Babble Community

c/early-morning-birds

8

annaw73•14h ago

My neighbor said my finch photos were all 'too far away' - ouch

She was blunt about it, said they looked like blurry dots, so I finally moved my chair right next to the window last Tuesday. Got a close-up of a goldfinch mid-sneeze that actually has detail now. Anyone else get called out on their bird pics?

24

claire_gibson•16h ago

Last week was a weird one for my backyard birds and it has me worried

I usually see 15 to 20 house finches at my feeder every morning without fail. But last Tuesday through Thursday, I counted maybe 3 total each day, and they looked ruffled and kind of slow. I checked my seed bin for mold or bugs and found nothing wrong, so I think something else is going on. My neighbor mentioned she saw a sharp-shinned hawk hanging around the power lines a few days before, which might have scared everyone off. Has anyone else had a week where their regular birds just vanished like that?

3

miles_roberts•1d ago

Put out a new suet feeder and a blue jay showed up within 20 minutes

I've been trying to attract more variety to my backyard for months, so I grabbed a wire suet cage from Ace Hardware on Saturday. A blue jay landed on it before I even finished refilling my coffee. Has anyone else had a bird show up faster than you expected after changing something small?

20

the_lee•1d ago

Woke up at 4am for a wood thrush, spent 2 hours untangling my tripod legs instead

Finally heard that fluty song from the woods behind my house so I ran out with my camera but my tripod legs were all twisted up from storage. Took me from 4:15 to 6:00 just to get them sorted, and by then the bird had flown off. Has anyone else had a setup fail that cost you the shot at dawn?

20

robinf51•2d ago

Hit 100 different species from my backyard this morning

I started keeping a list back in 2019 just for fun. This morning I spotted a clay-colored sparrow and it put me at exactly 100 species seen from my porch. Never thought I'd get that many without leaving the yard. The feeder and a little water dish really bring them in. Makes me wonder how many I missed over the years before I started paying attention. Anyone else keep a running count from their house?

2

robert_bell•3d ago

Talked to a neighbor who feeds crows and it changed how I see my morning robins

He told me crows remember faces and will warn other birds about threats, so now I wonder if my robins are actually avoiding my feeder because of the crow family down the street. Has anyone else noticed their regular birds disappearing after a new species moved into the area?

17

susan649•3d ago

That robin who showed up at 5:47 AM three days in a row

I sat on my porch Tuesday morning and noticed this one robin kept landing on the same branch of my maple tree at almost the exact same time. Checked my phone clock and it was 5:47 AM. Wednesday and Thursday it happened again, give or take a minute. I wonder if birds have some internal schedule or if it just liked that spot for catching bugs in the early light. Has anyone else noticed a bird visiting at a super consistent time like this?

29

the_aaron•4d ago

Pro tip: skip the fancy bird feeder and just put out a cheap tray one week

Last Tuesday I woke up at 5:30am and saw zero birds at my nice tube feeder with the perches and the seed guard. I got annoyed and just dumped some black oil sunflower seeds on a $5 plastic tray I had sitting in the garage. Within 20 minutes I had a dozen sparrows, a pair of cardinals, and a blue jay all fighting over it. The next morning I put the tray out again and got a goldfinch I've never seen before. That tube feeder has been sitting empty for 4 days now. Has anyone else noticed birds just ignore the fancy stuff for a flat open tray?

22

ellis.leo•5d ago

That one Wednesday morning when a blue jay landed on my coffee mug and just stared at me

I was sitting on my porch around 6am with my cup of coffee not really paying attention. This blue jay came down and landed right on the rim of my mug. It just looked at me for a solid 10 seconds then flew off. I had been having this rough week where nothing was going right at work but that moment just kind of reset everything for me. Has anyone else had a bird do something totally unexpected that stuck with you?

27

patricia558•5d ago

The blue jay debate: are they bullies or just misunderstood?

I've been watching my feeder for three years now, and I keep hearing people say blue jays chase away all the smaller birds. But here's what I noticed: when the jays show up, the chickadees and titmice actually wait on the nearby branches and come right back after the jays leave. Last Tuesday I counted 4 jays at once, and the finches just moved to the other side of the feeder. So are they really aggressive, or are we just reading too much into normal bird behavior? I've got a friend in Ohio who swears jays ruined her backyard birding, but my experience says they just eat and go. What do you all think, is the reputation earned or exaggerated?

4

miles_garcia•5d ago

Took me 4 months to figure out why the finches avoided my feeder

I put up a new tube feeder back in March and the goldfinches just wouldn't touch it. Tried different seed mixes, moved it around the yard three times, even cleaned it every week. Finally last Tuesday I noticed the perches were too smooth and slick. Drove to the hardware store and wrapped a little sandpaper tape around each perch. Four goldfinches showed up within 2 hours. Has anyone else dealt with finches being picky about feeder design?

28

lunaf67•6d ago

That time I spent 2 weeks trying to ID a strange dawn call

I kept hearing this weird scratchy song around 5am in my backyard in Portland, and I figured it was a new warbler or something. Took me forever digging through bird call apps and forums, finally realized it was just a house sparrow doing an odd imitation of a robin. Anyone else ever get thrown off by a bird copying another species?

