This newsletter just gets funnier and funnier as I read through it! So many gems like this one: “With how bold they’ve [the deer] been on the rest of the property, it’s only a matter of time until one of them lets itself into the house to make a sandwich.” I hope the parents like the video bird feeder! Maybe Big Bird will make a cameo!
We'd love that as a combined present and I bet your folks did, too. At our house, the birds eat more, and have a larger budget, than does the cat. We get regular visits from cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, doves, tufted titmouse and the other cute small birds, and of course the ugly birds, too. And, because of that, we have a couple of very large and cool hawks hanging about spying on their next lunch. The one thing I'd wish we'd see is an owl so maybe we should invest in a camera like the one you gave them. {By the way, raccoons give me the creeps.]
When they lived on a lake in Florida, my parents had a regular visitor they named Henry the Herron. He would fly up near my mom and grab whatever she held out for him to eat. I have a commissioned painting of him that I named Waiting for Irene because I suspect he missed her when they moved up here. He was beautiful.
Having a heron as a regular visitor must have been very cool. Those are huge birds, and very pretty, least from a distance. I would also like to see an owl in the wild. I've never seen one outside of captivity. My 10-year-old thought she spotted one in a tree a few weeks ago. I actually turned around the car to take another look. It was a hawk, but a big one. Still pretty cool.
I had no idea there were video bird feeders! Your parents sound incredibly hard to buy for. Have you thought of getting your siblings together and buying them an experience? A trip, a cruise, etc? That’s what we used to buy for my sister in law. A hot air balloon ride, a horse drawn sleigh ride with a hot chocolate and campfire at the middle, and others. She loved that because she never thought of doing those things herself.
Those are all really good ideas. I might try one of those next year, assuming that my parents don't love or hate my gift from this year so much that Christmas is canceled for good.
Your parents will have to be careful about where they hang that video feeder. We had one that we hung by our patio. Unfortunately, we have a large window looking out onto the patio. Our breakfast nook has that window and my husband likes to use the computer there. For awhile, we got every movement he made on the camera. Luckily, nothing too racy. Love that bird identification feature. Ours was much more basic.
I love your holiday celebration schedule. It’s like Christmas for two months
We got a Bird Buddy from their Kickstarter. It’s pretty awesome seeing the birds show up. And the squirrels. ALL the squirrels. We switched to a “hot and spicy” bird food blend that the squirrels aren’t supposed to like. Yeah, I have HOURS of video of the mama squirrel just sprawled out over the feeder stuffing her face, having some me time away from the squirrel-lets. 🤣
Love the videos tho! And it does turn off at night so you only get notifications during certain hours.
I'm not surprised at all that the squirrels still showed up. Those guys are unstoppable. My dad only partial refills at most of his feeders because whatever's in there, the squirrels finish off each day.
My mother-in-law got my husband one of these for his birthday in December. He mounted it on the railing of our deck, as opposed to a pole in the yard that needs to be mowed around. (Right next to it is a tray feeder we've had up for several years, which birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice have enjoyed in the past. We haven't used it much lately because of the rodents.)
It took awhile for any wildlife to notice it, but the first visitors were squirrels. (It's been cold, we're in Minnesota.) They pretty much made a mess of the place and emptied a feeder full of food in a couple days. So, he went online and bought a solar-powered fence electrifier. He has rigged up a little wooden slat to one side of the feeder with some metal mesh as ground, and wrapped the positive wire around the outer perch of the feeder. We've watched a few squirrels jump away when they get zapped. We'll see how long it takes them to outsmart it.
Meanwhile, we have had a bluejay visiting the feeder. In the past we've had a lot of birds, so hopefully that's in the future as well. I wish your folks luck, it is fun to watch the videos.
We have quite the menagerie these days at our feeders and fountain. Our house backs up to a green belt so we get all the critters. Currently we get a family of cardinals, several different kinds of finches, a small flock doves who clean up under the feeder, a family of rock squirrels, a family of plain old brown squirrels, a hawk that hangs out on the fence but so far hasn’t attacked any of the smaller birds and rodents. At night we have a dormouse and a possum, and if we leave the feed out, one ginormous raccoon. We put 9n a fountain a couple of years ago and that really brought in all the birds. Our hummingbirds headed to Mexico, but there were 4 or 5 all summer feeding and taking baths on the fountain. We have a wildlife camera we need to set up. Who knows what else sneaks into the yard for water. My sister in law has two urban red foxes that visit her yard.
Foxes are amazing as long as you don't have chickens. I'm not sure if they would bother my parents' small dog or we're not. If they promise to be polite, guessed, I'd love to see them on camera.
I'm not sure why you (hilariously) hate birds, but for me it's the squirrels. They are always at the bird feeders, and when you chase them away they scold you.
On April Fool's Day, you 100% now need to get a big bird costume and show up at the bird feeder at some point so it sends them a notification
That is exactly the kind of ridiculous long-term scheme I can get on board with.
This newsletter just gets funnier and funnier as I read through it! So many gems like this one: “With how bold they’ve [the deer] been on the rest of the property, it’s only a matter of time until one of them lets itself into the house to make a sandwich.” I hope the parents like the video bird feeder! Maybe Big Bird will make a cameo!
We'd love that as a combined present and I bet your folks did, too. At our house, the birds eat more, and have a larger budget, than does the cat. We get regular visits from cardinals, woodpeckers, blue jays, doves, tufted titmouse and the other cute small birds, and of course the ugly birds, too. And, because of that, we have a couple of very large and cool hawks hanging about spying on their next lunch. The one thing I'd wish we'd see is an owl so maybe we should invest in a camera like the one you gave them. {By the way, raccoons give me the creeps.]
