Hi Emma Yes. The only thing I can find without sunflower seeds is pure safflower seeds and Nyger seeds, and even the birds don't care much for those. I may go with one seed feeder for the very small birds, and just suet for the rest. The squirrels don't seem to like suet. Even peanut flavored. Most of the birds pick at suet at least a little. Some like it exclusively. Specially the woodpeckers. I'm not looking to enter a bird popularity contest, to get every bird in the neighborhood here. Just some interesting ones.
Tufted Titmouse and Pine Warbler under the eave on a rainy day last month. Freehand with the cell phone through a window. A little shaky. The titmouse guy prefers whole peanuts. He keeps picking them up and carrying them off somewhere.
Catch up... Almost every bird common to this region has stopped by now. I like the ones you can count on every day. The chickadees, tufted titmice and a pair of downy woodpeckers are favorites. The sparrows and finches don't seem very bright. They rarely figure out how to enter a feeder with obstacles, before I move the obstacles again. The chickadees are always the first up to the plate and show the others how. They seem to enjoy a new puzzle. Spoke too soon about birds getting along. We had 3 days of spring-like weather, sunny, highs between 67 and 70. The behavior changed. First, many disappeared. Something better to do? Second, regulars became more territorial. The bluebirds now stand guard at the feeder sitting right on top of the seeds, and chasing every other bird off. I don't like this and told them so, but they don't listen. Pretty sure it's the same pair from last year. I sat on the deck for quite a while, within 10 feet of the feeder. Many squirrels in view just outside about a 20 yard radius, biding their time digging up things I guess they buried last fall. Within 10 minutes the chickadees stopped by, one at a time. Each announced its arrival with a call. Very quiet sound you could barely hear, (chicka?) dee,dee,dee.... Experts claim this is a danger warning to others, and the more "dees" the more danger. I only get 5 "dees". They stare at me for a bit, then grab some seeds and take off. A cold front has moved in so back to normal for a week at least. Spring should be interesting. If they continue to have a regular schedule, I might try some live meal worms. The squirrels seem to follow the birds around. If there are no birds, there are no squirrels. The minute the birds show up, so do the squirrels. I found out squirrels also eat bird eggs and live bird hatchlings. Something else not to like. Seriously thinking about an Airsoft pistol. You can get one for less than $30. Won't kill, just sting a little. The fact that they don't run when you chase them is a little unsettling. Hitchcock should have made a movie called "The Squirrels."
A robin! In the back yard, just now. Haven't seen a robin in years and years. I forgot how big they are. I suppose this one might be moving north. The last robin I remember here, a bluejay tore out it's nest, with eggs. No bluejays this year. Karma.
Speaking of birds, back in 2020, in a locked-down Southern metro area, i heard what sounded like a bunch of baboons and crows killing each other. But it turned out to be some barred owls duetting --- or maybe quartetting --- up in the scattered subdivision trees, taking advantage of our seeming disappearance
We had possums roaming around in daytime, and two foxes appeared in the backyard once, during the first lockdown. And I live in town.
(2/16/22) Wednesday I got a letter from a real estate agency in Florida making an offer to buy the land out in the country. All I have to do is sign and return a paper by April 17th. They will take care of everything, including closing costs and even pay back taxes within reason if necessary. And guarantee a cashiers check "delivered to my door" within 3 days! I wouldn't consider signing, even if I wanted to sell. Of course it is a very low offer. I just mention it because I've never seen anything like this before, and wonder if they already have a buyer. At any rate it made me start thinking. It has not been pleasant to be out there lately. Mainly because I can't hire anyone to do some small jobs. Jobs that I can't do myself. They are piling up and it starts to nag at you and spoil your mood. Typing this post made me realize I really haven't tried that hard to hire anyone. So I sent a text message to the General Contractor (GC) who did the roof in 2020. He said at the time he could arrange any job to be done. I thought he was out of business because he doesn't have a webpage and reviews of his work stopped abruptly in April, 2020. But he responded within an hour, and asked what I had for him. Said he'd get back to me when he can schedule a time to take a look.
(2/17/22) Thursday GC called the next day to meet me out at the farm. He was waiting when I got there. The jobs are: pressure washing the mobile home, tree removal, and a lot of field fence repair. We took off on the EZGO to the tree down on the fence on the hill above the dam, then back to the tree down on the fence corner, up near the highway. Luckily no new trees down to obstruct the road to get us there and back. It was a fast, wild, and bumpy ride, because he had to go to another appointment afterwards. He spotted the missing panel on the porch ceiling and offered to fix that. Much easier with 2 people. I'll be glad to get that done with. I know this man has workers available that do roofing, painting, pressure washing, and carpentry. As to the other jobs I have some doubts. He has a bobcat and says he can get the tree cleared above the dam himself. I don't think he realizes how hard and dangerous it will be. I should have made him walk up the long hill to take a closer look at exactly how big and precariously sitting that tree is. The tree up at the corner could be moved easily with a bobcat, and I'm sure they can set new wood corner brace posts, but I'm skeptical about fence repair. He has a crew that does fences, but he's talking privacy fences. Field fence is a lot different. He said his younger brother, who likes to work alone, would love the job of doing minor repairs on the fence all the way around. (I wonder if the brother is aware he would love this. ) It's a 2 person job, imo. So what I've come away with? He's acting more like an old acquaintance than a contractor. It's a bit puzzling. There are some jobs he can do, and some I don't think he has the crew or equipment to do, but he is young, willing and eager to try. I want him to get started on what he can do, and hope when/if he figures out what he can't do, he can give me some good referrals. I guess I should have waited until something actually happens before posting all this. It still may all fall through. You never know.
