Lee Drennen’s Hobby Farm & Garden

[Lee Drennen]

Hi Lee, I'm a "Big Bellied Human" can I have some cake too? :tongue-out3: :tongue-out2::tongue-out::thumb2:.........got all the varieties you mentioned and Gross Beaks and Cross Bills as well..........My Missus chases off the Stellar Jays as they scare off all the smaller birds and take over the feeder and generally make a mess all over our deck. My favorite little bird is the Nuthatch....we have both varieties as well as Pine Siskins.......smallest birds out there and they try to bully the finches or anyone else that comes to the feeder. Great fun to sit in the window having our coffee and watching the drama unfold. Rick H.

Rick. Those cakes are tempting Lol. Like you I enjoy drinking Coffee and watching the Bird in the Morning. There’s not much fighting at my feeder the seem to get along I like watching the finches and chicadees.

[wotan]

Hi Lee

We, are like you, are constantly buying sunflower seeds to feed our visitors. I see you have a Nuthatch in the last picture we get a lot of them, as well as chikadees. woodpeckers, red pols, cardinals and in the spring lots of Grackles, blue jays, juncos and black birds. Interestingly, since we live on a river we have found that ducks love sunflower seeds. Through the winter the Mallards are our most frequent customers and come the spring we get the Canada geese, wood ducks and Megansers who come back.

Got to love living in the countryside.

John

[Lee Drennen]

A very busy day on the Hobby Farm today. First I got up early and transplanted my Zucchini squash plants. Next I feed the baby Ducks my wife got me yesterday evening. Got the tractor out of the garage and hauled some wood and brush off. I’ve been wanting to pull this old dog pen away for some time I was going to reuse it for a duck pen but it’s been in the ground so long it fell apart when I pull it out of ground. After that I took a ride up in my field picking up rocks getting ready to cut it next week. Last I till the garden. To top off a hard days work on the Hobby Farm my Beautiful Wife made homemade Chicken and Dumplings.

[Lee Drennen]

A very busy day on the Hobby Farm today. First I got up early and transplanted my Zucchini squash plants. Next I feed the baby Ducks my wife got my yesterday evening. Got the tractor out of the garage and hauled some wood and brush off. I’ve been wanting to pull this old dog pen away for some time I was going to reuse it for a duck pen but it been in the ground so long it fell apart when I pull it out of ground. After that I took a ride up in my field picking up rocks getting ready to cut it next week. Next I till the garden. To top off a hard days work on the Hobby Farm my Beautiful Wife made homemade Chicken and Dumplings.

Hi Lee

We, are like you, are constantly buying sunflower seeds to feed our visitors. I see you have a Nuthatch in the last picture we get a lot of them, as well as chikadees. woodpeckers, red pols, cardinals and in the spring lots of Grackles, blue jays, juncos and black birds. Interestingly, since we live on a river we have found that ducks love sunflower seeds. Through the winter the Mallards are our most frequent customers and come the spring we get the Canada geese, wood ducks and Megansers who come back.

Got to love living in the countryside.

John

John. Thanks for sharing I love hearing you guys stories on feeding the birds. I buy a mix with bird seed with sunflower seeds in it. The Grackles of I call them “ Cow Birds” invade the feeders. I’ve seen up to 5 blue jays at the feeder at one time very beautiful. We get different Nuthatch all the time also. I bet that’s neat to watch the ducks eat at your feeder and your right Country living is very nice I’m so blessed.

[Tim Marlow]

Love these bird tales. As I said, these are all exotic species to me. Birdsong at dawn and dusk must be fantastic!
We do get nuthatch, but there is only one variety in the UK. I’ve seen lots of Raptor species from my house though....my favourite being Red Kite and Hobby. We have also just started getting the African migrants, Swallows and Martins are now flying around in ever increasing numbers. Don’t seem to get Swift’s around here though, more of a town bird I think. We have also had a heron pay a visit. Haven’t seen him, but the bloody goldfish have gone out of the pond!

[GerryW]

Love these bird tales. As I said, these are all exotic species to me. Birdsong at dawn and dusk must be fantastic!
We do get nuthatch, but there is only one variety in the UK. I’ve seen lots of Raptor species from my house though....my favourite being Red Kite and Hobby. We have also just started getting the African migrants, Swallows and Martins are now flying around in ever increasing numbers. Don’t seem to get Swift’s around here though, more of a town bird I think. We have also had a heron pay a visit. Haven’t seen him, but the bloody goldfish have gone out of the pond!

We get swifts in the village, but they normally have an argument with the starlings for the nest site at ours (think that this year, the sparrows have grabbed it though!).
Often see our local herons in the field out front, a barn owl who will 'sweep' the field and the local buzzards will circle around, sparrow hawk will sit on the wires, seeing if it can pick up anything that comes to our feeders.

[Tim Marlow]

Yep, we get a Sparrow hawk as well. He must have had a Goldfinch this morning. The remains were in front of the chicken shed. He had a Woodpecker last year as well....I’d be happier if he stuck to Sparrows, there is a seemingly endless supply of them..

[AlanG]

We have a Sparrow Hawk at our farm. It tries to keep the local pigeon stock in check but i fear we may need a few more before they can make a big dent in the population. Just wish they'd have a go at gulls too. Far to many of those around too.

[Tim Marlow]

Most gulls are about the size of sparrow hawks though LOL....I wish ours would have a go at the local rook population!

[GerryW]

Or jackdaws

[Lee Drennen]

I have Sparrow Hawks all a round me. In late winter they mate and make all kinds noise first time I seen this I thought they were in a Territory fight I’ve counted up to 4 nest here very close. They never bother my chickens or small birds they keep mice and rats down very well especially rats and I love it. They get kinda close to the house too and look for prey. Here’s a pic of one I caught one day at the edge of my field

[Tim Marlow]

Interesting, Lee. In England we would call that an American Kestrel, but I know it’s known as a Sparrow Hawk as well. Fantastic birds, related to our native Kestrel species. Do they hover when hunting?
A sparrow hawk to us looks like this..

They are a bit bigger and in flight look frankly terrifying.....I swear they look at you and think “If you was smaller I’d have you ‘an all longshanks!” It’s basically a pocket peregrine.....

[wotan]

We get a few raptors here. For some reason when this guy is out all the other birds and beasties seem to disappear.



We also have a family of geese who return to the same spot every year to raise their kids.



This is last year's gang they are about a week or two later this year so we expect the eggs to hatch next week.

John

[Lee Drennen]

Interesting, Lee. In England we would call that an American Kestrel, but I know it’s known as a Sparrow Hawk as well. Fantastic birds, related to our native Kestrel species. Do they hover when hunting?
A sparrow hawk to us looks like this..
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1149927[/ATTACH]
They are a bit bigger and in flight look frankly terrifying.....I swear they look at you and think “If you was smaller I’d have you ‘an all longshanks!” It’s basically a pocket peregrine.....

They really call Coopers Hawks but they really reasonable a Sparrow Hawk.

[Lee Drennen]

We get a few raptors here. For some reason when this guy is out all the other birds and beasties seem to disappear.

[ATTACH]421609[/ATTACH]

We also have a family of geese who return to the same spot every year to raise their kids.

[ATTACH]421610[/ATTACH]

This is last year's gang they are about a week or two later this year so we expect the eggs to hatch next week.

John

Great Pics John. I’ll get some pics of my neighbors geese later and post them in a thread I just started about bird watching. I sometimes get a few sites of a Eagle but they are mostly north from here and stay around the Mississippi River. Your more than welcome to post your pics there too.