When they lived on a lake in Florida, my parents had a regular visitor they named Henry the Herron. He would fly up near my mom and grab whatever she held out for him to eat. I have a commissioned painting of him that I named Waiting for Irene because I suspect he missed her when they moved up here. He was beautiful.
Having a heron as a regular visitor must have been very cool. Those are huge birds, and very pretty, least from a distance. I would also like to see an owl in the wild. I've never seen one outside of captivity. My 10-year-old thought she spotted one in a tree a few weeks ago. I actually turned around the car to take another look. It was a hawk, but a big one. Still pretty cool.
I had no idea there were video bird feeders! Your parents sound incredibly hard to buy for. Have you thought of getting your siblings together and buying them an experience? A trip, a cruise, etc? That’s what we used to buy for my sister in law. A hot air balloon ride, a horse drawn sleigh ride with a hot chocolate and campfire at the middle, and others. She loved that because she never thought of doing those things herself.
Those are all really good ideas. I might try one of those next year, assuming that my parents don't love or hate my gift from this year so much that Christmas is canceled for good.
You might as well get him a signed photo of Bigfoot. After all, who can prove it's NOT real? 😉
That's true. I bet bigfoot's handwriting is just as bad as mine.
Great gift idea. Now I want a video bird feeder with identification abilities, too!
There are a million options to choose from. I'll let you know how this one works if it ever gets up and running.
I believe your father needs this
https://dissentpins.com/products/bigfoot-rehabilitation-center-sticker?_pos=9&_sid=b0412781f&_ss=r
or similar product from the same vendor
That patch would look good on a sweater or jacket.
Your parents will have to be careful about where they hang that video feeder. We had one that we hung by our patio. Unfortunately, we have a large window looking out onto the patio. Our breakfast nook has that window and my husband likes to use the computer there. For awhile, we got every movement he made on the camera. Luckily, nothing too racy. Love that bird identification feature. Ours was much more basic.
I love your holiday celebration schedule. It’s like Christmas for two months
That's true. I didn't think about how sensitive it would be. Maybe my mom will get her episode of "Cops" after all.
We got a Bird Buddy from their Kickstarter. It’s pretty awesome seeing the birds show up. And the squirrels. ALL the squirrels. We switched to a “hot and spicy” bird food blend that the squirrels aren’t supposed to like. Yeah, I have HOURS of video of the mama squirrel just sprawled out over the feeder stuffing her face, having some me time away from the squirrel-lets. 🤣
Love the videos tho! And it does turn off at night so you only get notifications during certain hours.
I'm not surprised at all that the squirrels still showed up. Those guys are unstoppable. My dad only partial refills at most of his feeders because whatever's in there, the squirrels finish off each day.
In the future, if your father needs some bird artwork...
1. Mincing Mockingbird has budget-friendly snarky birds and also nice bird fine art with fun titles.
2. Effin' Birds mostly has birds that swear, but some of them are just rude.
Effin' Birds are hilarious. I'm not sure if they'd be my dad's cup of tea, but I love them.
My mother-in-law got my husband one of these for his birthday in December. He mounted it on the railing of our deck, as opposed to a pole in the yard that needs to be mowed around. (Right next to it is a tray feeder we've had up for several years, which birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice have enjoyed in the past. We haven't used it much lately because of the rodents.)
It took awhile for any wildlife to notice it, but the first visitors were squirrels. (It's been cold, we're in Minnesota.) They pretty much made a mess of the place and emptied a feeder full of food in a couple days. So, he went online and bought a solar-powered fence electrifier. He has rigged up a little wooden slat to one side of the feeder with some metal mesh as ground, and wrapped the positive wire around the outer perch of the feeder. We've watched a few squirrels jump away when they get zapped. We'll see how long it takes them to outsmart it.
Meanwhile, we have had a bluejay visiting the feeder. In the past we've had a lot of birds, so hopefully that's in the future as well. I wish your folks luck, it is fun to watch the videos.
That's a pretty clever solution! But as you're well aware, squirrels are devious. Expect to see squirrel electricians in the near future.
Big Bird is a canary. (I'm *not* making this up, I swear.)
That video bird feeder sounds very cool!
That would have been my last guess. Sesame Street has a lot to learn about birds.
Maybe some Boojum beer for dad next Christmas…Bigfoot-ish and a delicious beverage
Ooh. That's a good option to consider.
.... we'll call it "the eagle cam"
We have quite the menagerie these days at our feeders and fountain. Our house backs up to a green belt so we get all the critters. Currently we get a family of cardinals, several different kinds of finches, a small flock doves who clean up under the feeder, a family of rock squirrels, a family of plain old brown squirrels, a hawk that hangs out on the fence but so far hasn’t attacked any of the smaller birds and rodents. At night we have a dormouse and a possum, and if we leave the feed out, one ginormous raccoon. We put 9n a fountain a couple of years ago and that really brought in all the birds. Our hummingbirds headed to Mexico, but there were 4 or 5 all summer feeding and taking baths on the fountain. We have a wildlife camera we need to set up. Who knows what else sneaks into the yard for water. My sister in law has two urban red foxes that visit her yard.
Foxes are amazing as long as you don't have chickens. I'm not sure if they would bother my parents' small dog or we're not. If they promise to be polite, guessed, I'd love to see them on camera.
I'm not sure why you (hilariously) hate birds, but for me it's the squirrels. They are always at the bird feeders, and when you chase them away they scold you.
The only way squirrels have wronged me so far is by nibbling our pumpkins every Halloween. They might make my enemies list yet.