Carman 13-22 August
It appears that the Brown thrashers have departed in the past week or so.
I have noticed more of the year round birds returning to our feeders in the last little while.
Wasps became a real problem in the last week. They were swarming our Oriole feeder which they were able to enter the nectar reservoir with ease. This swarming also transferred to our Humming Bird feeder.
Our solution was to install a Wasp trap, which in the end turned out to double as a Wasp feeder. It trapped and killed about 8 Wasps but many more flew in and flew out. The numbers indicated they were feeding from the trap. Added some dish soap, which is supposed to kill them, but that just deterred them from entering the Wasp trap.
Our solution was to replace the Oriole feeder with a new patented Bee proof feeder made by Opus. It would seem they should have patented it as an Oriole proof feeder as well. The Orioles could not get their beaks through the patented feeder slots. I cut the slots a little larger and one Oriole seemed to get something from it, but, the Orioles have returned a number of times but do not seem to get enough nectar, perhaps none at all. They slowly dropped off from 4 at a time to the occasional single bird visiting, pecking at the peanut feeder and leaving.
The patented Bee proof feeder ports seemed to have worked as the number of Wasps attending the Oriole feeder dropped off to none over a few days.
We picked up a new Humming bird feeder at the same time by Perky Pet. We chose it because it had a glass reservoir and perchs for the birds to rest their weary bones while feeding, and it was quite attractive.
In hind sight I should have disassembled it to see how it worked. A new design, kind of high tech for a bird feeder. The result of this design is that it uses a two piece base so when you put nectar into it the base fills and immediately starts to dribble from the seam where the two pieces of the base join together. A Wasps delight. The two Hummingbirds that regularly attend the feeder were in a constant battle with the Wasps, up to six at a time.
We have replaced the new feeder with the old feeder. This diminished the number of Wasps in attendance immediately. We also smeared the bottom of the feeder with hand soap. This seems to deter the Wasps a little.
We also bought a Perky Pet sectional feeding pole last year. It fell over in the spring when the single dime sized spot weld, that attaches the pole to the base, broke. We had it welded at Wes’s Tire here in town for $5.00. This weld goes around half the pole so it is unlikely to break again in my lifetime, although I might have to warn my grand children to watch as it might rust through in their lifetime.
If any of the brains at Perky Pet read this they might want to consider testing their products before putting them on the market.
I’ve attached pictures of the Hummingbird and Oriole feeders in question. I’ve drawn a blue line where the two piece joins together.
I had mistakenly identified the Oriole feeder as being from Perky Pet when it is actually from Opus. We had thrown out the box and feeder, so I looked up the feeder on the sellers website which identified it as being Perky Pet. I have thus edited my post.
Sightings:
Palm Warbler
Mallard
House Sparrow
Chickadee
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Oriole
Magpie
Crow
Starling
Great Blue Heron
White Breasted Nuthatch
Robin
Pine Siskin
Mourning Dove
Downy woodpecker
Purple Finch
House Finch
Unidentified Grebe
Fort Whyte Center 19 August
Double Crested Cormorant
Song Sparrow
Mallard
Unidentified Hawk
Magpie
Crow
Eastern Kingbird
Canada Geese
Cedar Wax Wing
Wood Duck
Belted Kingfisher
California Gull
Common Yellowthroat
American Black duck
Gold Finch
Purple Finch
Stephenfield 20 August
Pied Billed Grebe
Red Winged Blackbird
California Gull
Red Tailed Hawk
Gold Finch
Yellow Warbler
Barn Swallow
Mourning Dove
Bank Swallow
This week we are going to drive to St Ambroise, about 80 miles from here, as they have a decent sized marsh with a viewing tower. Hope to add to our bird list and get some good photo’s.
It appears that the Brown thrashers have departed in the past week or so.
I have noticed more of the year round birds returning to our feeders in the last little while.
Wasps became a real problem in the last week. They were swarming our Oriole feeder which they were able to enter the nectar reservoir with ease. This swarming also transferred to our Humming Bird feeder.
Our solution was to install a Wasp trap, which in the end turned out to double as a Wasp feeder. It trapped and killed about 8 Wasps but many more flew in and flew out. The numbers indicated they were feeding from the trap. Added some dish soap, which is supposed to kill them, but that just deterred them from entering the Wasp trap.
Our solution was to replace the Oriole feeder with a new patented Bee proof feeder made by Opus. It would seem they should have patented it as an Oriole proof feeder as well. The Orioles could not get their beaks through the patented feeder slots. I cut the slots a little larger and one Oriole seemed to get something from it, but, the Orioles have returned a number of times but do not seem to get enough nectar, perhaps none at all. They slowly dropped off from 4 at a time to the occasional single bird visiting, pecking at the peanut feeder and leaving.
The patented Bee proof feeder ports seemed to have worked as the number of Wasps attending the Oriole feeder dropped off to none over a few days.
We picked up a new Humming bird feeder at the same time by Perky Pet. We chose it because it had a glass reservoir and perchs for the birds to rest their weary bones while feeding, and it was quite attractive.
In hind sight I should have disassembled it to see how it worked. A new design, kind of high tech for a bird feeder. The result of this design is that it uses a two piece base so when you put nectar into it the base fills and immediately starts to dribble from the seam where the two pieces of the base join together. A Wasps delight. The two Hummingbirds that regularly attend the feeder were in a constant battle with the Wasps, up to six at a time.
We have replaced the new feeder with the old feeder. This diminished the number of Wasps in attendance immediately. We also smeared the bottom of the feeder with hand soap. This seems to deter the Wasps a little.
We also bought a Perky Pet sectional feeding pole last year. It fell over in the spring when the single dime sized spot weld, that attaches the pole to the base, broke. We had it welded at Wes’s Tire here in town for $5.00. This weld goes around half the pole so it is unlikely to break again in my lifetime, although I might have to warn my grand children to watch as it might rust through in their lifetime.
If any of the brains at Perky Pet read this they might want to consider testing their products before putting them on the market.
I’ve attached pictures of the Hummingbird and Oriole feeders in question. I’ve drawn a blue line where the two piece joins together.
I had mistakenly identified the Oriole feeder as being from Perky Pet when it is actually from Opus. We had thrown out the box and feeder, so I looked up the feeder on the sellers website which identified it as being Perky Pet. I have thus edited my post.
Sightings:
Palm Warbler
Mallard
House Sparrow
Chickadee
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Oriole
Magpie
Crow
Starling
Great Blue Heron
White Breasted Nuthatch
Robin
Pine Siskin
Mourning Dove
Downy woodpecker
Purple Finch
House Finch
Unidentified Grebe
Fort Whyte Center 19 August
Double Crested Cormorant
Song Sparrow
Mallard
Unidentified Hawk
Magpie
Crow
Eastern Kingbird
Canada Geese
Cedar Wax Wing
Wood Duck
Belted Kingfisher
California Gull
Common Yellowthroat
American Black duck
Gold Finch
Purple Finch
Stephenfield 20 August
Pied Billed Grebe
Red Winged Blackbird
California Gull
Red Tailed Hawk
Gold Finch
Yellow Warbler
Barn Swallow
Mourning Dove
Bank Swallow
This week we are going to drive to St Ambroise, about 80 miles from here, as they have a decent sized marsh with a viewing tower. Hope to add to our bird list and get some good photo’s.
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