So after the initial annual flurry of dead birds in our backyard this Spring (2) we've managed not to run up the count. This is great news.
While I can't recall precise numbers from the previous two years - I'm sure that we've never been as low as 2.
Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll manage to have 0 next year?
Wouldn't that be nice.
Showing posts with label Birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birds. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2015
Saturday, April 26, 2014
The Birds Are Back
It's finally spring and that means that means the annual return of many species of birds to Regina. Unfortunately, it has also meant the return of two undesirable types of birds to our house and yard.
The first type of undesirable bird to return were those of the dead variety. So far I've found four dead birds in just the past few days. Even more unfortunately, I've now also found my first dead robin AKA first dead bird of any real size. I'm really hoping that these four are it for this trend this year.
The second type of undesirable birds to return this year are the pigeons.
A weekend or two ago we first heard the pleasant and distracting coos of pigeons roosting just outside of our bedroom window. Since then it has become a relatively regular occurrence. Maybe the most unfortunate development associated with the return of the pigeons is that they've started hanging out in the roof above our front porch - something we'd really like to discourage.
This morning I finally got around to putting up some of the mesh we used last year to discourage pigeon/miscellaneous bird roosting. Unfortunately, because prominence (i.e. the front porch) Jeannette was reasonably hesitant to ensconce the works of it in anti-bird mesh.
This reasonable position finally motivated us to look for anti-pigeon spikes that had been recommended to us last year by our neighbours' friend.
At $10 a foot, these spikes are a little more expensive than I'd hoped, but they look as though they'll be a little easier to install and will hopefully be a little less noticeable than wrapping everything in mesh.
Of course, there are still likely to be at least a few locations where mesh will be our only option.
Fortunately for my laziness, it's started raining. Now I'll be able to put spike installation off until at least tomorrow (though it really should be done as soon as possible so the pigeons don't develop more of a taste for our eaves and porch than they already have).
The first type of undesirable bird to return were those of the dead variety. So far I've found four dead birds in just the past few days. Even more unfortunately, I've now also found my first dead robin AKA first dead bird of any real size. I'm really hoping that these four are it for this trend this year.
The second type of undesirable birds to return this year are the pigeons.
A weekend or two ago we first heard the pleasant and distracting coos of pigeons roosting just outside of our bedroom window. Since then it has become a relatively regular occurrence. Maybe the most unfortunate development associated with the return of the pigeons is that they've started hanging out in the roof above our front porch - something we'd really like to discourage.
This morning I finally got around to putting up some of the mesh we used last year to discourage pigeon/miscellaneous bird roosting. Unfortunately, because prominence (i.e. the front porch) Jeannette was reasonably hesitant to ensconce the works of it in anti-bird mesh.
This reasonable position finally motivated us to look for anti-pigeon spikes that had been recommended to us last year by our neighbours' friend.
Of course, there are still likely to be at least a few locations where mesh will be our only option.
Fortunately for my laziness, it's started raining. Now I'll be able to put spike installation off until at least tomorrow (though it really should be done as soon as possible so the pigeons don't develop more of a taste for our eaves and porch than they already have).
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The Birds III
After a first round of nest removals a few weeks ago I thought I had vanquished our pigeons.
Of course, it only took me a few hours to figure out that I hadn't done a good enough job to really prevent our persistent pigeons from returning.
Now, several weeks later, I am again in the position of thinking that I have permanently eliminated the possibility pigeons infesting our eaves. Though, as was the case last time, my hubris will surely lead to my defeat.
One eventuality that I was hoping to avoid by removing the nests so early after the melt was that I would be removing a nest filled with eggs. Not surprisingly, when I did the first round of nest removals my wishes came true and there were no eggs in the nests.
Yesterday, almost immediately, I learned that I wouldn't be so luck the next time around. The pigeons, in just a few days, had not only constructed a nest but also deposited an egg.
For some reason I was careful with the nest and egg as I removed them. I managed to get the whole package down the ladder without much disturbance. For no apparent reason, I then handed the egg-filled nest to Jeannette
The sad reality is that as soon as I removed the nest from the eaves the egg was doomed to never come to fruition. Of course, as much as Jeannette knew this in her head she very much disliked the idea of throwing a more or less fully formed nest with egg in the trash (even though the handless pigeons could do nothing save the already doomed attempt at offspring).
Once I went back up the ladder to continue the twig removal I learned that I was not removing one nest, but two. It seems that the pigeons had actually built their nest over the nest of much smaller birds. And had it not been for the pigeon nest I would likely not have been motivated to remove the second, smaller nest (this one with two eggs).
These too went in the trash.
