Henry Rifle Forums

This Fathers day I got a different gift. Two Mocking birds decided to make residence here at least for now. I love to sit and listen to the many different birds they can imitate. Woke me up yesterday morning going through all its different calls. I was still in bed thinking there is no way there is that many different birds here at the same time. Got dressed and went out back and sure enough right up on top of the telephone pole by the garage there it was and another on the fence post. The one on the pole was the vocal one. I went out a little after 6 this morning and it was back up on the pole just rattling off the whole series. Puts a smile on my face to have them here again. Last year the vocal one got hit by a car when it flew across the road here to low. Just wasn't the same after that to sit out on the porch. My wife and I spent a lot of time watching and listening to them last year and now we can enjoy them again.

Have you tried whistling to them and have them mock you?
I do it every time I have one in the yard and it is like having a conversation.
Years ago when everyone wore pagers the birds in downtown Charlotte got very good at imitating them. At lunchtime in the small areas with trees people would gather. When a pager would go off the birds would start up. They had us all checking our pagers.

We had them when we lived near a woods in the Lehigh Valley and they would sing even at night if there was a full moon. Now, since we have moved to this 55 and over community, I hardly ever hear one. I miss hearing them.

Deadwood Dutch wrote:We had them when we lived near a woods in the Lehigh Valley and they would sing even at night if there was a full moon. Now, since we have moved to this 55 and over community, I hardly ever hear one. I miss hearing them.

Dutch,

I'm afraid the birds don't live till age 55

I enjoy them every so often. I don't see many around me.

Henry88 wrote:

Deadwood Dutch wrote:We had them when we lived near a woods in the Lehigh Valley and they would sing even at night if there was a full moon. Now, since we have moved to this 55 and over community, I hardly ever hear one. I miss hearing them.

Dutch,

I'm afraid the birds don't live till age 55

That's very interesting.

I don't think I've ever seen one.

Sir Henry wrote:I don't think I've ever seen one.

I've never seen a 55 year old mockingbird either, although I hear eagles live a long time......................

I woke this morning to the Mocking bird making a Blue Jay call. He went from the Blue Jay to a Robin and then a Killdeer in a couple blinks of an eye. The pole by my garage is his favorite look out. He will being going through his routine and a bug will fly by and he will jump straight up and snatch the bug from the air and hardly miss a beat. This would make a nice video for folks who say they never heard one. Then everyone would want my bird. I would love to have one in a cage to keep year round and listen to its many different imitations. It flies across the highway in front of my house to low and it may meet the same death by a car the last one got. Mornings were very dull out back after that one got killed. Hoping this one does better.

Well, I have to present the opposing view. They may be our State Bird, but I do not like them. I think they are the state bird because they are like politicians and always on a stump hollering! They never mimic a song bird. They just try to mimic the loud ones like the Jay. If you have a bush outside your bedroom window, they start about an hour before daylight, then attack you every time you come out.
Then there is the bird poop on everything. The Wife had to quit using the clothes line. Then, there is the time of year that polk berries are ripe. They leave large purple stains on everything during that period.
Lucky me, I have two nesting pairs in the back yard.

The starlings and the English sparrows are the problem birds. I have not been attacked by the Mocking birds and they just don't just mimic the loud birds. So now they are like politicians. Get real! Also a half hour before day light is time to get up any way. I go to bed between 12 AM -1:00 AM and get up at 5:00 -5:30 AM. I figure I will get all the sleep I need when I am dead. Also I don't want to miss anything.

Wow. Not much sleep.

bandit1250 wrote: I go to bed between 12 AM -1:00 AM and get up at 5:00 -5:30 AM. I figure I will get all the sleep I need when I am dead. Also I don't want to miss anything.

When I worked for a living, I had to get up at 5:30 everyday and drive forty miles to work. By the end of the work day, I was totally exhausted, even though I really loved my job! I just needed more sleep.

Now, I can have it. I'm sound asleep by 9:30 - 10:00 pm and I sleep like a rock until about 6:30 am. Then, I snooze another half hour or 45 minutes before actually getting out of bed and starting the day. That's about twice as much sleep as you get. But, I'm a regular and very vivid dreamer; which might make up for some of my missed, awakened awareness. If I only had the little sleep you get, I'd be dead sooner.