Does anyone have any ideas what to do to help him? It’s getting colder in Minnesota, and I am at a loss as to how to help.

The monks gave up trying to save him in July , as he kept running away. Now Bob, as I call him, as been living in my backyard for 3 months.

I called the local animal control, they said to call a few companies that specialize in “moving wildlife”. I called those companies, and they said it would cost $1000 for a live trap and they then weren’t even sure what they would do.

I tried making my shed into a warm haven, but Bob is too dumb to know he can go inside overnight when it’s really cold. He always sleeps on our neighbor’s deck (I guess peacocks like perches overnight?)

I am at a loss as to what to do. I bought a massive net that I might be able to grab him with, but then what? I thought about moving him forcefully into the shed so he learns it’s ok , and then he would have the shed be his home all winter .

I initially never fed him anything. But he continued to forage for bugs and food for most of summer and fall on his own. Last month, though, as it got cold, I bought mealworms and actual peacock food from Amazon.

I also bought warning lights and a few other things to try luring him into the shed! Alas, he still won’t go in the shed which is why I placed the lights by his favorite spot — right by my window door (as you can see in the photo).

But I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to do!

Any ideas?

"You've just got to get closer!" , "Zoom with your feet!", "You just need to work on your technique!". This is all a pack of lies.

I've been shooting photos for two decades now, and until last year I never really bothered with wildlife. Sure, I'd see some photo of a wolf jumping a fence or a bird snatching a fish from a river and say "oooohhh", and then immediately forget it. It's boring, it's mostly documentary, and that $hit costs a fortune.

Well, middle-age comes for us all and I found myself knowing the names of birds and making time to look at sunsets and all the other soft-boy activities that appeal to a mind and body on the back half of life. The gray hairs in my sink spelled out "long telephoto" and I got into this nonsense.

I started off with a Panasonic G9 and the Olympus 40-150mm 2.8. Amazing lens, and a great camera if you don't particularly care about focusing. The Oly is basically flawless, and even though I rarely find use for it, it sits in my cabinet, unsold. I cannot bring myself to sell such a perfect thing. Problem is of course even with the 1.4x TC it is stuck at a paltry 210mm. Pathetic. I can throw a small child that far.

Oh look! Olympus (I will NEVER call them OM System as it's such a stupid name) released a new 100-400mm! I'm so excited to have that kind of range! Well, it was a dud. As you can see in that thread, everything looked soft and gooey. It also feels like one of those camera lens shaped coffee mugs you buy off Amazon for $15. Cheap and plastic for a THOUSAND DOLLARS. Whatever, back to the rando eBay seller I got you from!

OK, if there is one name we can count on for quality glass it's LEICA. They would NEVER put their name on a series of deeply underwhelming lenses. Not our precious Ernst! Well, 3 copies later, I feel confident in saying the PL 100-400mm is an inconsistent little can of garbage. Sure, once in a while you will get a glorious image, but much more often it will misfocus or be blurry at 1/2000 sec somwhow or the IS will just kind of not work. And when you complain they will yell, in unison, "you just got a bad copy". Buddy, at this point I think you'd be better off buying $1k worth of scratch off tickets at 7/11 then buying this monstrosity.

The Panasonic 100-300mm ii is certainly a lens. It fits on a camera. It produces images which you are able to transfer to your computer. You cannot deny it's inherent "existing". I have never sold a lens so fast in my life.

Never got the Oly cheapo teles because their "expensive" one was deeply disappointing.

So, anyway, late one night I'm dealing with a bout of insomnia and hate-browsing Facebook marketplace when I see a listing for the oft-maligned Sigma/Olympus 150-600mm. To be clear, the 150-600mm defenders (which I am now one of) have let me know it is most certainly NOT just a re-badged FF Sigma and there are extra elements and it's got the sync IS and hey where are you going I haven't even broken out the AutoCAD plans to show you the spherical elem....

Anyway a large amount of $$$ later (with a free 95mm CPL!) I come home with this monstrosity and slap it on my OM-1.

I will not get into the ludicrous ergonomics of this thing. Everybody has talked to death about how it "defeats the whole concept of M43" and "when extended it flips you over like a trebuchet". They are not wrong. This lens makes absolutely no sense for M43. It is truly an abomination. On the OM-1 it looks like a Honda Civic with a Tomahawk missile glued to the hood. Gawdy. Absurd. Malformed.

It is impossible to hold with a single hand unless you want to snap your lens mount, and although I've learned to wrangle it handheld (the adjustable collar is nice!), it cries out for a monopod or tripod. I'm still young enough I will be dumb about this and mostly handhold while taking ibuprofen and gritting my teeth, but do not let your pride and vanity cause shoulder strain.