Once these nests were removed I added the new chicken wire. Hopefully my aggressive application of the stuff will be enough to keep future potential residents away. In reality what it will likely do is move birds from this site to other sites in our eaves. Maybe once we've finished this game of musical nesting sites I'll have wrapped all of my eaves in chicken wire and staple gun staples.
My ladder-loaning neighbour's sake I hope it doesn't come to that (though it is definitely the case that he and his wife are very much in favour of my attempts to rid our house of pigeons).
Though considering that as of last night the pigeons were on our other neighbours chimney across from their former nesting site surveying the situation does not really suggest that they have accepted defeat and are looking for new, distant nesting site.
The fact that they were there again this morning really doesn't bode well for the "they'll move far away once their nest has been removed" hypothesis.
Oh, and then later in the day when I was dealing with our newly established compost bin I found another dead bird.
Of course, it only took me a few hours to figure out that I hadn't done a good enough job to really prevent our persistent pigeons from returning.
Now, several weeks later, I am again in the position of thinking that I have permanently eliminated the possibility pigeons infesting our eaves. Though, as was the case last time, my hubris will surely lead to my defeat.
One eventuality that I was hoping to avoid by removing the nests so early after the melt was that I would be removing a nest filled with eggs. Not surprisingly, when I did the first round of nest removals my wishes came true and there were no eggs in the nests.
Yesterday, almost immediately, I learned that I wouldn't be so luck the next time around. The pigeons, in just a few days, had not only constructed a nest but also deposited an egg.
For some reason I was careful with the nest and egg as I removed them. I managed to get the whole package down the ladder without much disturbance. For no apparent reason, I then handed the egg-filled nest to Jeannette
The sad reality is that as soon as I removed the nest from the eaves the egg was doomed to never come to fruition. Of course, as much as Jeannette knew this in her head she very much disliked the idea of throwing a more or less fully formed nest with egg in the trash (even though the handless pigeons could do nothing save the already doomed attempt at offspring).
Once I went back up the ladder to continue the twig removal I learned that I was not removing one nest, but two. It seems that the pigeons had actually built their nest over the nest of much smaller birds. And had it not been for the pigeon nest I would likely not have been motivated to remove the second, smaller nest (this one with two eggs).
These too went in the trash.
Once these nests were removed I added the new chicken wire. Hopefully my aggressive application of the stuff will be enough to keep future potential residents away. In reality what it will likely do is move birds from this site to other sites in our eaves. Maybe once we've finished this game of musical nesting sites I'll have wrapped all of my eaves in chicken wire and staple gun staples.
My ladder-loaning neighbour's sake I hope it doesn't come to that (though it is definitely the case that he and his wife are very much in favour of my attempts to rid our house of pigeons).
Though considering that as of last night the pigeons were on our other neighbours chimney across from their former nesting site surveying the situation does not really suggest that they have accepted defeat and are looking for new, distant nesting site.
The fact that they were there again this morning really doesn't bode well for the "they'll move far away once their nest has been removed" hypothesis.
Oh, and then later in the day when I was dealing with our newly established compost bin I found another dead bird.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
The Birds II
It seems that my pigeon deterrence installations of a few weeks ago weren't quite as successful as I'd hoped. Over the past few days what had just been hanging out under our eaves has reverted to a major nest building operation.
Obviously I will have to initiate a nest removal operation later this morning or early this afternoon.
Another worrying trend is that the appearance of dead birds in our backyards, at least as of a few days ago, has continued. On the same day I even found two just feet apart from each other.
Of course, it took me a little longer to spot the one hiding in the fence.
On a more positive note, aside from the bird nest removal project we're also hoping to finally get around to planting our garden (after we add another few bags of peat moss and topsoil to the clay base that is Regina soil).
Obviously I will have to initiate a nest removal operation later this morning or early this afternoon.
Another worrying trend is that the appearance of dead birds in our backyards, at least as of a few days ago, has continued. On the same day I even found two just feet apart from each other.
Of course, it took me a little longer to spot the one hiding in the fence.
On a more positive note, aside from the bird nest removal project we're also hoping to finally get around to planting our garden (after we add another few bags of peat moss and topsoil to the clay base that is Regina soil).
Sunday, May 05, 2013
The Birds
Just after we moved in to our new house we noticed that several varieties of birds have, at one time or another, nested in our eaves (because they are particularly suited to nesting). Based on some bird dropping patterns I was relatively certain that at least one or two of the nesting sites were still at least partially active. Even worse than the presence of some kind of generic nesting bird is that there was a fair bit to indicate that the droppings leavers were in fact a pair of pigeons.
