Tag: bird feeder

54

I was thinking about doing something with this post where I post an image with the old Studio 54 logo. Having lived through the disco era and today being my 54th birthday, I figured that would be funny. Then I realized it would not be funny at all, it would be dumb. So I changed my mind and just went with this.

Today is my birthday. I am 54 years old. I am NOT happy about it. When I was 53 years old I could sort of convince myself that 53 is still your early 50’s. At 54 I can’t do that anymore. I am firmly entrenched in my mid 50’s and again, I am NOT happy about it.

The weather is nice right now. That’s good. Of course the forecast is calling for rain later so that’s fitting. Blah. I filled the bird feeders because I wanted those little monsters to have a nice celebration on my birthday. I took a couple of pictures. This one is with the aperture wide open, f1.8. Blurry background, babie!

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This next one is the opposite. This one has the aperture closed down as far as it goes. f22, which means the shutter speed is super slow which is why it’s a little soft on the focus. Image stabilization helps, but it’s not perfect. Note that the background is not blurry at all.

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Now when you compare the two photos you know how your lens aperture controls your depth of field. See? You didn’t realize I was going to give you all a photography lesson for my birthday, but there you go. Happy birthday, hohoho.

Baffle

I saw how the squirrels are getting around the anti-squirrel baffle I have on my bird feeder rig. I looked out the window just in time to see one of those little rodent pricks simply jump over it. I had been trying to imagine some complicated method they were using to thwart my defenses and it was just an athletic little sucker jumping really high. Asshole.

I went outside and raised it up quite a bit. Hopefully that will be enough. We’ll see.

Dinner Time

I filled the bird feeders this morning before I started work. Look at me just ringing that dinner bell for all of the birds. Also for the squirrels. I’ve seen one little bastard get around my anti-squirrel baffle. I don’t know how the little shit managed it but now I need to invest in a gun*.

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*I am kidding. I am not planning on shooting any squirrels. If there is a zombie apocalypse and I need to eat squirrels to survive then I reserve the right to change my stance. Until then, however, I will just hate those little rodent fuckers from afar.

Squirrels Suck

I moved the squirrel baffle higher up on the bird feeder pole. Let’s hope that stops the little bastards from getting to the bird feeders. I’ve seen a squirrel get past the baffle four times, but I have never actually caught them in the act to see how they are getting around it. I am hoping it was just too close to the ground and they could somehow jump over it. We’ll see.

What is Wrong with Me: Follow Up

Following up on the previous post. I looked out the window to make sure the bird feeders survived the night (as you do) and saw a squirrel had made it past the anti-squirrel baffle and was chowing down.

Fuck it. I don’t want to play that anymore either. I give up.

We’re going to see Harry for a few minutes today. If it weren’t for that, I think I would be crashing into a major depression right now.

Fuck it all, I’m going fishing.*

*Not literally. That would take effort and clearly that is beyond me right now.

Backyard Violence

I just saw some backyard wild kingdom violence. Well… it was mostly over by the time I looked outside, but I saw a little of the aftermath.

I have the window open in my home office room. I heard a bang outside followed by lots of angry bird noise. I looked outside and…

…right in front of my window was a hawk standing on the ground eating a fresh kill. I think the fresh kill was a sparrow. It was tough to say. I thought maybe a chipmunk at first but it was definitely a small bird. I reached for my phone to take a picture but the hawk and it’s lunch flew away into the woods.

I guess we’ll have to settle for a cat photo as my photo a day shot.

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This was taken before the murder. Robin had left by the time the horror went down.

Seeds

The bird feeders are full again. It only took them a few days to blow through four whole bird feeders worth of seeds. That probably means I am going to slow down on the feeder fillings in the near future. For today though, we’re full once more.

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Fill ’em Up

The bird feeders are full. All except for the one little one that came with the pole that is too wide to put seed into without it all just falling out. I don’t know what’s supposed to go there. I’ll figure it out… someday.

The white plastic bowl looking thing is supposed to be full of water. I figured it would have rained by now because it always rains around here. We might get a thunderstorm tonight, so it should fill up then.

Back Yard

The patio umbrella is open for the first time in two years. The weather today is perfect.

Also, the mangled bird feeder pole has been replaced. I’d say upgraded, but it feels a little flimsy.

Let’s see if the birds start visiting while I cook lunch on the grill for the first time this year!