Community Chat

[mousiegirl]

On 3/12/2015 Bird mama said:

Mousie, you are correct. The bronzewing is in the pigeon/dove family. I've found some interesting variations on the pigeon theme, so I will be sprinkling them in here and there in future posts. I've already got April planned out and almost 30 for May LOL. I try to bring interesting birds.

The bird of the day is the Masked Lapwing (in the Plover family)

Bird mama - you absolutely do post interesting birds, amazing how many different varieties there are.

[mousiegirl]

Hi everyone - we got a sprinkling Tuesday night, but the sun is back, though not too warm yet. It is supposed to be really rainy the last week of March, we will see.

I have been continuing to work on getting things to their forever home, but even after the remodeling, I still don't have as much storage space as I need, and I did get rid of things. I have been doing heavy duty cleaning as I want DD to see that I have done "something" since she was last home, lol. Kids notice everything when it comes to parents.

A few days ago, the weather was beautiful, so got into the yard for some weeding and repotting of some plants. I am expecting a shipment of Hostas on Monday for the newly created shade garden to be. After the new extended roof was created over the deck, it made a semi sunny area basically into a shady area, hisssss booo. I had planned to plant a large Hydrangea bed there, but they do need sun, and the only sun that area gets is so far away from the house, that I won't be able to plant them there. Now, I have a huge problem, as I have a ton of Hydrangeas to plant. Morning sun and afternoon shade, this will be tricky, if not impossible, but I will just have to make it work.

There is so much still to do inside, but once the weather is nice, I want to be outside, and there is so much to do outside as well.

I woke up the other morning to find a Mourning Dove asleep on my front deck railing, and soon was joined by the mate. They stayed for a few minutes, and I aimed my camera through a slit in the door of the room and zoomed in on them and did get wonderful pictures. Where there is a will, thee is a way, lol. It may be that their nest is in the cedar tree beyond the railing, but I havn't seen them since, nor heard them, so doubt it.

Tomorrow will be picking DD up, taking pups for nail clippings, and going to the produce market, the latter after I drop the three kids at home. I have the corned beef, but need the veges for the pot. I am Irish on both sides, but I am a mutt, as I have so much else in me.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

[mousiegirl]

I saw this on another thread.

[Puddles]

[Puddles]

[Winifred]

Am so very glad I went to the funeral. Am not a biggie on attending funerals but as I said so very glad I went - the service was awesome. The church was packed, people were standing. Had to chuckle at the pastor - he looked around and saw how full it was and said with a straight face "I think perhaps this is a good time to take up an offering." Sense of humor prevailed throughout with complete respect to the man who had passed. I learned a lot about he and his family - awesome.

Gonna be hot here today. Have another load of clothes in the washer - actually got my second load done yesterday before attending the funeral. Towels in the washer now. Grrrr - cannot get it across that bath towels are NOT for removing makeup. I cannot understand that. It's a colored towel so cannot use bleach on it - sure hope I can get it clean.

Gotta run, need to get dressed, get Davey in gear - first call to open his eyes and then try and get him in motion. LOL.

Have a great day.

[Bird mama]

Hello all - I had today scheduled as a vacation day and am spending it a bit differently than I planned.

Possummink - you know how you asked about the downtown garage birds? Well, one of them is resting comfortably down the hall from where I sit . Last summer, a pest control company applied lines of clear repellent that was supposed to be harmless. The general theory being that a bird doesn't like sticky feet and will not roost where it is sticky.

Yesterday as I was driving up the ramps I noticed a pigeon sitting near a well. I stopped my car and said, hey little buddy and it didn't fly away. Long story short, I came across the bird near the elevator (just sitting in a corner) at the end of the day as I was leaving work.

Roughly 1/3 (near the end) of the birds feather on each wing were stuck together from the harmless 'green' gel . It couldn't get off the ground to fly. If it can't fly, it doesn't eat or drink. The bird had tried to preen itself and the gel was on it's mouth and face.

