Raccoon Update XIX - All are welcome in the Critter Cafe

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Profile Uli
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Message 1472957 - Posted: 5 Feb 2014, 8:11:14 UTC

You gave us Raccoons, we gave you wild Boars. I will take a Raccoon any day over the destruction Boars can cause.
They are good eating tho.
Pluto will always be a planet to me.

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Message 1473035 - Posted: 5 Feb 2014, 13:44:48 UTC

And as the serious bird watchers know, Europe gave North America starlings and house sparrows. Humans can be so dumb sometimes.

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Message 1473044 - Posted: 5 Feb 2014, 14:18:33 UTC - in response to Message 1473035.  

And as the serious bird watchers know, Europe gave North America starlings and house sparrows. Humans can be so dumb sometimes.

Well you can send the sparrows back, they have declined by up to 90% in London since the late 70's

I for one miss seeing them!
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Message 1473167 - Posted: 6 Feb 2014, 5:25:05 UTC

What is doing in the sparrows of London? Cats? Street and garden tree reductions?
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Message 1473178 - Posted: 6 Feb 2014, 5:53:43 UTC - in response to Message 1473167.  

Perhaps it is Raccoons?
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Message 1473218 - Posted: 6 Feb 2014, 8:43:00 UTC - in response to Message 1473167.  
Last modified: 6 Feb 2014, 8:43:15 UTC

What is doing in the sparrows of London? Cats? Street and garden tree reductions?

Well they are not sure but this from the Wiki

In Great Britain, populations peaked in the early 1970s, but have since declined by 68% overall,and about 90% in some regions. In London, the House Sparrow almost disappeared from the central city. The numbers of House Sparrows in the Netherlands have dropped in half since the 1980s, so the House Sparrow is even considered an endangered species. This status which came to widespread attention after a female House Sparrow, referred to as the "Dominomus", was killed after knocking down dominoes arranged as part of an attempt to set a world record. These declines are not unprecedented, as similar reductions in population occurred when the internal combustion engine replaced horses in the 1920s and a major source of food in the form of grain spillage was lost.
Various causes for the dramatic decreases in population have been proposed, including predation, in particular by Eurasian Sparrowhawks; electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones;and diseases. A shortage of nesting sites caused by changes in urban building design is probably a factor, and conservation organisations have encouraged the use of special nest boxes for sparrows. A primary cause of the decline seems to be an insufficient supply of insect food for nestling sparrows. Declines in insect populations result from an increase of monoculture crops, the heavy use of pesticides,the replacement of native plants in cities with introduced plants and parking areas,and possibly the introduction of unleaded petrol, which produces toxic compounds such as methyl nitrite.


But mostly due to us humans.

I walk in my local park most every day and I see Robins (UK variety) Wrens, Blackbirds, Pigeons, Magpies, Rooks, Crows, Jays, the occasional Kestrel and of course loads of Green Indian ring necked parrots but hardly ever see a sparrow.
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Message 1473289 - Posted: 6 Feb 2014, 14:32:48 UTC

I am sitting here looking at a flock of house sparrows jostling for position at my window feeder, and I am stunned. House sparrows easily outnumber all other species combined at our feeders, all year round. Here in southern Ontario they are an urban species, and are accused of crowding out native birds (including several other species of native sparrows).

We have all the same bird issues here in urban areas - predators, lack of feed and nesting sites, etc. Yet the house sparrow thrives. Makes what is going on in Europe a real mystery.

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Message 1473854 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 19:46:06 UTC
Last modified: 7 Feb 2014, 19:55:40 UTC

Sparrows (what particular type they are I do not know) seem to be doing well in my Northern California backyard as well.

I really like birds... not as much as I like raccoons of course! But still, birds do have that dinosaur-decendent-street-cred vibe going on, so what's not to love?

