Birds

My wonderful view of the Pennsylvania farmlands includes a daily display of the aerobatic prowess of the variety of birds living here. Always interested in these creatures, I've usually been drawn to large raptors, the majestic eagles and hawks that patrol the skies. However I've become very interested in the smaller creatures as well. One morning while waiting for a conference call to begin, I noticed a bird hovering about thirty feet in the air. Motionless. Winds were variable from ten to 15mph and the bird looked like it was fixed in the sky with a nail. With only an occasional flap it remained there for a good five minutes. I later learned that this was a Kestrel.

Bluebirds have been roosting on any available structure, including my weather station, as they search for any movement in the grass below. Environmentally friendly pest control.

So it was obvious that one of my projects would be a bird house. I decided not to build the entire thing, instead went on the net to find something suitable for a rural Pennsylvania landscape. I found this little replica of the Lancaster County Star Barn. It may not attract many birds, but I think it looks good in the back yard framed against the corn fields.

I did build the post. Starting with a nice piece of cedar, I first planed it down to get rid of the rough marks left by the mill. Next I built a cedar collar from planking left over from the stair project, and found some molding I created for other projects to wrap around the post for interest. The tricky part was machining the fluting, which I did using the molding head package used with the Shopsmith.

The hardest part was digging the hole to put it in the ground. We still have lots of rocks and digging any hole is always a challenge. On the other hand, I had plenty of rocks to support it while I poured the concrete.

In a somewhat related topic, I also rebuilt a garden bench with cedar and placed it at the end of the driveway. I tried putting it there last year, but when the winter winds started blowing it ended up at the bottom of the hill. This time I've staked it down with some bungees.

To conclude this topic on birds, I found this article in one of the blogs I read frequently and thought you might find it interesting:

Basically, A Great "Aviation" Story

This came from a gent who runs a 2000 acre corn farm up around Barron WI , not far from Oshkosh . He used to fly F4Es and F-16s for the Guard and participated in the first Gulf War... Submitted for your enjoyment, and as a reminder that there are other great, magnificent flyers around besides us.

I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a field before tomorrow morning and witnessed The Great Battle. A golden eagle - big bastard, about six foot wingspan - flew right in front of the tractor. It was being chased by three crows that were continually dive bombing it and pecking at it. The crows do this because the eagles rob their nests when they find them.

At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one evasive maneuver, then landed in the field about 100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood about 3 feet tall. The crows all landed too and took up positions around the eagle at 120 degrees apart, but kept their distance at about 20 feet from the big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps towards one of the crows and they'd hop backwards and forward to keep their distance. Then the reinforcement showed up.

I happened to spot the eagle's mate hurtling down out of the sky at what appeared to be approximately Mach 1.5. Just before impact the eagle on the ground took flight, (obviously a coordinated tactic; probably pre-briefed) and the three crows which were watching the grounded eagle, also took flight thinking they were going to get in some more pecking on the big bird. The first crow being targeted by the diving eagle never stood a snowball's chance in hell. There was a mid-air explosion of black feathers and that crow was done. The diving eagle then banked hard left in what had to be a 9G climbing turn, using the energy it had accumulated in the dive, and hit crow #2 less than two seconds later. Another crow dead.

The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and had an altitude advantage on the remaining crow, which was streaking eastward in full burner, made a short dive then banked hard right when the escaping crow tried to evade the hit. It didn't work - crow #3 bit the dust at about 20 feet altitude.

This aerial battle was better than any air show I've been to, including the warbirds show at Oshkosh ! The two eagles ripped the crows apart and ate them on the ground, and as I got closer and closer working my way across the field, I passed within 20 feet of one of them as it ate its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went by and you could see in the look of that bird that it knew who's Boss Of The Sky. What a beautiful bird!

I love it. Not only did they kill their enemy, they ate them.