I put the spare blanket from the trunk into the back seat and the bird became my passenger. That little bird travelled like it was born to riding in a car. I think it was happy to be in a warm car on a comfy surface.

I bathed it with Palmolive with Aloe (all I had) when I got home. I need to get some Dawn detergent today and do it again. I've been reading up on removing oils from birds feathers so this bird could be receiving a daily bath.

I read up on the product that the pest company used - it's predominantly geranium oil, but they do add white pepper to burn birds feet.

The little one slept well and eats comfortably. It will figure out the water dish. I have the bird sequestered from Grayson with a baby gate and large towel draped over the gate so they can hear each other, just not see each other. Actually Grayson does all the talking .

Girls - wish me luck. The bird's wings are strong. I just need to get rid of the gunk on the feathers. Do you think it's a bad idea if I release it from my house? Do you think it would get along with birds around here? Do you think it would fly all the way downtown?

[mousiegirl]

On 3/13/2015 Winifred said:

Am so very glad I went to the funeral. Am not a biggie on attending funerals but as I said so very glad I went - the service was awesome. The church was packed, people were standing. Had to chuckle at the pastor - he looked around and saw how full it was and said with a straight face "I think perhaps this is a good time to take up an offering." Sense of humor prevailed throughout with complete respect to the man who had passed. I learned a lot about he and his family - awesome.

Gonna be hot here today. Have another load of clothes in the washer - actually got my second load done yesterday before attending the funeral. Towels in the washer now. Grrrr - cannot get it across that bath towels are NOT for removing makeup. I cannot understand that. It's a colored towel so cannot use bleach on it - sure hope I can get it clean.

Gotta run, need to get dressed, get Davey in gear - first call to open his eyes and then try and get him in motion. LOL.

Have a great day.

Winifred, use liquid dish washing soap, it takes most stains out, let it sit a bit, then put it in the washing machine. DD used to do the same thing, black on the towels.

[mousiegirl]

On 3/13/2015 Bird mama said:

Hello all - I had today scheduled as a vacation day and am spending it a bit differently than I planned.

Possummink - you know how you asked about the downtown garage birds? Well, one of them is resting comfortably down the hall from where I sit . Last summer, a pest control company applied lines of clear repellent that was supposed to be harmless. The general theory being that a bird doesn't like sticky feet and will not roost where it is sticky.

Yesterday as I was driving up the ramps I noticed a pigeon sitting near a well. I stopped my car and said, hey little buddy and it didn't fly away. Long story short, I came across the bird near the elevator (just sitting in a corner) at the end of the day as I was leaving work.

Roughly 1/3 (near the end) of the birds feather on each wing were stuck together from the harmless 'green' gel . It couldn't get off the ground to fly. If it can't fly, it doesn't eat or drink. The bird had tried to preen itself and the gel was on it's mouth and face.

I put the spare blanket from the trunk into the back seat and the bird became my passenger. That little bird travelled like it was born to riding in a car. I think it was happy to be in a warm car on a comfy surface.

I bathed it with Palmolive with Aloe (all I had) when I got home. I need to get some Dawn detergent today and do it again. I've been reading up on removing oils from birds feathers so this bird could be receiving a daily bath.

I read up on the product that the pest company used - it's predominantly geranium oil, but they do add white pepper to burn birds feet.

The little one slept well and eats comfortably. It will figure out the water dish. I have the bird sequestered from Grayson with a baby gate and large towel draped over the gate so they can hear each other, just not see each other. Actually Grayson does all the talking .

Girls - wish me luck. The bird's wings are strong. I just need to get rid of the gunk on the feathers. Do you think it's a bad idea if I release it from my house? Do you think it would get along with birds around here? Do you think it would fly all the way downtown?

