Welcome to my pond - Swim, wade, or sit on the bank

[sourland]

@room onthebroom, so very sorry for your loss.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Can we not have even one 0 death day for the pond? Seriously! Dam it.

 

[kwhites634]

Whew. . just had a terrifying duck moment.
Purple Martins are so great. Ducks suddenly had a panic attack and ran for cover. I look up to see the shadow of a hawk OMG! purple Martins in hot pursuit. At least 20 of them! . chased it around in circles while I failed my arms it went higher and higher in the sky but still circling my yard until it finally gave up and left. My heart is pounding!

I've been on the front porch off & on today, watching Hummingbirds at the sugar water; as many as 3 at a time. Those little things fascinate me, how they can hover, then change direction almost faster than the eye can follow it. Was wondering earlier if they have any natural enemies. What could possibly catch one if it was awake?

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

3 days ago she seemed off, but she was still with the flock. Yesterday she went off alone & was sleeping standing up. She is all keel when you hold her. Her crop feels empty, but her butt feels heavy. There's no egg residue or sick poop stuck on her butt, tho I did se her poop a tiny, white sick poop last night. When I went to lock them up last night she was not in her normal spot in the rafters, she was wedged in the sand under the poop board. I put her in a nesting box but today she is back on the ground under the board again. Shes laying down, panting hard, with her eyes closed. She has electrolytes, but wont drink them & wont even eat the apple sauce today. I'll bring her in the house before it gets too hot out there today & try to get something in her, but we've lost enough girls to know when they hit this point, theres no bouncing back from it. I'd try anything if I thought it would save her & I'm up for suggestions if you have any. Poor Frankie, she's just devastated.







We've had problems with CLs & Buff Orps. This is our second batch of CLs. The first batch we lost 2 out of 3. This second batch has been near feral, but seemed healthy..... Oh Chit …. Shes gone.

Ohhhh Room... i am soooo very sorry!!!
Please pass some of those along to Frankie for me!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I've been on the front porch off & on today, watching Hummingbirds at the sugar water; as many as 3 at a time. Those little things fascinate me, how they can hover, then change direction almost faster than the eye can follow it. Was wondering earlier if they have any natural enemies. What could possibly catch one if it was awake?

Well. . . I had a dog that caught and killed one one time.
So it can be done. I had a beautiful pot of red impatients on my deck that the hummers would visit. Guess the bird just wasn't afraid of the dog enough to worry. After that I put the plant up on a stand. And scolded the dog.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

My coops are nearly done and they are dirt floors. Ive been researching different things to put down, if its needed. Any of you use sand? Or what do you prefer? Or should i just stick with dirt?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Made me curious. . Google said this. .

© Bill Hilton Jr.

© Bill Hilton Jr.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirdsare small prey, so you might expect they have relatively small natural predators. There are references in the literature to hummingbirds having been killed and/or eaten by Sharp-shinned Hawks (above left), Praying Mantids, Largemouth Bass, Green Frogs and Bull Frogs (above right), and big Orb-weaving Spiders. There's even a record of a large dragonfly--a Common Green Darner, Anax junius--attacking, killing, and apparently flying off with a ruby-throat (although some experts believe the dragonfly actually caught a Hummingbird Moth). In the tropics, hummingbirds face additional dangers, including bird-eating lizards.

Hummingbird eggs would make a tasty snack for a squirrel or chipmunk, and a tree-climbing Black Ratsnake might take an incubating or brooding female, her eggs, or chicks.

Interestingly, one enemy of hummingbirds appears to be plants. There are reports of hummingbirds being impaled on cactus spines and hummers occasionally become mired in sticky tree sap. One well-documented hazard is the seed pod of Common Burdock, Arctium minus. These pods, known as "cockleburs," are covered by tiny hooks that usually attach to the fur (or pantlegs) of potential seed disseminators. Hummingbirds are so small, however, that when they come to feed on a purple burdock flower, they sometimes get snared by cocklebur hooks. This was the case for a Ruby-throated Hummingbird female we found one summer at the National Youth Science Camp in Bartow, West Virginia USA (above left). Fortunately, the bird was still alive and we were able to cut the hooks away from its leg and release it unharmed after banding the other leg.

 

[kwhites634]

Made me curious. . Google said this. .

© Bill Hilton Jr.

© Bill Hilton Jr.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirdsare small prey, so you might expect they have relatively small natural predators. There are references in the literature to hummingbirds having been killed and/or eaten by Sharp-shinned Hawks (above left), Praying Mantids, Largemouth Bass, Green Frogs and Bull Frogs (above right), and big Orb-weaving Spiders. There's even a record of a large dragonfly--a Common Green Darner, Anax junius--attacking, killing, and apparently flying off with a ruby-throat (although some experts believe the dragonfly actually caught a Hummingbird Moth). In the tropics, hummingbirds face additional dangers, including bird-eating lizards.

Hummingbird eggs would make a tasty snack for a squirrel or chipmunk, and a tree-climbing Black Ratsnake might take an incubating or brooding female, her eggs, or chicks.

Interestingly, one enemy of hummingbirds appears to be plants. There are reports of hummingbirds being impaled on cactus spines and hummers occasionally become mired in sticky tree sap. One well-documented hazard is the seed pod of Common Burdock, Arctium minus. These pods, known as "cockleburs," are covered by tiny hooks that usually attach to the fur (or pantlegs) of potential seed disseminators. Hummingbirds are so small, however, that when they come to feed on a purple burdock flower, they sometimes get snared by cocklebur hooks. This was the case for a Ruby-throated Hummingbird female we found one summer at the National Youth Science Camp in Bartow, West Virginia USA (above left). Fortunately, the bird was still alive and we were able to cut the hooks away from its leg and release it unharmed after banding the other leg.

Who knew? I do, now.

 

[Alaskan]

My coops are nearly done and they are dirt floors. Ive been researching different things to put down, if its needed. Any of you use sand? Or what do you prefer? Or should i just stick with dirt?

I like dirt. I add sand when I can...

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I like dirt. I add sand when I can...

Good to know... im kinda leaning toward dirt but may add sand during summer to help keep it cooler. But not sure yet.. the dirt is free, the sand isnt..