Pictures of Miscellaneous Stuff & Things

[doglegg]

Benefits of having the kids out of the house...20180504_173621.jpg
No arguing over who gets to lick the bowl!

[whitebuffalo58]

According to my wife you're supposed to lick the bowl BEFORE you fill the cake pans. It took me a long time to figure out why one of those big ol' mixes only makes one cupcake.


WB

[Steve Warden]

According to my wife you're supposed to lick the bowl BEFORE you fill the cake pans. It took me a long time to figure out why one of those big ol' mixes only makes one cupcake.


WB

[gsmith7158]

Here are my supplies for the day so you know I'm having fun. Got one side done getting ready to start the other.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Hmm, I suspect that rotor doesn't belong to a Kenworth...

[gsmith7158]

No TFL, that's actually for my 1997 GMC1500. 175,134 miles and still going strong.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

When I was in college, I worked at an auto parts store as a delivery boy, shelf stocker, counter man and toilet scrubber. One of the services we provided was turning drums & rotors on a lathe. I think you could replace pads for quite a while, re-facing the rotors on the lathe each time until you no longer had enough steel on the face and you had to replace the rotors. I'm not sure, but I think that entire concept is now gone. The rotors are much thinner to save weight and the pads are much more abrasive. Rotors are now disposable parts - and the cheap foreign steel and CNC machines cranking out cheap steel parts makes it more cost effective to replace them instead of paying someone to turn them. At least the old steel rotors get recycled!

[gsmith7158]

They are dirt cheap. Even that one with the integral hub with races is only $66. I think you can get the regular ones for about $25.

[garddogg56]

Cost me 49.00$.I had to do'em last Wednesday hottest day of the year

[gsmith7158]

Cost me 49.00$.I had to do'em last Wednesday hottest day of the year

Gdog I don't know about you but I got right back in that busted knuckle club a couple of times putting mine on.

[garddogg56]

You bet Greg passenger side I had to use a three foot breaker bar on the 13/16"socket and a 8lb maul on the rotor at 204K miles I should have another brake-job so I anti-seized everything

[Mumbleypeg]

One of these little guys showed up at one of the feeders this afternoon. We see one occasionally (maybe 2 or 3 times a year) but they're a treat to see when one shows up.

Ken

[Paladin]

Beautiful! Very colorful.
I'd love to put bird feed out but every time I do, the Grackles take over. They are nothing other than flying rats. I am able to feed raw peanuts in the shell to the Bluejays. We get a big kick out of them.

Ray

[RobesonsRme.com]

I watched a Blue Jay eat a snake through my dining room window a few years ago.

Charlie Noyes

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

What kind of bird is that?

If we put out birdfeed, we would not have flying rats, we would have REAL rats. Roof rats (rattus rattus) are very common in my area. We get one in the bait trap in our garage every couple of months. All you have to do is follow the smell...

[Paladin]

What kind of bird is that?

If we put out birdfeed, we would not have flying rats, we would have REAL rats. Roof rats (rattus rattus) are very common in my area. We get one in the bait trap in our garage every couple of months. All you have to do is follow the smell...

A grackle is also called a sail tailed blackbird. I would judge their size a roughly the same as a robin. We have copious quantities of them. I am tempted to say millions but suffice to say we have a lot of them. They poop everywhere and squawk a horrible, grating noise.
Once one of them finds a food source in my back yard, the next thing you know there are 50-100 of them hanging around looking for a handout.
They are a pain in the rear!

Ray

[Mumbleypeg]

The pictured bird is a Painted Bunting. Because of their beauty they're endangered. They're protected by law in the U.S. but they winter in Mexico and Central America where they are trapped and their feathers sold, or the birds are sold as pets to be kept in cages.

Shortly after we spotted the Painted Bunting at the feeder this afternoon a Brown-headed Cowbird came and chased it away. I'm continually at war with them, and the Starlings that show up occasionally. Like the Grackles you described, thetbsend out scouts and once they find a feeder 50 to 100 show up and they can empty a large feeder in no time. I can sit on the back porch with a pellet rifle and kill 10 or 12 before they wise up and leave. No Grackles here though. They're city birds.

Charlie, I've watched Guineafowl eat mice and snakes. The population of snakes around the house and barn has decreased significantly since I got some Guineas. Also have seen Roadrunners eat snakes. We always have few roadrunners but they're usually in the fence rows and pastures.

Ken

[jerryd6818]

Also have seen Roadrunners eat snakes. We always have few roadrunners but they're usually in the fence rows and pastures.

