Birding

Coming back this afternoon I followed the old canal for about 15 miles. Mostly it is only about one and a half to two feet deep. There were at least a dozen "Cranes" and "Herons" of various sizes feeding in it and there were probably more I couldn't see.

Slàinte,    

Patch  

Took the boys birding up to Lake Erie over the past holidays. For two young strapping men in their '20's, it was suprising to see how much they got into it.
Saw a couple of Bald Eagles, a red tail hawk and not much else.

We seem to have quite a variety around here. I still get excited when I get to go "North" and see the Canadian geese. With the plane crash in New York attributed to birds, the local news has been reporting on the eagles that are effecting the airport near here. I still believe they are protected aren't they? I know they were considering taking them off.

We have wild peacocks within a quarter of a mile from us. They have a unique call. Going through that area when I was taking my daughter to school, she would "caw" out the window and set all of them off. Thank goodness most everyone is respectful to them and slows down to let them cross the road when they deem to do so.

Flora

Up here if you have peacocks or any other type of bird, you better keep them caged, 'cause if they are out on the road they'll be road pizza by the end of the day period-end of disscusion!!!!

Why?

Do the rest of you have to deal with Starlings? They are RATS with feathers and need to be eradicated! HOW do I feed my little friends and keep these f#$%ers out of my feeders? We shoot them all summer, but if I shoot them in the winter it scares my litle friends off and I am back to ground zero! ANY way to keep the rats out of my feeders?????

Because they DO NOT belong on the road!!!! Period!
We shoot them if they impac t road traffic, they are foreign and are not covered under "Range Law"!

You may have peafowl running wild in your area, but they are not native. Like many alien species that have been released in Florida and other areas, they have bred profusely, many times crowding out native species (pheasants). The Indian peafowl is native to India, the green peafowl is native to Burma through to Java. None of them belong in America that are not in captivity.

By the way Dogshirt, starlings are an imported species also. They should be eliminated.

perhaps so, but they are covered under the "Migratory Biird treaty and as such, fopr some damn reason are protected!!!!!

I've been reading this thread and I got this in the mail today that I felt I should post it here. I agree Starlings can be as much of a pest as crows.


Infestation

Slainte

That's good Rindy. Always look up with mouth closed.

Dogshirt, what is it that Starlings do to aggravate you so? I thought people in Washington State were more respectful of nature. And what does "Range Law" cover? I have a feeling it has something to do with "if your cattle go on my land, it's my meat".

Carolina, since Florida has had so many exotic animal park "breakouts" we have more than our share of nonspecies but I don't feel they should be exterminated. After all human encroachment has displaced more than exotic species have.

Flora

I have a large vacant building with any missing windows in my end of town and tens of thousands of starlings nest in it. They head out in search of food and poop on every thing. The city poisons them, I shoot them and some trap and drown them. I know a person who built a "roost" and electrocutes them.

In Colorado, open range law meant livestock had the right of way on roads. If you hit someones steer on the road you had to pay for the animal. Hitting a 1200 to 1500 pound breeding animal causes you even greater problems.

Slàinte,    

Patch     

Thank you Patch for clarifying that for me. I have seen the damage that deer can do to your car. Most cars come apart with fender benders, I can imagine what cattle would do.

Is this on federal park open range that this applies to or privately owned land?

Flora

Open range means that Public lands that are leased for grazing for SHEEP or CATTLE do not need to be fenced. If you hit a RANGE animal in open range, then that is your bad luck. Not only is it NOT covered by your insurance, but you have to pay for the animal as well! If it was pregnant, you have to pay for the lamb/calf as well!
Starlings shite EVERYWHERE! They eat the food I put out for legitamate birds, they spread disease amongst legitamate birds, they foul fodder for cows and horses (NOT a range animal by the way!) and are VERY destructive to fruit and vegetable crops. RATS with feathers!

These feathered Rats also are hard on your home. I have had to replace my wooden soffits 3 times in the last 4 years due to these vermin peking holes in and then tearing down my soffits so they can get inside to nest...here on my property we have a shoot on site order... I use a pellet gun for them, no noise to scare the other birds.

On a better note here a a few of the birds that visited one of our feeders during the ice storm we had here this week.