22

clark.alex•6d ago

Overheard a neighbor say cardinals don't visit feeders with too much activity

My neighbor was on her porch telling someone that cardinals are too shy for busy feeders, but I've got like 4 cardinals hitting mine every morning at 6:30 AM right when the finches and chickadees are going nuts. Made me wonder if she's just got a bad feeder spot or something, has anyone else had cardinals show up even when it's chaos?

20

leodavis•9d ago

Just realized chickadees and titmice sound totally different in fall vs spring

I was out at 6am yesterday near the creek and heard what I thought was a new bird, but it was just a Carolina chickadee doing its autumn call. My neighbor Linda pointed out they change their songs between seasons for territory stuff, and now I feel like I missed a whole layer of bird behavior for the last 10 years. Has anyone else noticed voice changes in your regular early morning visitors?

28

lindal13•9d ago

I miss my old morning robin routine before the crows showed up

Used to sit with my coffee at 6am and watch 3 or 4 robins hop around my yard in Portland for a solid 20 minutes. Then last spring a flock of like 15 crows moved into the big oak tree and now the robins barely stick around for 2 minutes before they scatter. It's wild how one species can just take over and mess up your whole dawn birdwatching vibe. Has anyone else had a new bird move in and chase away your regulars?

9

ericj45•13d ago

Realized I was filling my feeder wrong for 2 years

Woke up early last Saturday and noticed the sparrows were just throwing seed everywhere off my tube feeder. Watched them for like 20 minutes and it hit me - I had been filling it all the way to the top every time. The seed at the bottom was getting damp and moldy. The birds were basically digging through garbage to get to the fresh stuff on top. Now I only fill it halfway and refill more often. No more wasted seed and the birds seem way happier. Anyone else make this mistake?

12

felix_black•15d ago

Hit 50 different bird species from my backyard this morning

I've been sitting out on my porch every dawn for the last two years with a coffee and my phone camera. This morning I spotted a hooded warbler and that brought my list to exactly 50 species seen from that one spot. Has anyone else kept a running tally from their yard and hit a number that surprised them?

16

jennifer204•16d ago

Used to think sunrise birding meant heading out before 5am. Now I just sit on my porch with coffee.

For two years I drove 20 minutes to a nature preserve every single dawn, rain or shine. Then last month I got a flat tire on the gravel road out there at 6:15am and just sat waiting for a tow. Right there in my driveway, I spotted a flock of cedar waxwings picking berries off my neighbor's holly bush and a pair of cardinals I'd never noticed. Now I just refill my little tray feeder, grab my mug, and watch from the steps instead of burning gas and rushing around. Has anyone else had a closer spot totally change your morning routine?

18

the_amy•16d ago

That blue jay feeder spot I used every morning for 2 years is gone now

I used to put out peanuts at 6:30 sharp on the same stump, but last week I switched to a hanging feeder after a raccoon kept wiping it out at night. Has anyone else had to change their setup because of a sneaky raccoon?

22

daniel_martin•17d ago

Finally figured out the trick to getting goldfinches to show up at my feeder

I've been trying to attract goldfinches to my backyard for like 3 months now. I had the standard nyjer feeder but they just ignored it completely. Last week I noticed a patch of wild sunflowers growing by my fence and saw a bunch of them picking at the seeds. So I grabbed a finch feeder that holds whole black oil sunflower seeds instead of just nyjer. Swapped it out last Tuesday at dawn and within 10 minutes I had 4 goldfinches going at it. I guess they just didn't like the tiny seed tube setup I had before. Has anyone else had better luck with certain feeder styles over others?

32

torres.grant•17d ago

I finally stopped filling my feeder with cheap seed mix

An older guy at the park told me I was attracting mostly house sparrows and grackles with that bargain bin stuff, and he was right. He showed me his feeder with straight black oil sunflower and suddenly I had cardinals and chickadees showing up within a week. What brand of seed do you swear by for your feeders?

24

bettyroberts•18d ago

That old timer was right about putting out suet in winter

My neighbor Bob kept telling me to switch to suet cakes when it gets cold, and I finally tried it last week. Sure enough, I went from zero visitors to 3 woodpeckers and a nuthatch showing up by 6:30am. Anyone else find suet works way better than seed in the frosty months?

31

wendy628•19d ago

My neighbor told me to put out crushed eggshells for blue jays - ended up with a backyard circus!

Mrs. Kline from three doors down swore up and down that blue jays love crushed eggshells for calcium. I saved up shells from 2 dozen eggs and scattered them on my feeder tray at 6am last Saturday. Within 10 minutes, I had 7 blue jays fighting over them like it was a buffet, plus a squirrel that kept trying to divebomb from the fence. The racket was so loud my husband came out in his bathrobe yelling "what is happening out here!" Has anyone else tried this and ended up with a total bird wrestlemania in their yard?

6

murray.drew•23d ago

My fancy bird feeder broke after just three weeks outside

Spent $45 on a supposedly weatherproof feeder from the hardware store and the lid cracked off during a light rain last Tuesday, now I'm back to using an old plastic tray.

7

the_joseph•25d ago

The debate about feeding birds in winter - is it helping or hurting them?

My neighbor told me last December that I should stop putting out seed after a big snow because it makes birds dependent on humans. I kept feeding anyway, and I saw a flock of 15 chickadees and nuthatches survive a brutal cold snap in my backyard in Vermont. But now a local Audubon group put out a notice saying feeding can spread disease if you don't clean feeders weekly. Has anyone else gotten conflicting advice about winter feeding, and what do you go with?