Nature is beautiful and stupid

"CB" (jrcb) 05/09/2019 at 15:03 • Filed to: I am just but a passing speck in the grand scheme of things

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Sometimes I dislike living in a swamp, but my backyard is basically a bird sanctuary. This yellow bellied sapsucker (we think [and my favourite name for a bird {thanks Calvin and Hobbes!}]) slammed into my window. Flipped her over, put her in some grass, and she took off after about half an hour. Hopefully she recovers.

Chariotoflove > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:17

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“ I think that I shall never see a thing as painful as a tree.”

-George of the Jungle

Anyway, there is a reason the term “bird brain” is a derogatory epithet. Still, sometimes I envy them their freedom of flight, their grace, and their beauty...if not their diet.

user314 > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:17

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So when birds get knocked unconscious , do they see little people circling around their heads?

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:18

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Hope so. We live in the county, with ponds and hay field behind us. We also have a bird sanctuary of sorts. My wife has several different feeders for them, and we get tons of birds coming by the house, including lots of hummingbirds. Last year, a male got caught up in a soccer net we have for the kids and died. Was incredible to see him close up (his iridescent feathers, his tiny tongue, etc.) - I wish I’d taken the time to dissect him with my kids, or find a way to keep the skeleton. 

CB > Chariotoflove 05/09/2019 at 15:19

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I watch them eat all the worms and bugs in the backyard, I agree on all your points.

CB > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 05/09/2019 at 15:20

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Wow, that’s incredible and also quite sad. It’s impressive to see them up close, eh?

vondon302 > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:21

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You need some bird stickers on the windows or it just going to happen again.

I also live in a swamp and had a coopers hawk chase a dove into my window. They both hit it. How it didn't break I'll never know. Hawk shook it off dove broke it's neck.

TheRealBicycleBuck > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:22

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Hello, fellow swamp-dweller!

We have birds nesting all around our house. Chickadees out front, mockingbirds and blue jays out back, and some bluebirds in the side yard. All of them occasionally crash into windows, but the bluebirds have a daily ritual where they try to defend their territory from the other bluebirds who appear in the bathroom window every morning. We’ve tried to leave the bathroom light on so the reflection on the outside glass isn’t so strong, but the sill y birds still try to attack the interlopers.

CB > vondon302 05/09/2019 at 15:23

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Smart. One of my coworkers put an owl picture in his window to scare off the woodpeckers.

Svend > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:24

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Thankfully t here’s loads of funny bird names.

Kori Bustard, Abbott’s Booby, G0-Away-Bird, Horned Screamer, Common Shag, Titmouse, Hoary Puffleg, Masked Booby, Dickcissel, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, etc...

CB > Svend 05/09/2019 at 15:26

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My aunt’s boat was named Sula Sula, just so she could call her boat a booby.

vondon302 > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:26

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I might try that. They’ve been hitting my siding “sounding” to attack mates.

Sounds like someone's hitting the house with a hammer on the inside. 

CB > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/09/2019 at 15:26

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On the plus side, it’s nice just to sit for a few minutes and watch everything go on, eh?

CB > vondon302 05/09/2019 at 15:28

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We have that problem, too. Thing is, I like the birds around, so part of me might take the good with the bad. My house creaks and drips and makes all sorts of noises, so a bit of pecking is nothing.

vondon302 > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:32

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Lol. Yeah my wife spends alot of money feeding them.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:32

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We have flickers, pilleated and harry’s wood peckers, I think sap suckers and harry’s are the same bird. The flickers are assholes, the pille ated peckers are cool AF. Mostly chick-a-dee’s running into our windows. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:37

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Definitely.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:40

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Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:40

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Cardinals can fuck off.

CB > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 05/09/2019 at 15:41

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Oh wow, that’s a beautiful bird.

CB > Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! 05/09/2019 at 15:41

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Haven’t seen too many out here, thankfully.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:44

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We also see a good number of these:

As well as great blue herons by the pond:

My wife spotted a great horned owl one evening.

So glad my kids are growing up with all this in our back yard. 