Unfortunately, because of the snow and ice that we've had until quite recently (and still have in a few areas of our backyard) we were unable to do much about rendering our eaves less inhabitable until quite recently.
Yesterday, just as we were thinking of tackling the problem, we noticed that what we hoped was a dormant nesting site was actually active and growing quite quickly. Somehow in the hours since we'd last been through our back door the pigeons had carried all kinds of sticks and twigs to the nest (and quite a number ended up on the ground below the nest).
Clearly this was something that did merit our attention immediately.
Of course, once we had our extension ladder in place it became clear that it was hilariously short and was clearly not going to be of much use when it came to removing the nests and affixing chicken wire to prevent the return of any future nests. Fortunately, our neighbours, who were just about as anxious as we were to not have pigeons roosting in the neighbourhood, loaned us their taller extension ladder.
First I had to remove the previously installed pigeon deterrent mesh (that was obviously no longer serving its original purpose). Once the old mesh and nests were cleared away I had to add new chicken wire.
Fortunately, I soon discovered that we were removing the nests before any eggs had been laid or all that much work had gone into nest preparation.
Anyway, in total we shut down about four of these nesting sites around our house. We had to leave one that we could not reach with either of the ladders and decided not to tackle another that had non-pigeons.
While the project generally went quite smoothly, it was less than pleasant to have to deal with ancient bird excrement while on a ladder trying to juggle chicken wire, a staple gun, and a utility knife. Fortunately I had work gloves, a mask, and safety goggles to make the process a little less unpleasant.
Ideally we might have cleaned the beams before we affixed the mesh, but unfortunately that just wasn't in the cards yesterday (though by the end of the day we did have a hose).
Of course, the real bummer of the day was that as we were preparing dinner on our barbecue we noticed that while the pigeons were no longer able to access their old roost, because of the way I'd installed the mesh on one of the alternative roost sites they were able to kind of hangout, even though it seemed to be less than idea. Crap.
I did some more chicken wire installation today but it definitely wasn't enough - and I couldn't reach the really high parts. Maybe when our neighbour has his ladder out I'll be able to borrow it again and fix up this beam. The only good news is that I now have a much better sense of how I need to install the chicken wire so that the birds won't be able to make use of the site.
Of course, removing nest sites wasn't nearly the end of the bird related activity we've had this weekend.
While doing a backyard inspection and attempting to guess what be growing in our previously snow-covered yard I found a small dead bird under an evergreen.
Then, a few minutes later, while continuing my yard inspection I came across a bird skeleton that had more-or-less been picked clean by something. I was definitely much more curious about skinned and de-fleshed bird than Jeannette.
It just seems obvious to me that one would want to know how it came to pass that this bird was left without wings, skin, feathers, or flesh, but was left with feet and tufts of down around its feet. And does the redness suggest that the gorefest was recent?
Of course, while I may be curious to know the cause of this avian destruction, I hope that bird skeletons picked clean are not a common occurrence in our backyard.
Oh, and we've been almost overrun with all kinds of other birds, particularly robins. At one point this evening there were about five types of birds in our backyard at the same time - and throughout the day we saw quite a few other varieties in addition to these four. Definitely a birdy time of year.
Unfortunately, because of the snow and ice that we've had until quite recently (and still have in a few areas of our backyard) we were unable to do much about rendering our eaves less inhabitable until quite recently.
Yesterday, just as we were thinking of tackling the problem, we noticed that what we hoped was a dormant nesting site was actually active and growing quite quickly. Somehow in the hours since we'd last been through our back door the pigeons had carried all kinds of sticks and twigs to the nest (and quite a number ended up on the ground below the nest).
Clearly this was something that did merit our attention immediately.
Of course, once we had our extension ladder in place it became clear that it was hilariously short and was clearly not going to be of much use when it came to removing the nests and affixing chicken wire to prevent the return of any future nests. Fortunately, our neighbours, who were just about as anxious as we were to not have pigeons roosting in the neighbourhood, loaned us their taller extension ladder.
First I had to remove the previously installed pigeon deterrent mesh (that was obviously no longer serving its original purpose). Once the old mesh and nests were cleared away I had to add new chicken wire.
Fortunately, I soon discovered that we were removing the nests before any eggs had been laid or all that much work had gone into nest preparation.
Anyway, in total we shut down about four of these nesting sites around our house. We had to leave one that we could not reach with either of the ladders and decided not to tackle another that had non-pigeons.
While the project generally went quite smoothly, it was less than pleasant to have to deal with ancient bird excrement while on a ladder trying to juggle chicken wire, a staple gun, and a utility knife. Fortunately I had work gloves, a mask, and safety goggles to make the process a little less unpleasant.
Ideally we might have cleaned the beams before we affixed the mesh, but unfortunately that just wasn't in the cards yesterday (though by the end of the day we did have a hose).
Of course, the real bummer of the day was that as we were preparing dinner on our barbecue we noticed that while the pigeons were no longer able to access their old roost, because of the way I'd installed the mesh on one of the alternative roost sites they were able to kind of hangout, even though it seemed to be less than idea. Crap.
I did some more chicken wire installation today but it definitely wasn't enough - and I couldn't reach the really high parts. Maybe when our neighbour has his ladder out I'll be able to borrow it again and fix up this beam. The only good news is that I now have a much better sense of how I need to install the chicken wire so that the birds won't be able to make use of the site.
Of course, removing nest sites wasn't nearly the end of the bird related activity we've had this weekend.
While doing a backyard inspection and attempting to guess what be growing in our previously snow-covered yard I found a small dead bird under an evergreen.
Then, a few minutes later, while continuing my yard inspection I came across a bird skeleton that had more-or-less been picked clean by something. I was definitely much more curious about skinned and de-fleshed bird than Jeannette.
It just seems obvious to me that one would want to know how it came to pass that this bird was left without wings, skin, feathers, or flesh, but was left with feet and tufts of down around its feet. And does the redness suggest that the gorefest was recent?
Of course, while I may be curious to know the cause of this avian destruction, I hope that bird skeletons picked clean are not a common occurrence in our backyard.
Oh, and we've been almost overrun with all kinds of other birds, particularly robins. At one point this evening there were about five types of birds in our backyard at the same time - and throughout the day we saw quite a few other varieties in addition to these four. Definitely a birdy time of year.
Monday, May 07, 2012
Squawking?
This morning I was sitting drinking a coffee when I heard some squawking overhead. I looked to see some relatively large number of geese (?) flying over head in a series of Vs.
It was kind of exciting to see such a large number of animals traveling in formation. At times it's almost easy to forget that this kind of thing happens pretty regularly.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
On the Road: Sackville to Charlottetown
This morning we awoke on the early side of things and soon found ourselves on the road to Dorchester. Before long we were in front of the town hall looking at the World's Largest Sand Piper, a local landmark. Our next stop in Dorchester was their famous penitentiary.
Almost as soon as we pulled into the institution's parking lot we were greeted by a guard in a van who informed us that if we did not have an appointment we were not welcome on the premises. Apparently this jail, unlike some of the others in the Canadian federal jail system, does not have a craft shop selling goods made by the inmates.
After heading back through Dorchester we made our way to Memramcook to look for the Monument Lefebvre. After some hunting around and a little confusion we figure out that the monument was actually a building that it was closed on Sundays in the off season.
Our next goal was to find a local covered bridge. Unfortunately the tourist map we had wasn't very precise so we didn't know exactly where the bridge was or how to get there. After about 30 minutes of searching we eventually encountered a jogger who was able to point us in the right direction.
[Embedded video]
As you have seen, it was something of a dud as far as covered bridges are concerned.
After a return trip to Sackville and a visit to the Mount Allison art gallery we continued along to PEI and Charlottetown. Of course we crossed at the bridge instead of taking the ferry (which we later learned isn't even operating at this time of year).
[Embedded video]
Shortly after arriving in Charlottetown my father and I visited some friend's of his who lived in St. John's in the early 1980s. As they have now lived here for 25 years I though that this couple might be able to recommend a few things for Jeannette and I to do tomorrow while my father is in his meeting. Much to my surprise they couldn't really come up with anything other than visiting some of the local beaches and the comparing them other beaches. Of course, as it is pretty cold outside this sounds a little less fun than it might be in the summer.
For dinner we went out for fish and chips at a local restaurant. What was particularly notable about this restaurant was that they served a variety of fish, including cod, haddock, halibut, and sole.
We are now back in the hotel room and trying to dink around with bluetooth so that all three of us can use our room's single wired internet connection. So far we have two computers up and running but have been unable to link up the third machine.
Almost as soon as we pulled into the institution's parking lot we were greeted by a guard in a van who informed us that if we did not have an appointment we were not welcome on the premises. Apparently this jail, unlike some of the others in the Canadian federal jail system, does not have a craft shop selling goods made by the inmates.
After heading back through Dorchester we made our way to Memramcook to look for the Monument Lefebvre. After some hunting around and a little confusion we figure out that the monument was actually a building that it was closed on Sundays in the off season.
Our next goal was to find a local covered bridge. Unfortunately the tourist map we had wasn't very precise so we didn't know exactly where the bridge was or how to get there. After about 30 minutes of searching we eventually encountered a jogger who was able to point us in the right direction.
[Embedded video]
As you have seen, it was something of a dud as far as covered bridges are concerned.
After a return trip to Sackville and a visit to the Mount Allison art gallery we continued along to PEI and Charlottetown. Of course we crossed at the bridge instead of taking the ferry (which we later learned isn't even operating at this time of year).
[Embedded video]
Shortly after arriving in Charlottetown my father and I visited some friend's of his who lived in St. John's in the early 1980s. As they have now lived here for 25 years I though that this couple might be able to recommend a few things for Jeannette and I to do tomorrow while my father is in his meeting. Much to my surprise they couldn't really come up with anything other than visiting some of the local beaches and the comparing them other beaches. Of course, as it is pretty cold outside this sounds a little less fun than it might be in the summer.
For dinner we went out for fish and chips at a local restaurant. What was particularly notable about this restaurant was that they served a variety of fish, including cod, haddock, halibut, and sole.
We are now back in the hotel room and trying to dink around with bluetooth so that all three of us can use our room's single wired internet connection. So far we have two computers up and running but have been unable to link up the third machine.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Boid
I was reminded of the Ironman 2 bird scene when I saw a few birds outside my window bathing in a puddle. The connection is obvious isn't it?
[Embedded video]
[Embedded video]
Thursday, March 27, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 167
-Today was another pleasant day in the slightly above zero range. It is now possible to see almost all of most sidewalks and diminishing, but still sizable, snowbanks. More importantly, for the first time this year, I was able to spot an early bloom (reminiscent of a crocus). I guess all of this is to say that it is starting to feel like spring.
-As of moments ago I moved to 12/54 on this year's Roll Up the Rim. As you can see, I am still playing hard. I hope to keep up my momentum for the rest of the contest.
-While walking to school yesterday morning I noticed a seagull in the air above me. It seemed to be swooping around rather frivolously. Moments later I noticed and heard a splotch of bird feces. Fortunately, I was unhit, but only narrowly. Had my right foot and attached leg been about 6 inches further to the right I would have been nailed.
-Upon returning from school today, I noticed that one of my recent bean plants has started to sprout. Nearby there seems to be another sprout, though at the moment I don't know exactly what it is (as I planted beans, peas, and peppers simultaneously).
-As the temperatures begin to rise as we enter spring, the level of heating in our apartment remains unchanged. This means that while it is only a few degrees above zero, I am able to sit comfortably in shorts and a tee-shirt while the living room window and balcony door are both open. (I am also blasting the Planets).
-In the past few days I have really begun to notice that Nithum and I seem to generate a large amount of garbage. This is striking because we both take care to recycle many items, and additionally don't eat many foods with excessive amounts of packaging.
It is possible that part of the issue is that we don't fill our garbage bags completely before tying them off. This is largely because of our relatively small main garbage can, which seems to only accommodate a few items before we are required to engage in some pretty complicated stacking activities.
-A few days ago I recall coming up with a great idea to post. I was thinking that it would be well received, and also useful. Of course, now that I am ready to post, I have no idea what it was I was going to say. I need to start writing these things down as I come up with them if I don't want to forget them.
-As of moments ago I moved to 12/54 on this year's Roll Up the Rim. As you can see, I am still playing hard. I hope to keep up my momentum for the rest of the contest.
-While walking to school yesterday morning I noticed a seagull in the air above me. It seemed to be swooping around rather frivolously. Moments later I noticed and heard a splotch of bird feces. Fortunately, I was unhit, but only narrowly. Had my right foot and attached leg been about 6 inches further to the right I would have been nailed.
-Upon returning from school today, I noticed that one of my recent bean plants has started to sprout. Nearby there seems to be another sprout, though at the moment I don't know exactly what it is (as I planted beans, peas, and peppers simultaneously).
-As the temperatures begin to rise as we enter spring, the level of heating in our apartment remains unchanged. This means that while it is only a few degrees above zero, I am able to sit comfortably in shorts and a tee-shirt while the living room window and balcony door are both open. (I am also blasting the Planets).
-In the past few days I have really begun to notice that Nithum and I seem to generate a large amount of garbage. This is striking because we both take care to recycle many items, and additionally don't eat many foods with excessive amounts of packaging.
It is possible that part of the issue is that we don't fill our garbage bags completely before tying them off. This is largely because of our relatively small main garbage can, which seems to only accommodate a few items before we are required to engage in some pretty complicated stacking activities.
-A few days ago I recall coming up with a great idea to post. I was thinking that it would be well received, and also useful. Of course, now that I am ready to post, I have no idea what it was I was going to say. I need to start writing these things down as I come up with them if I don't want to forget them.
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