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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 20, 2020 18:43:09 GMT -5
tom 🕊 , Wheelgarden , davidjp , thanks for your suggestions. tom 🕊 ,I don't know of anyone who has a parrot; the people on this side of the block aren't pet oriented except for one man who takes his dog with him on his daily jogs. Over the years, and especially after the 2008 financial crisis, the population changed, and seemed to be more city folks who moved out from Detroit (bars went up on the doors and windows w/i a few months after they moved in). Wheelgarden , a woodpecker is a distinct possibility; I've seen them on the lower tree trunks, as well as on houses, including mine! davidjp , there definitely are squirrels here. In fact, I saw a red squirrel on the front lawn this morning, which is unusual since they usually stay in the back yard, except for a black squirrel who comes to the front and inches closely to the front porch. I also see them scampering in the garden. I need to find something to record the sound in case the critter makes a return visit. It was definitely a unique sound, nothing like anything I've ever heard before. It sounded so wild, almost a painful cry. I haven't heard it since this one time earlier today. I wish I could have seen it, but that's a problem with any birds or critters in the trees in the neighbors' yard. The trees have grown so thick with foliage that I couldn't spot an eagle if it were up there someplace.
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Post by davidjp on Aug 20, 2020 18:56:35 GMT -5
You might want to check out the Cornell Universities all about birds site , they have a really good bird ID with sounds. Just pick woodpeckers that are found in Michigan and see if any match the sound you heard. www.allaboutbirds.org/news/I'd also recommend their merlin birding app which is free and has sounds also and might be easier to work through as it can be location based so will automatically show you the birds usually seen at that time of year in your location.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 20, 2020 19:03:02 GMT -5
davidjp, thanks, I'll do that. Hopefully the visitor will return. I wonder if any of the sounds would attract other birds in the same genre? I think woodpeckers are generally loners, or at least I've never seen more than one performing its woodworking designs on my house.
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Post by tom 🕊 on Aug 20, 2020 19:53:03 GMT -5
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Post by gardendmpls on Aug 21, 2020 0:49:19 GMT -5
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 21, 2020 13:42:36 GMT -5
tom 🕊, gardendmpls, thanks for suggestions as well. I'll let you know after I spend some relaxing time listening to bird calls what I've learned. It's becoming so distant now I almost wonder if I imagined it, and I also recall that initially I thought it might be a toy being used by the neighbor's sons.
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Post by davidjp on Aug 21, 2020 14:31:28 GMT -5
I wonder if any of the sounds would attract other birds in the same genre? I think woodpeckers are generally loners, or at least I've never seen more than one performing its woodworking designs on my house. I've heard that some people do that to get a bird to show itself but I've also heard that's its frowned on a bit in popular birding areas with the idea that its harassing the birds a bit. Its also not breeding season now so I wonder if the birds will be quite as territorial. But I think in your own backyard it can't hurt and might be interesting. I've never done it but i have done a few times whats called Pishing en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PishI'm not totally convinced it works that well, it seems to be good if you want to get a small bird out of a mass of bushes to show itself. I think the idea is that you are vaguely imitating an alarm call of another bird and the bird you want to see gets curious and pops up to take a look. Playing real calls from your phone is probably much better
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Post by tom 🕊 on Aug 21, 2020 21:32:11 GMT -5
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Post by gardendmpls on Aug 23, 2020 0:12:10 GMT -5
They've been here in New York City for a long time, too.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 24, 2020 11:22:34 GMT -5
Update, but not limited to birds:
I heard strange noises yesterday before I realized it was one of the neighbor's children, imitating some of bird or animal. Perhaps that's what the mysterious sound was.
Today was a different day. Good news and bad news.
No sounds, but I saw 2 hawks flying over the houses across the street. I've never seen hawks in this neighborhood in all the time I've lived here. I couldn't tell what kind they were; they were soaring and I was actually captivated by their grace as they soared up, down and around the neighbor's homes. As nearly as I could tell, each wing was a little over a foot wide; the whole body was dark, perhaps dark grey or black.
The bad news is that I suspect they may be looking for rodents of the despicable kind, purported to have moved into the neighborhood after a flood several years ago, although some residents claim that they've lived here for years. I've never seen one, but have been told that other neighbors have.
Good news is that is if the undesirable rodents are here, so are the hawks. And hopefully they'll find meals and help control the rodents.
I'm relieved though that none are soaring over my yard. One of the yards visited by one of the hawks is the home of someone with dogs, who's been advised in the past not to leave the dogs' deposits in the yard.
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Post by James on Aug 24, 2020 11:38:25 GMT -5
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Post by breezygardener on Aug 24, 2020 15:45:39 GMT -5
In the past two years we've seen a large influx of Yellow-billed Cuckoos on our property. We first discovered them when a couple of years ago two hit one of our large windows (I cosseted them for awhile & they both recovered), & since them we see & hear them frequently. A pair must've been nesting on the property because we saw them together all the time this past Spring, & just now one flew right past me out in the yard & into "the" peach tree. Such very striking birds with a very distinctive call. And - they're big-time caterpillar eaters. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo/overview
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Post by James on Aug 25, 2020 12:55:17 GMT -5
Interesting. We do not get the cuckoo here. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by binnylou on Aug 27, 2020 0:01:21 GMT -5
Most days we see three turkeys strolling along the tall grass area where hubby doesn’t mow. I usually see three. Hubby said he saw four. I just happened to be at the kitchen sink this afternoon when I spotted one of the turkeys. Then there was three, but I could see the weeds moving, as if number four was going to make an appearance. Then number five..six...seven...we ended up seeing ten birds. The lead bird was huge.
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Post by breezygardener on Aug 27, 2020 12:09:48 GMT -5
Most days we see three turkeys strolling along the tall grass area where hubby doesn’t mow. I usually see three. Hubby said he saw four. I just happened to be at the kitchen sink this afternoon when I spotted one of the turkeys. Then there was three, but I could see the weeds moving, as if number four was going to make an appearance. Then number five..six...seven...we ended up seeing ten birds. The lead bird was huge. I absolutely adore what I consider "our" turkeys. This year, most likely thanks to our mild winter, we had 3-4 separate families, which was so heartening to see. As summer comes to a close, as usual they've been combining into one flock, & in another month or so the moms will start kicking the maturing males out of the group to form their own bachelor group, not to reconvene until next year's mating season. Yesterday the whole group marched through (our property is on their main stomping grounds route) & it was nice to see that the poults have grown large enough to fly & roost in the trees. A necessary skill to help them outwit our local coyote & fox population.
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