This past weekend I don't believe I saw one bird, which seemed very strange. Being weekenders we just figured they found somewhere else to feed in the area.
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Let's just hope they aren't sensing the big one ;)
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I heard a woodpecker in the trees here on Saturday. It's been a while.
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I've seen a lot of Band Tailed Pigeons by Jackson Lake lately. I saw one Gilded Flicker, several ducks and a Great Blue Heron on my run around the lake this morning.
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I've been getting lots of juncos in my yard, on a regular basis. Also some chickadees, several Steller's jays (especially when I throw out raw peanuts), and a few woodpeckers. Also some birds that are a little larger than juncos, with reddish heads. I have a suet feeder and seed feeders in the back yard, and seed feeders out front. I've also been putting out stale bread (torn into pieces) and old walnuts that I found in the freezer. I also get a lot of chipmunks and squirrels, and the food always disappears.
Tomas, I didn't know we had the Blue Herons up here. I used to see those in Portland, where my mom and dad lived, overlooking the Willamette River. They are beautiful creatures!
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noticed less birds lately, but then my BF noticed two hawks have moved into the tree across the street. Figured the jays etc that had been visiting, decided to go somewhere else instead.
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Birds all over the place here--a dozen+ regular "tribe" of quail, sparrows, something with a red breast and black and white wings (but shaped much different than any woodpecker I've ever seen), crows. . .
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I've seen a lot of Band Tailed Pigeons by Jackson Lake lately. I saw one Gilded Flicker, several ducks and a Great Blue Heron on my run around the lake this morning.
I have taken a couple pictures of the Blue Heron. These are taken from my truck. It was walking on the ice looking for the gold fish swimming underneath. The other picture was during a storm and I thought the thing looked pitiful.
(http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l520/jimandmo/P1010009.jpg)
(http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l520/jimandmo/P1010005.jpg)
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A couple of years ago we had two of them. Believe it or not, they actually used to perch in the pine trees. One startled the heck out of me when it flew out of a pine tree beside me as I ran along the highway. I was amazed the first time I saw one on the ice. I always associated them with warmer climates.
I think this one is the offspring of the other two. I wouldn't be surprised if it was born here.
Great Blue Herons are my favorite birds. They really are beautiful. (but, as ELK pointed out, this one looks pretty miserable on the really cold stormy days.)
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I found where some of your birds went.....the meadow just west of the Mile High Cafe on Big Pines Hwy. What a raucous. Every once in a while they stop (:28 is one of those times), they they all start up again. It sounded like they compete with ambient noise, when a car passed or a plane flew over they got really loud. So many overlapping calls it sounded like a calliope to me. I think these birds are waiting to re-invade Jackson Lake when the Cat Tails come back.
Today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzARbYTtRKk
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A POEM FOR THE BLUE HERON
Mary Oliver
1
Now the blue heron
wades the cold ponds
of November.
In the gray light his hunched shoulders
are also gray.
He finds scant food--a few
numbed breathers under
a rind of mud.
When the water he walks in begins
turning to fire, clutching itself to itself
like dark flames, hardening,
he remembers.
Winter.
2
I do not remember who first said to me, if anyone did:
Not everything is possible;
some things are impossible,
and took my hand, kindly,
and led me back
from wherever I was.
3
Toward evening
the heron lifts his long wings
leisurely and rows forward
into flight. He
has made his decision: the south
is swirling with clouds, but somewhere,
fibrous with leaves and swamplands,
is a cave he can hide in
and live.
4
Now the woods are empty,
the ponds shine like blind eyes,
the wind is shouldering against
the black, wet
bones of the trees.
In a house down the road,
as though I had never seen these things--
leaves, the loose tons of water,
a bird with an eye like a full moon
deciding not to die, after all--
I sit out the long afternoons
drinking and talking;
I gather wood, kindling, paper; I make fire
after fire after fire.
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Nice poem.. thanks for posting it. There is no lack of birds here. Course, Mom feeds every bird in a 50-mile-radius. We do have several water stations out.. along with all the seed we throw and a suet block. We have a good number of the black birds now.. it is their time of the year. They are quite cheeky. I want to call them starlings because I'm from the east, but I don't know what they are. We have a guzunga of quail and a good number of jays. Plus all the other pretty little ones.
They all just seem to migrate at various times of the year. The cheapest place to buy wild bird seed, that I have found, is the 50 lb bag at the Feed Barn. The cheapest way to buy peanuts is to order a box of unsalted from Jensen's. Loved the pic of the Blue Heron. best, cheryl o7o
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Right now there are about 15-20 juncos in my back yard, arguing over the suet feeder and pecking through the snow to find the bird seed. They seem to like icky weather - they have also flocked like this during the recent rain/slush storms we've had. Fun to watch!
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Now an Acorn Woodpecker amd a Flicker have joined the party. I'm getting quite a show! :)
Of course, I'm not getting a whole lot else accomplished.....
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Here in P.H.. as the snow still falls... lots of those little blackbirds that migrate now... quail,, jays,, and lots of little ones I do not know what to call. I did put a lot of seed out...some close to the front of the house,, and the cats are just sitting there in the living room window twitching their little tails. best, cheryl o7o
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I am finding that the Fruit and Nut Seed is working GREAT! There are more than 10 species of birds that come and feed..it's been amazing and wonderful. Lots of birds if you feed them the right stuff this time of year :2thumbsup: