Babble Community

c/early-morning-birds

11

craig.mila•5h ago

Felt dumb when I realized finches just need a specific perch angle to use a tube feeder

Spent like 3 weeks wondering why goldfinches ignored my fancy new feeder until I tilted the perches down 15 degrees and now they show up every dawn like clockwork has anyone else had to tweak something dumb like that?

2

diana_west27•11h ago

Saw a Northern Parula at the pond behind the Aldi off Highway 9 this morning

I always just walk past that little drainage pond on my way to grab groceries, but today I actually stopped to watch. This tiny blue-gray bird with yellow patches was hopping around the cattails, and I looked it up when I got home. Turns out it's a Northern Parula, and they usually stay high in the canopy, so spotting one at ground level felt like a lucky break. Has anyone else seen a bird in a weird spot that made you stop and check the guide?

9

alexk60•1d ago

That old guy at the park bench changed how I see crows

He told me crows remember faces and will bring you shiny things if you leave peanuts out, so I tried it for 3 months and now I have a little rock collection on my porch, has anyone else had a crow drop stuff off for them?

25

jennifer_jenkins•2d ago

My neighbor's kid said something about the finches that stuck with me

I was out on my porch around 6am the other week, just watching the usual crowd at my feeder. A little girl from next door came over and asked what I was doing, and I told her I was just watching the finches start their day. She looked at them for a minute and then said real quiet, "They don't seem worried about anything, do they?" I laughed at first, but then I thought about it later that night. I've been getting up before dawn for years now, and she was right. They just go about their business, chirping and eating, no stress about yesterday or tomorrow. It made me wonder when I stopped seeing them that way, you know? Has anyone else had a kid say something that made you look at the birds different? I'm still thinking about it every morning now.

32

vera514•4d ago

I finally get why the chickadees show up at 6:10 on the dot

For about two years I just put out seed whenever I remembered, usually around 8 or 9 AM after coffee. Then last month I noticed a pair of chickadees waiting on the fence at 6:10 AM every morning, so I started filling the feeder at 6:00 sharp. Now I have a regular group of 5 chickadees and a couple of tufted titmice that show up right on schedule. Has anyone else noticed their birds getting set in their ways about timing?

14

jana_hart18•4d ago

My neighbor said I was scaring the birds away with my feeder placement

I had my feeder right by the kitchen window so I could watch them up close, but an old birder told me the reflection off the glass was making them nervous and they'd fly off fast. I moved it 15 feet into the yard last week and now the cardinals hang around for minutes instead of seconds. Has anyone else dealt with finding the right spot for their feeder?

7

drew_reed62•4d ago

Woke up at 5:30 AM for the dawn chorus and my binoculars broke

I sat down with my coffee, ready to watch the robins in the oak out back, and when I lifted my binos the left lens just fell right out onto the grass. Has anyone else had a pair just give up like that out of nowhere?

22

the_amy•4d ago

A wet bird feeder taught me an important lesson about placement

I hung my feeder under a gutter downspout and after a heavy rain last week it clogged with wet seed, so I moved it to a covered porch spot and now the finches visit twice as often - has anyone else dealt with moisture ruining their seed?

14

hannah_perry•4d ago

Rainy Tuesday last week turned me into a blue jay fan

I always thought blue jays were just noisy bullies that chased the smaller birds off. Last Tuesday it poured all morning and I almost didn't go out to refill the feeder near my porch. While I was out there soaked, a blue jay landed three feet away and just watched me. It didn't squawk or dive at me, it just stood there dripping wet and let me pour seed. Now I actually look forward to seeing them show up around 6:15. Has anyone else had a bird surprise you like that?

7

craig.mila•5d ago

Neighbor's early morning rant changed how I watch the robins

My neighbor across the street yelled at me last Tuesday at 5:30 AM for standing too close to the bush where the robins nest. He said I was stressing them out and they might abandon their eggs. I thought he was being dramatic, but then I looked it up online and found a study from Cornell that said nesting birds can get spooked by people getting within 10 feet. I've been watching those robins for three weeks now, always getting as close as I could for a good photo. Turns out I might have been messing up their whole breeding cycle without realizing it. Now I keep my distance and use binoculars instead, and honestly I see way more of their natural behavior that way. Has anyone else had to change their bird watching habits after learning something new?

24

wells.olivia•5d ago

My reward for staying quiet on the back porch every morning

I started sitting still at 6am on my back steps last spring, and yesterday a pair of goldfinches landed right on the feeder while I was watching. Has anyone else found that just staying quiet and not moving is the best trick for getting closer to the birds?

14

the_max•6d ago

PSA: Picked a cheap bird feeder from Walmart over a proper one from the hardware store. Regretted it in 3 days.

The plastic tray cracked on day two when some rain got in and froze. By day three a squirrel had chewed through the cheap metal mesh. Woke up to seed all over my deck and no birds for a week until I replaced it with a steel one from Tractor Supply. Has anyone else had luck with DIY squirrel-proofing or should I just pony up for the expensive stuff?

1

claire_gibson•6d ago

Swapped my old bird feeder for a tray feeder last month and it changed everything

I used to hang a tube feeder with perches, but all I got was finches and the occasional chickadee. Then I switched to a simple platform tray near my window, and now I'm seeing doves, sparrows, and even a blue jay showing up at dawn. Has anyone else had a specific feeder style make a big difference in what birds visit?