It's wonderful how you can save birds, Bird mama. It just may fly down town as this type of bird, as you know, always comes back to where it was born, or to home, at least. When I took a baby Mourning Dove to the Wildlife Rescue, I wanted to know about it's progress, and was told that it would be released in my yard. Well, someone forgot to tell me, and when I called, I was told that it probably would come back to my yard as it was born here. That was quite a distance from my home, a thirty minute drive, but from then on, when the doves came to nest, I wondered if it was one of them.

[possummink]

Hi Birding Friends, Warm and humid again here. Could use some rain though we got some the other night. The moisture just goes down into the sandy soil so fast that within a day or so plants need another drink.

Birdmama, I am so glad it was you who rescued that poor bird. I think it's so cruel to use gels like that to discourage the birds or whatever from perching. Why can't they find something harmless like a cloth/rag that flutters in the breeze or a noise maker that sounds off now and then? I hope that 'stuff' isn't poisonous, so that your little pigeon didn't ingest something harmful. Dawn is what most rescue organizations use to remove oils and other gunk from feathers and furs. Maybe Grayson wants you to have a new featheredbaby.

I remember using 'tartack' once to try and keep the raccoons off of one of the feeders. I put it on a limb leading to the feeder's hook on the tree. I got rid of it as soon as I saw a couple of feathers stuck to it. Out of a whole big branching tree, a bird landed or stepped into that sticky stuff. Never did use that stuff again. A lasting lesson for me.

I don't know much about how birds from one area "merge" with neighborhood or established flocks or groups. I know Homing Pigeons can find their way back to their homes, but I don't know about other pigeons. Is that gunk still around the whole garage area or was that pigeon just unlucky and happened to land in a spot where it still is? Let us know how your little bird is doing.

Winifred, My granddaughters do the same thing with makeup. Most of the time it comes out of colored washcloths and the towels. I use Tide with the Bleach alternative and add a Tide boost thingy. Cube, I guess. Seems to do a great job on the stains, blood, grease, mascara etc.

Mousie, Is DD is coming home from her Spring Break? My GSs are on break now just 1 week. My GDs at home are on their Spring Break and they have 2 weeks.

One of the reasons I got into the banana tree plantings, meaning close to 24 of them, is because the big Scotch pine we had shading our hostas and hydrangeas, died and we had nothing to keep those plants from being scorched by full sun, except to plant banana trees. They did a beautiful job, with their huge leaves that move back and forth in the breezes. Not we have Bald Cypress and Dawn Redwoods reaching the size where they will shade the those plants. We used to order hostas from Crownsville Nursery in Maryland and from another place in Illinois. We had over 150 species of them at one time, but the weaker ones have since died out. So many of the hosta varieties are bred for 'looks', color and striations, but not for longevity. Voles using mole runs, feasted on the root systems of many of ours, and also did the same to the hundreds of crocuses my brother planted. He was so discouraged that at times, he wouldn't even push the bulbs that the voles pushed out of their holes, back into the ground. I'd go out and push them back in with my feet, as my back can't take all that bending. Guess people thought I was doing a 'crazy' dance when I did that. Voles are so darn destructive, worse than moles, if possible. You'd think the cats would go after them. I know the red foxes used to do them in and the moles. I've seen them stand and listen for underground noise or digging and then pounce and catch the moles. Wish we still had a lot of foxes around, instead of coyotes.

Puddles, I saw the Houston weather forecast a bit ago and it looks like a bit of a cool down for you all. If you don't want it, please send it here.

I did fix our St. Patrick's Day supper last night as not all the family will be here for the actual day and that way we can have Reubens over the weekend. Amazingly, my GSs like the baby potatoes, carrots and a bit of cabbage + the corned beef. I got beautiful rounds at Publix. Not nearly the fat, if any, in the meat. DS made Reubens last night, as he doesn't like corned beef by itself. I put a very hot horseradish/mayo on mine. Wow, was it good.

Waving to all my Birding Friends. Have a lovely and relaxing rest of your day and have a fun weekend. Hard to believe March is almost half over.