CalzoneGolem > Svend 05/09/2019 at 15:44

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CB > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 05/09/2019 at 15:48

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It’s one thing I love about where I am now. I grew up right in Toronto, Ontario, so I very rarely saw much wildlife unless we went up to the cottage.

Svend > CalzoneGolem 05/09/2019 at 15:48

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Erm,,,,, erm,,,,,,,, nope. I’ve got nothing to or for that. 

ttyymmnn > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:48

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I think that might be a hairy woodpecker. Either way, they can be pretty stupid. This the hole some dumbass woodpecker pecked on a post on my front  porch.

CB > ttyymmnn 05/09/2019 at 15:50

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See, the underside appeared to be yellow, which is why yellow bellied seems more appropriate. But my ornithology is lacking, and I’m going to be honest, if you held a gun to my head and asked me to be able to tell the difference, I probably couldn’t.

CB > ttyymmnn 05/09/2019 at 15:50

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See, the underside appeared to be yellow, which is why yellow bellied seems more appropriate. But my ornithology is lacking, and I’m going to be honest, if you held a gun to my head and asked me to be able to tell the difference, I probably couldn’t.

ttyymmnn > CB 05/09/2019 at 15:51

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Tits or GTFO.

CalzoneGolem > Svend 05/09/2019 at 15:53

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Svend > CalzoneGolem 05/09/2019 at 15:56

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No mate, your killing me here.

I want to pierce my ear drums but I don’t want those to be the last things I ever hear. 

Boxer_4 > ttyymmnn 05/09/2019 at 16:02

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My parents get those at their house; it’s amusing when they go after the transformer. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > CB 05/09/2019 at 16:02

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It can be nice . My favorite part is when my big dog spots a lizard . Don’t worry, she hasn’t caught one yet.

vicali > CB 05/09/2019 at 16:03

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All the Flickrs in our neighbourhhod are jerks.. starting at 5am;

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/09/2019 at 16:04

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My mother’s puppy has successfully caught crayfish several times from the creek behind the house. Loves the water.

Discerning > CB 05/09/2019 at 16:05

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Definitely a yellow bellied sapsucker (also a favorite bird name for me). The markings are spot on and that’s the bea k of a sapsucker from what I can see. I used to see them pretty frequently in NY, but I don’t seem to notice them in Georgia.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 05/09/2019 at 16:13

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Two tits, nice. The only thing better is a flock of tits.

ttyymmnn > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/09/2019 at 16:15

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Those are actually great tits . And who doesn’t like a pair of great tits?

BTW, if you are looking for pictures of birds, don’t just google “tits.”

ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > CB 05/09/2019 at 16:18

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That is a Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 05/09/2019 at 16:24

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I’m at work, you think I’m gonna google tits? I like my job. 

CalzoneGolem > Svend 05/09/2019 at 16:27

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ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback > ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback 05/09/2019 at 16:28

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I use the app all the time, and it really is awesome for identifying birds. This is the first time I have used the photo ID option and I am happily surprised how well it works. Once it identifies the bird, it gives you the background on the bird and plenty of other pictures to use to help confim the identification results.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CB 05/09/2019 at 16:38

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It means an extra 10 minutes of drive time pretty much wherever we’re going, and that we can’t bounce home real quick after work/school and before any evening activities, but the benefits are hard to quantify.

CB > ArmadaExpress drives a turbo outback 05/09/2019 at 16:47

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Excellent, I should use it. I’ve been relying on a bird watching friend and loads of Wikipedia reading to figure out what’s been in the backyard.

TheRealBicycleBuck > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/09/2019 at 16:55

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Our new lab loves the water. Goofy thing wants to go outside every time it rains so he can run and play. Here he is playing in the puddles. I was standing on the porch, trying to convince him to come inside.

The big fuzzy dog won’t go into the rain on her own even if she hasn’t been out since the night before. We have to push her off the porch to get her to go and take care of her business.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/09/2019 at 17:08

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Ours is a heeler. Not really known for being a water dog, must have caught some recessive genes. Likes baths, runs in the creek with glee.

DipodomysDeserti > CB 05/09/2019 at 21:24

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I just read a story about and Australian  DJ who died after running through a glass door. It’s not just birds who have an issue with this.