Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 23:32:10 -0400
Reply-To: James R Brooks Jr <jrbamc@JUNO.COM>
Sender: Georgia Birders Online <GABO-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: James R Brooks Jr <jrbamc@JUNO.COM>
Subject: 09/29/2005: Really folks, I don't make this stuff up !
More shenanigans in the yard late today.
1) Saw a Mourning Dove dash out of the top of a maple, nothing
odd there. But... it was being chased by a female Summer Tanager,
which followed the dove between the tops of some pines and as the
dove zoomed away, the tanager made a big arc over my house and
circled back to the same tree it had left. This bird has been
very active foraging around the yard, and I also got a good look
at the still bright red male today. Do Summer Tanagers attempt
more than one brood ? I saw the female with a large bug that she
flew off with also, versus eating right then. What is the latest
nesting date in the Atlanta metro area ?
2) After that incident a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird came flying
very slowly up to the feeder. It struggled to land on a perch
and didn't seem interested in feeding. It sort of licked the
edges of the feeder where nectar had spilled out from the wind
and dried into a faint crust of sugar. The hummer then tried
to fly away, and it stalled like a stricken helicopter and
flopped down into the grass. It laid there for a bit, wings
sprawled out, looking around at this somewhat different point of
view. I almost went over, but the hummer came up off the grass
very slowly, struggling to gain altitude. The bird made it to a
nearby tree, and was last seen perched up there. Very weak, it
flew like a slow motion movie of a normal hummer. Sick ?
3) I borrowed a Hav-A-Hart live animal trap, and have used it to
relocate 10 squirrels and 3 oppossums out of my yard. I didn't
even know the possums were there. I have also released back
into the yard 3 Northern Cardinals and 2 Mourning Doves that
ventured into the trap. Today I had to release a young Red-Bellied
Woodpecker, too. I guess a big metal box open at only one end
is not scary enough if there is a sufficient amount of peanut
butter smeared inside. The trap is on the ground near my usual
feeders, but not where our woodpeckers usually eat. Can they
smell the peanut butter ? She was rather upset, but managed a
couple indignant squawks as she flew away.
James Brooks
east of McDonough (Henry Cty) GA
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