COLD DARK ROOM

Cathie G

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Pretty sure that it’s not a Northern Flicker. The males are very distinctive & females have that nice neck patch. Overall coloration just looks off (unless it’s a juvenile).

View attachment 353615
The colors are why I'm having a hard time. But she does have the head of the female picture. My picture isn't good but that's what she really looks like and probably juvenile like you said. S/he's only been around here a few months. That's what happened with the downys. They must have started branching out from the street behind me. I've seen woodpeckers there. Now I have a pair of regular downys. I know the hairys because they are bigger than the downys. This bird won't let the starlings and sparrows eat everything. S/he was so timid at first. No longer. She's the one that started the burd war the other night.😜 anyway it is what it is... Whatever s/he is it's fun.🤗
 

Maro2Bear

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Pretty sure that it’s not a Northern Flicker. The males are very distinctive & females have that nice neck patch. Overall coloration just looks off (unless it’s a juvenile).

View attachment 353615


Cathie

Take a look here at European Starling..


I’m pretty sure thats what you have. Right kind of “spots”.


4849018B-4CB7-4E18-8BFE-3FEF5E63FE96.jpeg
 

jeff kushner

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Ms Cathie,
Do not be afraid, Mark will chime in if I lead you astray.......lol...(we hope)
Take your new cam, put in the batteries and turn it on, insert mem card, then keep pressing buttons till it's ready to take pictures, leave it on, POINT at birds, leave alone! Take pics, rem card, insert into adapter, download to computer. Post pics.....THEN you can go back and figure out the rest of how to utilize geostationary satellites in Earth orbit to downlink the info from camera to computer 35ft away! LOL I love tech......I don't like having to overthink it though.....

Ya'all remember hearing about claymore ap mines that our soldiers use? Blows a crapload of bad things out the front to keep bad guys a little further back? They were labeled with "do not eat", I swear to God!

Don't overthink this.....


What I'm really doing is avoiding work.....I have a set of reduced drawings for a large building and by 9AM, they want to know what it will cost....+/- 5%. I looked at them for 40 minutes yesterday and it brought back my fav friend last night.....I cleaned the magnifiers and brought in 2nd set of glasses.....dang, Mom didn't lie.

I did get a great nights sleep though (7 count 'em, 7 hrs!) so I'm going to go have at it....enjoy the day guys
 

Cathie G

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Ms Cathie,
Do not be afraid, Mark will chime in if I lead you astray.......lol...(we hope)
Take your new cam, put in the batteries and turn it on, insert mem card, then keep pressing buttons till it's ready to take pictures, leave it on, POINT at birds, leave alone! Take pics, rem card, insert into adapter, download to computer. Post pics.....THEN you can go back and figure out the rest of how to utilize geostationary satellites in Earth orbit to downlink the info from camera to computer 35ft away! LOL I love tech......I don't like having to overthink it though.....

Ya'all remember hearing about claymore ap mines that our soldiers use? Blows a crapload of bad things out the front to keep bad guys a little further back? They were labeled with "do not eat", I swear to God!

Don't overthink this.....


What I'm really doing is avoiding work.....I have a set of reduced drawings for a large building and by 9AM, they want to know what it will cost....+/- 5%. I looked at them for 40 minutes yesterday and it brought back my fav friend last night.....I cleaned the magnifiers and brought in 2nd set of glasses.....dang, Mom didn't lie.

I did get a great nights sleep though (7 count 'em, 7 hrs!) so I'm going to go have at it....enjoy the day guys
Hahaha 🤣🤣🤣 yep I'm avoiding some work too. The camera is turned on and got probably 100 pictures of my belly while I was playing with the controls. My problem is the angle I need for mounting it . The tree is only a little over 10' from the awning. The bird feeders have to be somewhere in that area of the cone of view. The awning is going to be difficult to mount to but probably the best place. I bought a python cable lock that might work. Now to get the gumption. I need new reading glasses too 😎. My second set right now is the biggest magnifier I can get.
 

Cathie G

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Cathie

Take a look here at European Starling..


I’m pretty sure thats what you have. Right kind of “spots”.


View attachment 353619
It might be and that's what I thought it was except it's bigger than the starlings that visit me. It's colors are slightly different than the starlings I have here also. It's head and neck are cream and greyish. Also the rest of the feather's colors are close but not the same. The beak is slightly different also. Also I watched it move up the trunk of the tree like a woodpecker does. Pecking like a woodpecker too. That's what made me start looking on Google to try and find out what in the world is that dang bird. But it also doesn't completely look like a Flicker. Maybe it's a color morph of something. I just don't know. It's fun to try and identify it though.
 