Ken

Did you know the Roadrunner is part of the Cuckoo family. I didn't know that until I saw it as an AAPK trivia question over the weekend.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I used to work at a Navy base that was surrounded by coastal scrub and marsh - and lots of lizards & snakes - and also lots of roadrunners, egrets and herons. I would see the roadrunners all the time with a small snake drooping out of both sides of their beak.

[gsmith7158]

If you haven't already, watch the roadrunner vs. rattlesnake videos on YouTube. Pretty cool.

[doglegg]

The pictured bird is a Painted Bunting. Because of their beauty they're endangered. They're protected by law in the U.S. but they winter in Mexico and Central America where they are trapped and their feathers sold, or the birds are sold as pets to be kept in cages.

Shortly after we spotted the Painted Bunting at the feeder this afternoon a Brown-headed Cowbird came and chased it away. I'm continually at war with them, and the Starlings that show up occasionally. Like the Grackles you described, thetbsend out scouts and once they find a feeder 50 to 100 show up and they can empty a large feeder in no time. I can sit on the back porch with a pellet rifle and kill 10 or 12 before they wise up and leave. No Grackles here though. They're city birds.

Charlie, I've watched Guineafowl eat mice and snakes. The population of snakes around the house and barn has decreased significantly since I got some Guineas. Also have seen Roadrunners eat snakes. We always have few roadrunners but they're usually in the fence rows and pastures.

Ken

I had a female painted bunting show up at the feeder earlier in the spring. Would love to have the male as well. Mostly just common birds here. During spring migration I have had a sharp shinned hawk hang around a few days. He is sudden and he is deadly. Like to see the cardinal pair also as he is such a gentleman with his mate. Feeds her and when the young ones arrive takes care of them as well. Thanks for the picture.

[Paladin]

The pictured bird is a Painted Bunting. Because of their beauty they're endangered. They're protected by law in the U.S. but they winter in Mexico and Central America where they are trapped and their feathers sold, or the birds are sold as pets to be kept in cages.

Shortly after we spotted the Painted Bunting at the feeder this afternoon a Brown-headed Cowbird came and chased it away. I'm continually at war with them, and the Starlings that show up occasionally. Like the Grackles you described, thetbsend out scouts and once they find a feeder 50 to 100 show up and they can empty a large feeder in no time. I can sit on the back porch with a pellet rifle and kill 10 or 12 before they wise up and leave. No Grackles here though. They're city birds.

Charlie, I've watched Guineafowl eat mice and snakes. The population of snakes around the house and barn has decreased significantly since I got some Guineas. Also have seen Roadrunners eat snakes. We always have few roadrunners but they're usually in the fence rows and pastures.

Ken

I had a female painted bunting show up at the feeder earlier in the spring. Would love to have the male as well. Mostly just common birds here. During spring migration I have had a sharp shinned hawk hang around a few days. He is sudden and he is deadly. Like to see the cardinal pair also as he is such a gentleman with his mate. Feeds her and when the young ones arrive takes care of them as well. Thanks for the picture.

I occasionally have a Cardinal sneak in and grab a peanut. I always root for him because I know that the Bluejays would punish him if they caught him.

Ray

[Mumbleypeg]

We have bluejays here but never seen one at a feeder. They seem to like acorns a lot, especially the smaller ones that come from the live oaks. Cardinals are among our most common birds here so it's not unusual to see a dozen or more of them at a time at the same feeder.

We have a very territorial mockingbird that seems to think the feeders and birdbath are in his domain. One feeder is outside our kitchen window, another is in the front yard and there are two in the back yard. It keeps him busy! When he shows up and chases the birds away from one they all go to the others, while the mockingbird sits there proud of himself for a while. Until he goes and chases them away from another feeder, and so on.

Found some roadrunner pics on the Internet.

Ken

[doglegg]

We have bluejays here but never seen one at a feeder. They seem to like acorns a lot, especially the smaller ones that come from the live oaks. Cardinals are among our most common birds here so it's not unusual to see a dozen or more of them at a time at the same feeder.

We have a very territorial mockingbird that seems to think the feeders and birdbath are in his domain. One feeder is outside our kitchen window, another is in the front yard and there are two in the back yard. It keeps him busy! When he shows up and chases the birds away from one they all go to the others, while the mockingbird sits there proud of himself for a while. Until he goes and chases them away from another feeder, and so on.

Found some roadrunner pics on the Internet.

Ken

I have a mocking bird does the same thing. Mocking birds aren't even seed eaters but they don't want anyone else eating them either. The white winged doves are bullies too but not with the bluejays. Like the road runner pictures. Saw a little kestrel enjoying a snake once.

[mrwatch]

AGATE VAR: NOLTE Green Lake, Wisconsin from the show last Saturday.