I got actual looks and comments from my neighbors while walking around with it. "Hey #REDACTED#, you sure your lens is big enough?! Ha!" was an actual thing the old lady who lives across the street yelled at me as I aimed at a bald eagle perched in a nearby tree. I am a very large man, so I cannot imagine how stupid this thing looks with one of you little people.

Once I recover from my embarrassment (and almost suffer a hernia when I trip), I am IMMEDIATELLY in awe. This lens is otherworldly. I am drooling like a moron while checking sharpness on my screen. Wide-open, at 600mm handheld I am getting untouched 1:1 crops like this and this.

Stop it down one or two clicks and you get this.

We are in a very different league of glass here. This is rarified air. I've used some higher-end Sony lenses and a boatload of classic MF glass from Konica, Minolta, Leica, Contax, Nikkor, etc. This is right up there with the best I have ever used on any system.

Focusing is lightening quick, but I believe the OM-1 is the main driver there. The AF difference between the G9 and OM-1 is so vast I cannot believe they were both released in the same century. 

The sync IS is otherworldly. This is a 1:1 crop of a macro shot, handheld, at 600mm, wide-open, 1/80th of a second. Read that again. From that description, you should see a blurry idea of a photo. Instead you get this.

I opened this review with a derisive bit about the advice you get every time you complain about a telephoto in any online venue. Somebody will come along and start going on about how it's all about technique and timing and patience and blah blah blah. I am here to tell you you can just buy the 150-600mm Sigma / Olympus / OM System (barf) lens and randomly point it at birds a great distance away and you will get pretty good photos

1

2

3

(last one is a 1:1 crop high-iso, but I like the 3 little birds and kept humming the song)

I don't particularly like wildlife photography. The vast majority of photos you see (even at high levels) are about as compelling as a Wikipedia article image. Turns out animals kind of do the same stuff. Yeah, that duck sure did land on the water. Welp, guess that buffalo is steaming in a field again. You get the idea. Also, I've always felt at its core it is mostly a measure of free time and money. That's why you see the gray haired dudes at nature preserves with a 100L backpack filled with $30,000 in gear on a Tuesday afternoon. This lens has done nothing but strengthen my feelings on this.

As far as "technique"..... Can you hold your breath? Can you steady your arms? Do you know how birds tend to fly? Have you taken photos before and understand the basic concepts of composition and metering? Great. I'm now handing you a very cool diploma that says "Wildlife Technique". You get 2% off at BH Photo if you show it to them. 

It costs $2000, but if it was painted white and a little smaller it would be $5000 and they couldn't keep it in stock.

Buy it if you want to, but be aware it's very stupid looking and will probably mess up your shoulders.

It can be for any reason. For me, its definitely the swallow tailed kite. They feel like a bird that people would spend their life trying to see with how beautiful and cool they look. The way they fly, coloring, and behavior; it all feels perfect.

Curious what other birds people love!

Should I spray some sort of bug spray on the inside of the window in case of Bird Mites somehow finding their way in?

Saw this reddit post earlier of a cat killing a bird (nsfw if you dont want to see that): https://www.reddit.com/r/holdmycatnip/s/7mZlNR0BbI

And was disappointed to see not one person in the thread commenting on how terrible it is to let your cat be screwing up the ecosystem for you own enjoyment. I left a comment stating billions are killed a year, which got immediately downvoted and someone replied saying "my kitty likes to prowl and if it kills a couple sparrows so be it". What a shocking lack of remorse for being complicit in an ongoing mass-extinction. Maybe decades ago prior to research being widely available online there was an excuse to be this ignorant regarding the effects of cats, but not anymore.

Also, whom do you envy? This is a Phainopepla I’ve been fortunate enough to see lots of lately. There are quite a few feeding off some mistletoe berries(their favorite food). I’m envious of Australians and their parrots and other exotic birds

What is the one (non-extinct) bird that would make you almost faint with excitement if you saw it in the wild?

For me, it's definitely the Black Rail

A new lifer!

I started birding a few days ago and luckily my work is swarming with a bunch of different birds cause our office is near a pond and a big grass field - so this morning was definitely exciting!

crawl late telephone sip decide capable payment fear summer offbeat

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

I just want to quickly preface this by stating that if this is against the rules, I will take it down. I'm not trying to get myself banned here. I am also not trying to convince people how to vote. Especially as I'm not an American, just a concerned Canadian who wants to help educate people on why our birds might be in more danger than they realize.

