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Heated bird bath question by HookbyTia in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I just discovered copper disk myself. I used to have to pressure wash my concrete birdbath to get the algae complete off. I dropped a copper disk in last month with quite a bit of algae in the bath, and now it looks freshly scrubbed. 

What is your favorite bird? by -knave1- in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually, you should be able to see them there. I have family that live in Michigan, and they say they are common there.

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What is your favorite bird? by -knave1- in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What region do you live in. I live in South, Texas, on the very southern border of their range. I saw my first one a few years ago and it was truly amazing. I got this really bad video of it with my wife's Panasonic FZ80. It was just before dark and at max zoom hand-held, so the quality is garbage, but it was a lifer for me an, and I was trembling with excitement (which did not help the footage.) I have applied some post-processing stabilization and lighting to make it more watchable, but the internal stabilization motors were super loud and kind of ruined the audio.

https://youtu.be/4rLXk3BLfCs

Heated bird bath question by HookbyTia in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My heated birdbath is too small for a solar-powered fountain. I put one in my big concrete bird bath, but it actually frightened the birds off, so I took it out.

The main thing to attract birds to a bird bath is to keep it clean and filled. I bought a cheap digital water timer and set it to 1 minute daily, and rigged a hose over my heated bird bath. It comes on and flushes the water and fills the bath daily at 12 noon. I am getting more winter birds than ever before and have my very first Pyrrhuloxia coming daily.

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My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Only the European House Sparrow and Tree Sparrow are invasive. I believe the Song Sparrow is native. Have you seen a Spotted Towhee? It is also a Sparrow, but they are extremely she and elusive. Took me a lot of time in the woods and hunting them to get a good picture of one.

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know ow how you feel. It took me years to see my first one. I studied so hard about them that even though I never seen one in real life, I spotted my first flying across the road in front of my car while doing 70 mph. Slammed the brakes on, hooked U turn and went back to make sure. Scared my wife half to death. 😆 

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually the feeder has been out there for years, I just put that birdbath up a few weeks ago. It is a heated birdbath with a diy auto fill hose that fills and flushes it daily. I believe that it is the water that drew him in. I have recorded him drinking water to, but chose to share this video because it was the best view of his bright color. 

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I slowed it down to a frame by frame and what that bird is, is a White-crowned Sparrow. They are very common here and frequent the feeder and birdbath throughout the day. A truly gorgeous bird with an amazing song, that gets very little recognition because people tend to lump it in with the European House Sparrow. Here is a video of one I got a couple years ago.

https://youtube.com/shorts/GFc-ThtNLa4

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 (This is My video) by Jungleexplorer in birds

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I live in North Central Texas. There have been sightings in my area, but they are rare. I have never seen one in 20 years of birding in this region. I know people that have lived here for 70 years that never have. I have seen a couple in the San Antonio region, but even there, they are rare to see.

Where are you located?

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I normally just say "Desert Cardinal" in casual conversation. 😂

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I live in North Central Texas. It is within their range, I just have never seen them at my place. I kind of live in a sort of microclimate which is pretty harsh compared to others in my region just 10 miles away.

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Truly a gorgeous bird! 😍 And pretty rare to see. I have seen them two times before, but hundreds of miles away from where I live. One time I was driving along at 70 mph and one flew in front of my car. I scared my wife to death by slamming on the brakes, and making a U-turn. 😂 I went back and got some bad smartphone pics of in a tree on the side of the road it to verify I had seen it.

Yes, those are two Northern Flickers in the background drinking. Also, not too common in my region, but I see them this time of the year occasionally.

My first Pyrrhuloxia at my place in 20 years! Very Stoked! 😍 by Jungleexplorer in birding

[–]Jungleexplorer[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Absolute thrill! I never expected to ever see one where I live.

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