The Quack Shack

[rjohns39]

Good morning / evening folks

 

[Canadian Wind]

Greetings! Hope the last day of 2022 makes up for the rest of the year!

 

[Summer_]

Hello!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Nope. Cut it up for firewood. The holes are big enough for your fist. Like making nests. I will get a picture tomorrow. I think Pileated woodpeckers might be a little different. They eat my garden and eat fruit too. I think ill look them up. They are the size of crows. On another note, poor little crested I found upside down three times yesterday. Once shed just given up not kicking or flapping at all. I tube fed her this morning and she's been right side up since. Ill tube feed her again tomorrow. Having trouble giving up on her.

Is your crested duck a distant relative from the screech ducks we both bought at that hatchery in Texas? - Their breeding stock is flawed! - In 2019 i had ordered Buff Orpington ducks, since then only Violeta duck and Erpelchen Drake have survived, so this year i ordered three Buffies from Metzer Farms… Guess what, those three ducks are larger than the drake that came from Texas. Both Violeta and Erpelchen look fragile, compared with them. And my two Magpies (Pompom and Pinball) also look fragile and small.
I do hope your duck makes it!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Pileated woodpeckers mainly eat insects, especially carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae. They also eat fruits, nuts, and berries, including poison ivy berries.[15] Pileated woodpeckers often chip out large and roughly rectangular holes in trees while searching out insects, especially ant colonies.[12] They also lap up ants by reaching with their long tongues into crevices. They are self-assured on the vertical surfaces of large trees, but can seem awkward while feeding on small branches and vines. They may also forage on or near the ground, especially around fallen, dead trees, which can contain a variety of insect life. They may forage around the sides of human homes or even cars, and can be observed feeding at suet-type feeders. Although they are less likely feeder visitors than smaller woodpeckers, pileateds may regularly be attracted to them in areas experiencing harsh winter conditions.

Usually, pileated woodpeckers excavate their large nests in the cavities of dead trees. Woodpeckers make such large holes in dead trees that the holes can cause a small tree to break in half. The roost of a pileated woodpecker usually has multiple entrance holes. In April, the hole made by the male attracts a female for mating and raising their young. Once the brood is raised, the birds abandon the hole and do not use it the next year. When abandoned, these holes—made similarly by all woodpeckers—provide good homes in future years for many forest songbirds and a wide variety of other animals. Owls and tree-nesting ducks may largely rely on holes made by pileateds in which to lay their nests. Even mammals such as raccoons may use them. Other woodpeckers and smaller birds such as wrens may be

Woodpeckers the size of crows! - I would be worried about my wooden patio, the work-platform and the duck-house…

 

[Summer_]

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Happy Last Day of 2022 to Everybody!​

Been very busy and exhausted yesterday, first i dug a couple of holes into the ground at my new berry-garden:


Digging wasn't too bad, once you broke through the still frozen top-layer, the soil beneath was pretty soft.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Then i dug out a larger Tulip-Tree and a small Staghorn-Sumach and planted them into containers. Maybe i can sell them in spring, anybody interested in a Tulip-tree? Good source of Nectar for bees...

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

And finally i fattened up some Mallards, this drake in particular

If he sits around the pond he really sits around the pond!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Forgot the pictures of those trees:

I dug out a whole bunch of young trees this fall and transferred them into containers. Most of them are Tulip-trees. All covered with wood-chips now, so they will stay frost-free until spring.