Its good that NPT-Nashville Public Television-airs educational programs about nature. They usually do well with their variety of different programs, but I was rather disappointed that they would not be airing Don and Lillian Stoke's new series on birds--I e-mailed the station last year to inquire if and when they would be airing the series and the response I received was that programs about birds aired in the Nashville viewing area did not get much support from the public in general (????) Maybe if everyone in Middle TN requested it enough they would at it to their lineup. As far as my tyrant mockingbirds--I have 'solved' the situation by spreading peanut butter from one end of the yard to the other. The mockers now have a lot more area to keep up with and hopefully will soon tire of chasing all around. The 'family' of bluebirds returned at once. I've got one tough mocker here--one that chased away two squirrels this morning along with a pair of Red-bellied WP that got too close to the peanut butter. Anna Varney Summertown, TN ----- Original Message ----- From: <Dthomp2669@xxxxxxx> To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 12:31 PM Subject: [TN-Bird] Red-cockaded/goldfinch > > At 11:00 AM today (Sunday), Public Television Channel 8 in Nashville had a > program on "Snakes". During the first quarter of the program, they had a > short segment about the red-cockaded woodpecker's "trap" for keeping its nest > protected for its worst enemies, snakes. It told how the woodpecker nests in > live pine trees, pecks holes just below the nest hole for protection. The > program then featured a corn snake crawling up the tree, showed the resin > seeping under the scales thus irritating the snakes tender flesh and, then, > the dramatic sudden fall of the snake from the tree when the irritation > became more than the snake could stand. The short segment ended with the > victorious red-cockaded peering out of the nest hole and flying off to tend > to business. Since PBS reruns all its programs several times, you might wish > to check your local listings for the program "Snakes" on NATURE. It's worth > a view. It sure reminded me of my Florida home to see a nesting red-cockaded > as I grew up watching one nest in a pine just off a state road right-of-way a > couple of miles from home. Of course, development came, the road and right > of way were widened, the nest pine demolished, and my adorable red-cockadeds > left! > > My lone goldfinch that appeared during the seven inch snowfall was back this > morning feeding away on sunflower seeds. In just this week, he has begun > "yellowing-up" real good as one of my old-timey ornithologist friends used to > call it. > > Yesterday afternoon, one of my "boss" mockingbirds came at my call to get its > peanut butter. The bird was so totally wringing wet through and through that > it reminded me of a drenched anhinga just as it emerges from under the water. > I have seldom seen a wetter bird. As soon as I had placed the peanut > butter, this mocker got down there an ate greedily as if it had not eaten for > hours. > > By the way, even though my six mockers are bossy, I do not think they are > quite as possessive as the one Ann Varney writes about. Other birds can eat > at my feeder..............after my first-in-command pair of mockingbirds have > had their fill, then my second-in-command pair and the bottom-of-the-barrel > pair have finished. Even my sweet little Carolina wrens get into the peanut > butter. My mockers all fight the starlings which is fine with me. In the > past, even the young baby mocks fight adult starlings from the day one when > their parents get them to the feeder. Baby mocks learn to take care of > themselves in a hurry! > > Cardinals are aggressive too. My white-crowned sparrow took a real "beaking" > from a male cardinal a few days ago. The w-c was feeding among several > cardinals on my deck, and, suddenly, one of the male cardinals dashed over to > the white crown and just went "peck, peck, peck, peck, peck", full force and > hard, right on the top of the sparrow's head. The sparrow flew to the deck > rail, acted a little stunned, stayed there, then came back and fed in peace > when the cardinals got full and left. The next day, I saw my white-crowned > out there at times when the cardinals were not. Lesson learned! > > Go get a lifer today! > > Dee Thompson > Nashville, TN > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== > > The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with > first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. > ----------------------------------------------------- > To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: > tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > ----------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, send email to: > tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society > web site at http://www.tnbirds.org > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN > jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 > ========================================================= > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================