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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Every Day, Dramatic Change

Every Day, Dramatic Change

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It’s really surprising to me how fast these critters grow:

We’re rigging the safety device today. I put some thought into it, and netting was not a viable option because I did not want them to get stuck in it, and I also did not want something that would be really taut and have a trampoline effect and instead of rescuing them, launch them into the ether, so I am rigging a tarp that will have a slight grade to the floor of the porch, and then blocking off the porch so rogue animals can not get near them. I’ll post pictures when the contraption is done.

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64Comments

  2. 2.

    Amir Khalid

    Sportsball news: Still no score in the UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. Liverpool have the advantage in pace and possession at the moment.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    The little housefinches are amazing.

    My friend thinks his housefinch nest has hatched too. Will have to see if the young ‘uns are visible yet. Mama housefinch built that nest way up near the porch roof, in a space where the wooden support had sagged. So his finchettes are not visible, alas, but we can tell the parents are still vigilant.

  4. 4.

    pat

    Have you seen the parents? Do you know what they are? I’m guessing robins,but I don’t usually see them that young.

    ETA: I see a mention of house finches.

  6. 6.

    Ella in New Mexico

    I love John’s new Twitter handle, but my brain always changes it from “Whoop Ditty Scoop Poop” to “Whoop Ditty Poop Scoop” for some reason. Cuz I do a lot of “Poop Scooping” at my house so it make more sense to my neuro connections I guess…

    By the way has anyone figured out what kind of birdies these are?

  14. 14.

    Amir Khalid

    Damn. Mo Salah is off with a shoulder injury. Adam Lallana is on for him.

  15. 15.

    MagdaInBlack

    Why is it the gruffest exteriors cover the warmest hearts ?
    You make me smile, John Cole ☺️

  16. 16.

    Morfydd

    @Amir Khalid: and now Carvajal is out…

    My bf’s college friend hosted what I thought would be a boozy middle aged get together and turned out to be a catered garden party. Im about peopled out, especially with linited German, but now theres Football and unlimited Hugo drinks…

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Yester morn my wife calls me outside to “rescue” a baby bird. As I walked towards it it took off from the ground and wackily flew to a bush where it crashed into a branch and fell to the ground, mightily embarrassed but physically none the worse for wear. As I walked towards the landing zone, Mama flycatcher zoomed over baby to see if he was OK. I figured Mama knew best how to deal with the situation and against my wife’s vociferous protests let it be, especially since what was I going to do anyway? A few hours later i spotted Baby flying across the garden with strength and confidence and just a little shaky on the landing.

    Usually humans just make things worse.

  21. 21.

    Jager

    @Another Scott: Blue egg about the size of a gumball. We’ve had this house for three years, this is our 3rd hanging plant nest all lined with hair from Anze the Dog! When the tree guys dropped the dead oak a couple of weeks ago , I found an old humming bird nest, it’s joined Mrs J’s nest collection and it had a warm dog hair lining too.

  23. 23.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Amir Khalid:

    That was a grievous hack against Salah that put him out of the game. Should have earned a yellow card at least.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    Where Are The Children feels different, as far as Dolt45 scamdals go. Because of the simplicity of the its evil.
    You don’t have to approve or disapprove of illegal immigration to make you sick to your stomach the thought that CHILDREN are being taken away from their parents AND THEN LOST.
    For those that it doesn’t bother, we were never going to reach them anyway, so phuck them and their mother.

  28. 28.

    Amir Khalid

    Karius threw the ball at Benzema’s leg and it bounced into the net. Real 1-0 Liverpool. Feh.

  30. 30.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Real Madrid scores on the flukiest of goals. And now Liverpool comes right back!

  33. 33.

    Shell

    the thought that CHILDREN are being taken away from their parents AND THEN LOST.

    But haven’t you heard? Its all Democrats faults.

  37. 37.

    p.a.

    Several years ago saw a just-fledged cardinal hanging upside down on my chain link fence, flapping madly, dad perched nearby watching. LMAO. Junior dropped to the ground and wobbled his way into a nearby bush.

  38. 38.

    Denali

    You’re a good man, John Cole. We had a junco nest 2 floors above our deck. One fledglng made it – the other did not. Nature is not always kind.

  41. 41.

    Amir Khalid

    We need a decent keeper. Mignolet wasn’t it and Karius’ second big mistake today has just handed Real Madrid the Champions League. I’m depressed now.

  42. 42.

    HinTN

    Just for the record, Cole, they’re birds. The parents know better than you. You may try to thwart nature raw in tooth and claw but not all of them are going to survive. Think about how many seeds a tree makes to ensure the continuance of the woods.

    I’m ready to be banhammered now.

  43. 43.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Shell:

    Has anyone asked Huckleberry Sanders how that circle is squared? Is ICE staffed by Democrats?

  45. 45.

    J

    @Amir Khalid: I couldn’t agree more. There is no way anyone for Liverpool can have any confidence in Karius. Liverpool and their fans deserved so much better. To give up two horrendous goals in such a big match hurts.