Cathie G

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I was just getting ready to bring the glass feeders inside because it was so windy. I was thinking no bird in it's right mind would be out in this. But low and befold the little downy shows up.🤗 He did a great job hanging on to the feeder pecking away at his seed block. Even when the wind picked up again, he just kept eating his normal way 🤣. His Royal Highness left a bit later at his choosing.😊
 

Lyn W

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Another bad picture through my living room window from my Smart phone. I've been lazy and studying that trail camera. It's been cold and snowy. I don't want to stick my nose out the door and mount it until I know exactly where and how. But!🤗 I did manage to get a picture of the bird I think is a Northern Flicker. My hands were literally shaking I was so excited 😆. Here s/he is.View attachment 353608
Looks very similar to our starlings - do you have those in the US?
 

Cathie G

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Looks very similar to our starlings - do you have those in the US?
Yes and I consider them a pest. But they are birds so I deal with it. If you can notice there is a starling above the unknown bird and a sparrow to the left.IMG_20230124_104144410.jpg
 

Lyn W

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Good afternoon/evening all,
Our very calm but cold and dry snap has dominated the weather until this evening. On average it's been just 24F +/- for the last 10 days - so lots of frost and ice about, but this evening we are just about reaching 37F and tomorrow we should see 44F! It will be nice not to have to keep breaking the ice on the bird baths.
I've had a busy time of it recently, not just with the house but been out and about with my sister and helping my nephew. The days have whizzed by!
I'm glad to see you're all OK in spite of some irritations with banks and cameras etc. which I hope Cathie and Jeff soon sort out.
 

Lyn W

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Yes and I consider them a pest. But they are birds so I deal with it. If you can notice there is a starling above the unknown bird and a sparrow to the left.View attachment 353648
I have lots of starlings visiting my garden at the moment, when the light is on them they have such beautiful colours in the feathers. I keep promising myself a trip out to an area where they roost at dusk to watch their murmuration but not managed it yet. It amazes me that they don't bump into each other !
1674689966386.png
 

Cathie G

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Good afternoon/evening all,
Our very calm but cold and dry snap has dominated the weather until this evening. On average it's been just 24F +/- for the last 10 days - so lots of frost and ice about, but this evening we are just about reaching 37F and tomorrow we should see 44F! It will be nice not to have to keep breaking the ice on the bird baths.
I've had a busy time of it recently, not just with the house but been out and about with my sister and helping my nephew. The days have whizzed by!
I'm glad to see you're all OK in spite of some irritations with banks and cameras etc. which I hope Cathie and Jeff soon sort out.
We were assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would get a few inches of snow this morning. That there would be crazy driving weather. Alert after alert!!! Liar liar pants on fire.😜we got rain instead.
 

Yvonne G

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I have lots of starlings visiting my garden at the moment, when the light is on them they have such beautiful colours in the feathers. I keep promising myself a trip out to an area where they roost at dusk to watch their murmuration but not managed it yet. It amazes me that they don't bump into each other !
View attachment 353649
Yes, these flying formations always amaze me too.
 

jaizei

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I need to pay more attention to birds, I'm sure I've seen starlings but can't remember. Other than flashy birds like cardinals, blue jays, or the parrots, the only birds I notice are grackles.
 

Lyn W

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We were assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would get a few inches of snow this morning. That there would be crazy driving weather. Alert after alert!!! Liar liar pants on fire.😜we got rain instead.
The snow has avoided my area so far - touch wood!!
 

Cathie G

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I have lots of starlings visiting my garden at the moment, when the light is on them they have such beautiful colours in the feathers. I keep promising myself a trip out to an area where they roost at dusk to watch their murmuration but not managed it yet. It amazes me that they don't bump into each other !
View attachment 353649
Yes they are so pretty with their translucent colors. I have a flock that visit my feeders. They come in as a flock and try to gobble up everything. The sparrows come about the same time. It's a feeding frenzy on the ground, feeders, everywhere and then the two flocks take off their separate ways for a bit. Thank the good Lord 😊
 

Cathie G

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I need to pay more attention to birds, I'm sure I've seen starlings but can't remember. Other than flashy birds like cardinals, blue jays, or the parrots, the only birds I notice are grackles.
You really should because birds talk to each other. They give weather warnings to each other and all kinds of stuff. Even if they all suddenly become quite after a really loud warning period they've said something.😊
 

Cathie G

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The snow has avoided my area so far - touch wood!!
Over here it's knock on wood and you knock yourself on the head at the same time.😉 I like touch wood way better 😜☺️
 

Cathie G

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Yes, these flying formations always amaze me too.
I have a flock of geese that fly over my house every morning. I know about where they're headed by the path they are flying in exact formation. They do a lot of honking and what have you ☺️ like us when we drive our paths.😊
 

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