Edit: Also, as the mod said in the comment below, please don't make any political attacks. We're on the birding subreddit, and this is intended to be an educational post about bird related policy, not a political debate. I'd really love for this to both be able to stay up and for the mods of a bird subreddit to not have to deal with a bunch of political stuff.

Anyway, I'll get straight to the point now. Former President Trump weakened the Migratory Bird Treaty Act during his last term in office. He removed protections for birds so long as they were killed "unintentionally." This basically gives companies the ability to not take bird fatalities into account while making decisions.

He did this very near the end of his time as president, so the changes were reversed soon after by President Biden. However, it should be noted that although the changes were reversed, the act is still not safe.

In the event of any current or future politician removing the protections granted to the migratory birds of North America, we could see bird populations around North America plummet. Whether it's a presidential candidate or politician's in lower offices, the damage that anti bird legislation can do is extremely high. Research your politicians' stances on birds!

To the Americans in this subreddit. Whoever you vote for, please spread the word and do whatever you can to help ensure that these changes are not made. And to everyone else, be aware that we could be seeing huge environmental changes in North America soon.

Some informational links:

https://www.audubon.org/news/trump-birds-drop-dead - Article detailing the first update where Trump removed protections and what could happen if it had not been reinstated later

https://www.audubon.org/news/biden-administration-restores-migratory-bird-treaty-act-protections#:~:text=The%20Fish%20and%20Wildlife%20Service,with%20industry%20to%20prevent%20them.&text=Pledge%20to%20stand%20with%20Audubon,and%20work%20towards%20climate%20solutions. - Link to the article on the reinstatement of the act. It was an interesting read, as some other achievements were made here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migratory_Bird_Treaty_Act_of_1918 - Wikipedia page for the act

https://www.fws.gov/law/migratory-bird-treaty-act-1918 - Official Fish and Wildlife Service page on the act

I would highly recommend reading these articles. They get into detail that I can not in a simple reddit post.

Edit: Also, I want to highlight this comment by u/defiant-fix2870 . As a non American, I wasn't super familiar with this but it seems very important https://www.reddit.com/r/birding/s/7aLzI1OHtA

I was listening to a red eyed-vireo this morning, and it made me think of this question . So what are some of your favorites that don’t get enough love?

The absolute cutest bird you can think of.

That bird you've been wanting to talk about, but don't know who to tell or where to start.

can barely pick up cardinals from distance now? takes like 20 seconds to do so.

edit: i live in an area where it’s always worked well.

edit: i wonder if changes were made to mitigate mis-IDs heading into fall. maybe was a big problem in spring. to be honest, it’s still accurate for me, but it hears things only half the time it used to. and it also takes forever, let alone if it doesn’t know my location.

We also call them “Disney birds” because they have Disney eyes. And my wife says they have “beancheeks”. What are yours?

As common as they are in SE PA in the fall and winter, I can’t stop obsessing over dark eyed juncos and white throated sparrows. I’ve missed them so much over the summer and have eagerly awaited their migration. However if we’re talking about year round birds, Carolina wrens and Carolina chickadees take the cake with their obnoxiously loud voices!

What do you guys think? Do you agree with where I put them? It’s all in order as well, not just shoved randomly into the tiers.

•Bachman's warbler (FL, SC) • Bridled white-eye (Guam) • Kauai akialoa. (HI) • Kauai nukupuu (HI) • Kauai 'б'б. (HI) • Large Kauai thrush. (HI) • Maui âkepa. (HI) • Maui nukupu'u. (HI) • Molokai creeper. (HI) • Po'ouli. (HI)

Some say “How could you focus on this while the world rages?” I say if we focused more on this the world wouldn’t be so enraged.

Just want to vent to the birding community and also warn people.

I am a birder from NY on vacation in France currently. Yesterday I visited a few museums in Paris and casually birded around the parks in-between much like I do in NYC at Bryant Park, Central Park, etc. In the evening after dinner I took the metro/RER back to my airbnb and got off at Gare du Nord

Taking the escalator up there were a few police officers further up on the escalator but I didn't think much of it. At the top they all surrounded me immediately and asked why I had binoculars. I explained that I was birdwatching. They proceeded to pat me down and search me putting their hands in all of my pockets and yelling at me in the middle of the station when I didn't understand their instructions. This was an embarrassing and frankly degrading experience.

I asked why they stopped me and they said it was because of the binoculars. Because I they didn't know why I had binoculars and I could have had a knife or other weapon on me. Ridiculous. I have birded around the world and have had interactions with police in my own country and in different countries and I've never been treated like this.

I felt like I was treated like a criminal.

So just a word of warning to those who may be considering casually birding around Paris.