  46. 46.

    J R in WV

    Was looking at bird sites, there are hundreds of bird nest cams now.

    Learned that out on the left coast, many people were watching live when a snake entered a nest full of baby birds and proceeded to eat them all.

    Bird watchers everywhere screamed “Save Them” and the scientists running the web cam said “Snakes gotta eat too…” Which is true.

    Baby snakes are pretty cute, also. I rescued a ring-neck black snake that was the size of a ball point pen filler from a hotel lobby years ago, at a state park. I took it out into the woods and set it down. It was shiny black with a golden collar, they turn lighter in color as the snake ages, I’m not sure if they fade away once the snake is really big or not.

    I haven’t seen really big black snakes with a collar, though. Our black snakes can be 6 or 7 feet long and the size of my wrist, which is about 3 inches across. They keep copperheads (the most common poisonous snake in these parts) away from the farm, so the more there are, the better.

  47. 47.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    I can’t believe he tries to pin this on Democrats. This is the purest picture of Trump we’ve seen. Pure venality.

  49. 49.

    mad citizen

    I used to have a bluebird house attached to the pole the mailbox hangs on. We had several broods over the years. Once they get the size these are, it seemed most make it and fly away. I remember the one time I was weeding or something in the front yard and I saw their initial flights and leaving the nest. It was unexpectedly moving.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    @OldDave:
    Now only four living humans walked on the moon. Let’s send Trump there and tell him to build a hotel anywhere he likes.

  51. 51.

    JPL

    @debbie: He’ll surprise us yet. Friday he signed an executive order loosening union laws on firing federal workers. Expect the great wave of registered democrats to be removed from federal positions. I wish I was kidding.

  53. 53.

    Yutsano

    @JPL: That gets tied up in court on Tuesday. An executive order cannot overturn existing Congressional law.

  55. 55.

    J R in WV

    @JPL:

    As was said immediately after this Executive Order was signed with much hoopla, he cannot revoke the Civil Service Act of 1974 with his pen. So… no, not so much.

    No matter how much he wishes it to be so, it will not be.

    ETA: To repeat honored commenter @Yutsano!

  56. 56.

    MomSense

    I’m wary of making any kind of safety trap for the birds. Nature has its way of doing things. Usually humans mess it up in ways we never expected or intended.

  57. 57.

    Amir Khalid

    @J R in WV:
    After this gets pointed out to him enough times, I expect Trump to issue an executive order giving himself the power to revoke laws passed by Congress.

    //

  60. 60.

    Yarrow

    @MomSense: Agreed. Maybe just putting some things that will make the porch softer and more like the grass or leaves they’d land on if they were in something planted in the ground would be enough.

  61. 61.

    Emerald

    In other birdcam news, sadness in Decorah, Iowa. First, about five weeks ago, the beloved eagle Dad Decorah disappeared. There was a snowstorm but he didn’t seem to be having any problem with that. More likely it was a displacement by a young male bird in the area. If so, Dad might try to come back. Meanwhile, Mom Decorah has raised the three kids all by herself and they are thriving. The Unidentified Male Eagle is hanging around still, but she won’t let him into the nest..

    Greater sadness yesterday with both tiny eaglets in the Decorah North Nest (miles to the north), just hatched a few days ago. They appear to have succumbed to gnats, which can clog their airways. These were from a second clutch, but they were hatched too late in the season for them to survive. The Decorah North Nest has had a sad season.

    But life in the eagle world continues! Dad’s last three eaglets (unless he can return–sometimes they do), will fledge in about three weeks or so.

  62. 62.

    satby

    @MomSense: @Yarrow: I think John’s plan for the fledglings is a good one: the tarp will let them land on it or slide to the porch floor gently and blockading the porch from critters until they can fly over the railings away should work fine. I have a robin’s nest over my back door eve, last year one fledgling sat (and pooped all over) my porch chair for an entire day before he ventured another flight into the bushes. This year I found two dead fledglings, though I can tell by the adult birds behavior there’s other fledgling around that they’re watching and feeding under the cover of bushes. I kind of wished I could have moved the dead ones under the evergreens and given them a fighting chance when they first came out of the nest.

  63. 63.

    bluefish

    Wow, what an experience you’re having with the birdies. Nice — Those are some lucky duckies. Rest of the gang may start to get jealous so … en garde! Cool how they all hang out together so snugly — But don’t be Tony Soprano with the ducks though — And other such completely unsolicited advice. You have a lot of love in you — And so the creatures come.

  64. 64.

    DanR2

    How to save baby critters is tough.

    We have an issue in our backyard where our mutt figured out where a rabbit nest is. I covered it back up the best I could and rigged a little wire fencing over it with an opening that a mother rabbit could go through (but not a cocker spaniel). We’ll see. Probably be burying some baby bunnies in a few days.

    Saw six adult bunnies munching on grass in the front yard a while ago, so I don’t think extinction is a concern, but boy, baby rabbits are damn cute.

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