(2/20/21) Sunday Recap (from another thread): . Wyze surveillance camera to watch squirrels. WiFi operated. Cost: $35. Camera provides live feed to Android smartphones. Suddenly began only flashing images captured every 30 seconds. Error message: WiFi network unstable. I set aside Sunday to chase down the problem and tried everything suggested on the camera including complete reinstall. Many reviewers of the camera claimed to have the same problem, adding: "You get what you pay for, the camera is junk!" . Kinda dampens enthusiasm for more troubleshooting. Tried everything short of complete factory resets on router and phone, or so I thought. Late Sunday night I accidently ran across a sentence on Wyze webpage that the cam requires an internet upload speed of at least 5 mbps on the device which runs the Wyze app (the phone). Ookla Speedtest showed only 0.11 mbps download and 0.10 mbps upload on phone. Reset factory network settings, and manually re-connected to WiFi. Upload speed now exceeded 300 mbps. Camera worked fine again. Conclusion: .Even though the phone was set to automatically connect to (my) WiFi, it got disconnected and wouldn't reconnect without login and password this time. Although the phone showed WiFi connection, you had to drill down and make sure it was connected to your service. I never thought of that. All WiFi in my neighborhood is locked. Could there be WiFi service nearby with signal so weak as to not be listed?
If the signal was strong enough to pick up, it should be listed in the available services list. More likely (since it's your phone), once the wifi was unstable the phone defaulted back to the carrier network (Verizon, etc.) and was only as strong as the "bars" indicate on the phone.
Thanks Beth. That makes sense, because if I turn off WiFi on the phone, but allow mobile data, camera goes back to posting intermittent images. I didn't realize there was WiFi through the carrier (AT&T) also. I will play around with the settings some more. I either try to understand this now, or start from square 1 when something else happens, because I'll have forgotten everything by then. This article makes more sense now too. What is Mobile Data Anyway "Wi-Fi only works within the range of its router, but it enables you to access data for no additional charge. When you use data through your data plan, you can access the same content as you would on Wi-Fi, however it goes through your mobile carrier’s (AT&T) network, and is subject to the terms of your data plan. "
The carrier "wifi" is the data on your plan. If you have limited data, you'll need to pay attention to usage or you'll be charged overage charges.
Yes, this camera eats up data. I have an unlimited data plan, but speed supposedly slows down after you use a certain amount. I hit that limit Feb 15th. That's why I'm amazed at getting 300+ mbps on speed test. I've since turned off mobile data. Phone does not like that one bit, and tells me I can't do anything if I turn that off, but it's not true. Everything still seems to work (as long as I'm in the house) .
(2/19/22) Saturday Academy Sports store on the other side of town to pick up a PX4 Beretta. Sidetracked at the shoe section on the way out, and bought a pair of plum colored Nike sneakers, probably running shoes. I like them but the heels stick out in the back and tend to catch on the stairs coming down. Not hard to imagine a broken ankle or worse. I wonder if you could grind the heels off. Example (2/21/22) Monday Stopped by Good Will Thrift store just to look around and came out with 6 blouses. They all look brand new. Average $5.50 each. Any of these that come out of the dryer with wrinkles will be used for working in the woods. (2/22/22) Tuesday Found out the Nike shoes I bought Saturday have been discontinued. They had one more pair in my size, so I went back to get them, and ended up with 1 New Balance and 2 Sketchers in addition. These all have memory foam soles. I've given up on looking for narrow shoes. Even if you find them they aren't narrow in the right place. I had a pair of Doctor Scholl's shoes years ago with memory foam in the soles. It molded to your feet so at least your feet didn't slip sideways in them. Bought a second pair. Then they were discontinued. I hope at least 1 or 2 pairs turn out to be good work shoes. Not holding my breath.
(2/24/22) Thursday High 77. Appointment at noon for first follow up on the implant. Forgot about it completely. Rescheduled for 4:30 pm. I think this is only the second appointment I've ever missed in my whole life. Both dentists. He walked in, took a look, said, "Awesome, come back in 3 months for the final check." Less than 2 minutes. GC called. Said he can do the fence and the pressure washing next week, probably all in the same day. He must be talking only about the corner up near the road. Will call me the night before. Thought of another job. A new front door. The old framing for the door is probably not up to code, and may need a lot of extra work. I think he'll do only as much upgrading as I ask him to. It will have to be a custom ordered door 84" tall. I supposed it could even be taller, which would look better, but wouldn't know until the old one is torn out. Saved enough vinyl siding to match around the sides if needed.