Re: birds
Posted: 2017/01/22 18:01:12 UTC
Enjoyed the birding stories and all of the pics.
I had a hummingbird feeder up near McClure for years. There were mostly green hummingbirds with an occasional brown one. Every year, around early fall, the yellow jackets would become territorial and take over the bird feeder. One or two of them would sit on the feeder and keep the hummingbirds at bay. One day, I was sitting near the feeder. I could hear a loud hummingbird in a nearby tree. Eventually, he flew to the feeder and stopped about 18 inches away from it. The yellow jacket got off the feeder and faced the hummingbird. They were about 6 inches apart and facing each other. They started flying sideways keeping the same formation. They would stop, start, go forward and backwards in formation. They then started doing this at a high rate of speed. The yellow jacket matched every move the hummingbird made and vice versa. This went on for a couple minutes, then they disappeared into the trees. A few minutes later, a hummingbird returned and started feeding. Soon, a few more hummingbirds joined him.
No idea who won the battle or even if the hummingbird that returned was the same one who faced off with the yellow jacket. I never saw any dead hummingbirds when the yellow jackets were in the territorial mode.
One spring, I found the feeder pieces on the ground and the bottle empty. I suspected the local kids and eyed them with suspicion when they would walk by. I wired the feeder up with safety wire. Even with the wire, I could tell that the feeder was being tampered with. I watched the kids closer but they did not look mischievous or conspiratorial. One day, I heard loud squawking in the yard. I looked out to see an oriole fighting with the feeder. He would physically attack the feeder. When it tilted, he would try to get the liquid that spilled out. He emptied the feeder in short order. I ended up setting up an oriole feeder to both the orioles and hummingbirds.
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4614/38931421554_af2c5c0b32_o.jpg
pic was taken around 2003 hence the lack of sharpness.
I had a hummingbird feeder up near McClure for years. There were mostly green hummingbirds with an occasional brown one. Every year, around early fall, the yellow jackets would become territorial and take over the bird feeder. One or two of them would sit on the feeder and keep the hummingbirds at bay. One day, I was sitting near the feeder. I could hear a loud hummingbird in a nearby tree. Eventually, he flew to the feeder and stopped about 18 inches away from it. The yellow jacket got off the feeder and faced the hummingbird. They were about 6 inches apart and facing each other. They started flying sideways keeping the same formation. They would stop, start, go forward and backwards in formation. They then started doing this at a high rate of speed. The yellow jacket matched every move the hummingbird made and vice versa. This went on for a couple minutes, then they disappeared into the trees. A few minutes later, a hummingbird returned and started feeding. Soon, a few more hummingbirds joined him.
No idea who won the battle or even if the hummingbird that returned was the same one who faced off with the yellow jacket. I never saw any dead hummingbirds when the yellow jackets were in the territorial mode.
One spring, I found the feeder pieces on the ground and the bottle empty. I suspected the local kids and eyed them with suspicion when they would walk by. I wired the feeder up with safety wire. Even with the wire, I could tell that the feeder was being tampered with. I watched the kids closer but they did not look mischievous or conspiratorial. One day, I heard loud squawking in the yard. I looked out to see an oriole fighting with the feeder. He would physically attack the feeder. When it tilted, he would try to get the liquid that spilled out. He emptied the feeder in short order. I ended up setting up an oriole feeder to both the orioles and hummingbirds.
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4614/38931421554_af2c5c0b32_o.jpg
pic was taken around 2003 hence the lack of sharpness.