16

smith.anna•6d ago

Caught three finches playing king of the mountain on my bird bath at dawn yesterday

Honestly I didn't even know finches did that kind of thing. I was sitting on my porch in Tulsa with my coffee around 6 AM and this one little house finch just plopped right into the bath and started splashing like crazy. Then two more showed up and they started taking turns knocking each other off the rim. Like one would hop up on the edge, the other would flap and bump it off, then the third would slide in and repeat the whole thing. Went on for a solid 8 minutes before a blue jay showed up and chased them all off. Has anyone else seen birds acting like total goofballs in your yard or was this just a one-off weird morning?

19

clark.alex•6d ago

Tried staying in bed an extra 15 minutes instead of getting up for the dawn robins and missed a cardinal pair fighting over a feeder.

Woke up to an empty yard and just a single confused sparrow, so next time I'm picking the birds over the snooze button, have you guys ever regretted skipping a morning?

-1

elizabeths51•8d ago

So I tried seed mixes vs single type seed for finches this morning

Been putting out a cheap wild bird mix for months and the sparrows always get to it first, but last week I switched to just straight nyjer seed in a mesh feeder. The goldfinches showed up within 15 minutes and it was way less messy on my deck. Has anyone else noticed a big difference with simple seed over the blends?

5

the_lee•8d ago

That squirrel deterrent I saw this morning actually worked

I was out at 6am with my coffee and watched this one squirrel do its usual acrobatics to get to my nyjer feeder. Then a neighbor walked by and said he uses a slinky around the pole, like a snake, and the squirrels just give up. I grabbed an old slinky from my kid's toy bin and put it on last night. This morning, no squirrel, and the goldfinches were all over it. Has anyone else tried something weird that actually kept the little rascals off?

8

eva_thompson•9d ago

PSA: That guy at the park told me feeder placement was a myth... but my finches vanished for 3 weeks after I moved it

An older birder at my local pond insisted birds don't care where the feeder sits, so I tried his spot near a bush and my goldfinches stopped showing up until I moved it back. So is it really just about the food, or does location matter way more than we think? What's your take?

20

patricia558•10d ago

Warning: My bluebird box became a wasp hotel last May

I had this perfect spot behind my garage where bluebirds nested for 3 years straight. Then one morning in May I saw wasps swarming around the entrance hole instead of birds. I opened it up and found a giant paper nest right on top of 4 dead bluebird eggs. It was heartbreaking honestly after watching those parents raise chicks for so long. I now check all my boxes at the start of every month from April through June. Has anyone else dealt with wasps taking over their nest boxes during spring?

1

wells.olivia•10d ago

Had a magical Tuesday last week with a house finch family

I usually just see cardinals and sparrows at my feeder around 6 AM, but last Tuesday something different happened. A whole flock of house finches showed up, maybe 12 of them, and they just took over the whole setup for like 20 minutes. One little guy kept pecking at the same seed over and over, and I swear he looked right at me through the window. Then a pair of them started building a nest in the hanging basket on my porch, which I didn't even notice till I went out for coffee. It was so cool to see them work together, grabbing twigs and grass from my yard. Has anyone else had a particular morning where one species just dominates your feeder out of nowhere?

8

robert_bell•12d ago

That bird call app I mocked for months actually saved me last Sunday

I always thought those bird identification apps were just for tourists fumbling around with their phones, but I downloaded one out of sheer frustration trying to figure out what kept waking me at 4:30 AM. It picked up a weird descending whistle I'd been hearing for weeks and identified it as a Swainson's thrush, which I'd never even heard of before. Has anyone else had an app change how you hear the morning chorus, or am I just late to the party?

15

drewgonzalez•12d ago

Chat with a retired mail carrier about my robin routine

Old guy named Frank told me I was scaring the birds off by putting out fresh seed right at dawn. He said wait 20 minutes after sunrise. Tried it yesterday. Three robins stayed for a full 10 minutes instead of bolting. Anyone else get tips from random neighbors that actually work better than online guides?

10

the_miles•13d ago

Stop putting your bird feeder right outside the window - here's why I moved mine

Everyone says put the feeder where you can see it from your coffee spot, but after three straight months of finches smacking into my patio door glass I figured something had to change. I moved the feeder about 12 feet farther out into the yard near a bush and the collisions stopped completely. Plus I still get a clear view with binoculars and the birds seem way less skittish. Has anyone else dealt with bird strikes near a window?

30

elizabeths51•14d ago

Had a surprisingly good week with the goldfinches - anyone else see something change suddenly?

I put out fresh nyjer seed three days ago and suddenly had a dozen goldfinches show up at 6:15 AM for the first time in a month. Last year the same week was dead quiet after a big storm kept them away. What caused your best or worst bird watching week, and did you figure out why it happened?

22

blair_martin•14d ago

Put out a new suet feeder with some spicy suet and the starlings actually left it alone for once

I read online that birds can't taste capsaicin so I tried a hot pepper suet block from the hardware store and the starlings that usually mob my feeder took one peck and flew off, but the chickadees and woodpeckers kept coming back like normal - has anyone else tried this to scare off the bully birds?