OT Things to ponder

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Some cats I've had make a rapid "yak-yak-yak" sound when seeing birds through a window. I think it's from frustration, they wouldn't make any sound while stalking or preparing to ambush a bird.

It's a pretty common predator:prey response in cats called 'chittering'. Probably intense and uncontrollable stimulation, usually to some flittering bird or other prey animal. In ye olde days, folks said that it was cats trying to hypnotize their prey or chirp like a bird to throw 'em off.

[wdolson]

I've seen cats do that chittering when they see prey, but know they can't get to it. I haven't heard it from these two though, they are very quiet, one sounds like a guinea pig at full volume. The other one is just shy of 9 pounds and just a little over a year old and she sounds like a 6 week old kitten. It's a trait of the breed. The kitten sounding one has a UTI right now, so she's been more talkative lately, mostly complaining about how she feels. She's on antibiotics now, so she should be better soon.

I thought a grosbeak was a possibility, but when I looked at pictures, the beak is wrong. The beak was straight like a robin's. I've never seen or heard of any orioles around here, but it looked more like an oriole than any other bird I've seen in looking. I've seen some "one off" birds around here. There seems to be one dove in the area, I see it about twice a year. I only see the one. I've also seen some other birds only once or twice. There are probably some birds from the interior who wander down the Columbia Gorge, end up west of the Cascades and wonder WTF? The climate west and east of the Cascades is very different.

Bill

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Not one but two Brown Thrashers in my yard today

[:)]

Thank you for sharing. [:)]

[MakeeLearn]

Foxes make a "CRAWW" sound that sounds like a crow. If one didn't see them doing it they would never think it was from a fox.

[MakeeLearn]

Spotted Towhee

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Not one but two Brown Thrashers in my yard today

[:)]

Thank you for sharing. [:)]

I saw three of them this morning. They were together and moving around in formation like velociraptors. [X(]

[rustysi]

Don't you have an AAR to update young man?[:D]

[geofflambert]

The Brown Thrashers ate my homework.

I just sent Steve another turn, so I have 4 now to report on.

[rustysi]

The Brown Thrashers ate my homework.

Where have I heard that before?[:D]

[Will_L]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

ORIGINAL: Orm

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Not one but two Brown Thrashers in my yard today

[:)]

Thank you for sharing. [:)]

I saw three of them this morning. They were together and moving around in formation like velociraptors. [X(]

You can make the dinosaur into a bird but you can't take the dinosaur out of the bird.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

Spotted Towhee

That is definitely a possibility.

Bill

[geofflambert]

I love it when I inspire someone to post who hardly ever posts. I could use one from the Sandman about now.

[geofflambert]

I think the Sandman once posted a pic of his Siamese cat sitting on his desk looking inquisitively at his computer monitor which had the game map on it, I think the DEI mainly. Somebody took the pic and added the caption "Where the [eff] are his PBYs?" I don't remember who did that but it was one of the best posts I've ever seen on this forum.

[Will_L]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I love it when I inspire someone to post who hardly ever posts. I could use one from the Sandman about now.

Gotta admit, I really like the bird pics you and Makee post. Not much to see where I live apart from the ubiquitous
sparrows, starlings and pigeons. We've got mockingbirds that do every car alarm ever heard in one long sequence
until 2:00am and they're awake again before 5:00am, a few robins, cardinals, mourning doves, ravens, and seagulls.
Surprisingly it was West Nile fever that attrited the sparrows and pigeons back in the '90s that created space for
the mockingbirds and mourning doves to move into the area.

[geofflambert]

The starlings around here, they're close relatives of myna birds, they can imitate anything. Frequently I hear them imitating the cries of red-tailed hawks. We have those around here, not enough though, but when the starling is close by it can make the sound of a red-tail from 300 meters away. It really sounds like it but fools none of the other birds or rodents scurrying around. We have not enough red-tails and I haven't seen any Cooper's Hawks for a while, and my yard is overrun with bunnies. Those didn't used to last long here. A gaming friend of mine would have me shoot them with my air-rifle but I don't do that anymore. I just fill in their burrow holes and spread grass seed.

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: WRLertola

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I love it when I inspire someone to post who hardly ever posts. I could use one from the Sandman about now.

Gotta admit, I really like the bird pics you and Makee post. Not much to see where I live apart from the ubiquitous
sparrows, starlings and pigeons. We've got mockingbirds that do every car alarm ever heard in one long sequence
until 2:00am and they're awake again before 5:00am, a few robins, cardinals, mourning doves, ravens, and seagulls.
Surprisingly it was West Nile fever that attrited the sparrows and pigeons back in the '90s that created space for
the mockingbirds and mourning doves to move into the area.

I'd be really surprised if you had ravens in Queens nowadays. They're really shy about built up areas. You sure you don't mean crows? Poe "quoth the raven" but that was a different time.

[geofflambert]

We get seagulls here, coming up the Mississippi, but they never stray far from her. We once in a long while get bull sharks too. They're maybe the only kind of shark that can tolerate seawater, brackish water and fresh water. Someone was attacked by a bull shark here a long time ago.

[geofflambert]

A couple of years ago, on one day and only briefly, I saw a pair of White-Collared Eurasian Doves. Here they're called an invasive species. They are pigeon sized, much larger than Mourning Doves and rather beautiful, sleek.

[Will_L]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

ORIGINAL: WRLertola

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

I love it when I inspire someone to post who hardly ever posts. I could use one from the Sandman about now.

Gotta admit, I really like the bird pics you and Makee post. Not much to see where I live apart from the ubiquitous
sparrows, starlings and pigeons. We've got mockingbirds that do every car alarm ever heard in one long sequence
until 2:00am and they're awake again before 5:00am, a few robins, cardinals, mourning doves, ravens, and seagulls.
Surprisingly it was West Nile fever that attrited the sparrows and pigeons back in the '90s that created space for
the mockingbirds and mourning doves to move into the area.

I'd be really surprised if you had ravens in Queens nowadays. They're really shy about built up areas. You sure you don't mean crows? Poe "quoth the raven" but that was a different time.

They're definitely ravens where I'm at, solitary and on rare occasion I see two of them together.
Crows I have only seen at the larger parks in the city - Central, Van Cortlandt & Pelham Bay. The ones in Central
Park use the Thatch maneuver on the peregrine falcons which is an awesome sight.

[geofflambert]

Here the West Nile mainly annihilated the crows and blue-jays. The Corvids are most susceptible. We're starting to get both of those back, but nowhere near the numbers we used to have.