Eric is not at all entranced with California birds. When it comes to birds, he is a total state-snot. Ok, ok, I'll admit that the birds I see in Northern Wisconsin tend to be a whole lot more colorful than the birds that frequent my backyard feeder. Eric likes to sneer, "Oh look, another non-descript brown birdie" when I feed my fine feathered friends. I ignore him. The color of our California birds is perfectly adapted to the color of our rolling golden hills.
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Message 1473867 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 19:59:29 UTC

The USA is very large and the terrain is quite varied. I grew up here in California. Eric grew up in a region of our country that is very, very, very different from California. A state-snot is a person who thinks that his/her state of origin surpasses the other 49 states in every qualitative way.
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Message 1473874 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 20:06:56 UTC - in response to Message 1473854.  

rolling golden hills


Don't you mean your s*** brown hills?
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Message 1473877 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 20:09:37 UTC - in response to Message 1473874.  

rolling golden hills


Don't you mean your s*** brown hills?


See what I mean???!!! State-snot!
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Message 1473883 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 20:16:24 UTC
Last modified: 7 Feb 2014, 20:20:28 UTC

Well talking about colourful birds, there are always these.

This back garden backs onto my local park;



Indian green parrots that have either escaped or been set free have flourished in the English countryside.

There is a large flock in the park.

PS This pick was taken on 28th December last year
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Message 1473886 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 20:18:54 UTC

On our last annual visit to Point Pelee for the spring bird migration, we met a couple from the San Francisco area who had travelled several thousand miles just to see some birds with colour. They gave us a long list of colourful local birds they hoped to see "before we die". I didn't have the heart to tell them that they could have skipped the crowds and line ups and fees at Point Pelee, and knocked off most of their list in one afternoon sitting on our back deck.

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Message 1473887 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 20:19:43 UTC - in response to Message 1473874.  

rolling golden hills


Don't you mean your s*** brown hills?

Go fix the new Android Beta app!

;)
David
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Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

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Message 1473906 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 21:14:25 UTC - in response to Message 1473883.  

Well talking about colourful birds, there are always these.

This back garden backs onto my local park;



Indian green parrots that have either escaped or been set free have flourished in the English countryside.

There is a large flock in the park.

PS This pick was taken on 28th December last year

I had absolutely no idea there are wild parrots over here. Cool :)

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Message 1473907 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 21:14:59 UTC
Last modified: 7 Feb 2014, 21:19:16 UTC

Meet the Western Scrub Jay, the most colorful bird in our garden. I generally get a nesting pair in our pine tree each year. They are feisty, aggressive birds who enjoy cat food.



Very rarely, I get one of these. This is a Stellar's Jay. We often see them if we go hiking in a nearby redwood forest. Occasionally one of them checks out our backyard, but I don't think my yard is woodsy enough for them to feel comfortable and move in.



Meet the California Towhee, my most frequent visitor. These guys can get enormously fat! It is a wonder they can fly at all.


We also get many of these Ravens. They are smart and I have not been very successful at getting them to tolerate my presence when they are outside. They also like cat food!
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Message 1473951 - Posted: 7 Feb 2014, 22:37:46 UTC

Plenty of Sparrows around here all trying to avoid the Sparrowhawks, but we also have plenty of colourful birds as well and no need for feeders to attract them.

Rainbow Lorikeets that make a real lot of noise when feeding.
Galahs
King Parrots
Grass Parrots
Eastern Rosellas
Superb Fairywrens and many not so colourful wrens.

We also have both Black and White Cockatoos, Crows, Currawongs, both Brown and Peregrine Falcons, a wide variety Finches, Kookaburras, Magpies, Wedge-tailed Eagles and Willie Wagtails around here as well.

Mornings here are always full with the sounds of birds.

Cheers.
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Message 1474227 - Posted: 8 Feb 2014, 15:49:25 UTC

Here are two of my daily visitors in the winter time. (Both were on the "bucket list" of that California couple I told you about earlier.) We get the REALLY colourful stuff in the spring.

male cardinal.


Blue jay, male or female.


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Message 1474257 - Posted: 8 Feb 2014, 18:22:24 UTC - in response to Message 1474234.  

zapped - Esher Rugby Club

Parakeets

I think I'll call them Hendrix Parakeets from now on :)

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Message 1474267 - Posted: 8 Feb 2014, 18:48:55 UTC

Talk about global warming, we get Blue Jays
all winter long here now.....
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Message boards : Cafe SETI : Raccoon Update XIX - All are welcome in the Critter Cafe


 
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