Protecting Catbirds or Gee those CPHPs are a hard pellet

[dk1677]

I was watching 2 Catbirds in my apple tree ( they have a nest in a shrub near) and I see this Grackle fly in and go after them, He lands on a branch as the Catbirds fly way   so I grab the 850 next to me and put the crosshairs on his chest ( hes about 20 yards) Now in the back of my mind I am thinking if I miss there's my storage shed another 30 yards behind the tree but there are leaves and branches   , hes 7 feet up so the pool is safe and no other hazards to hit ( always got to think about backstops) so I let a CPHP go ,  he drops  and I hear the "whack" as the shed is hit .(The Grackle had done a nice nose dive into the ground) I go out to see where I had hit both , The pellet had gone though his chest out his back then though leaves, between branches and continued  another 30 yards though the vinyl siding on the shed and left a dent in the chip board siding under it. Well it's not the the first hit on the shed LOL ( had a few others from shooting at apples last year) got out the caulking and patched it .

[TheKnot]

thats sweet i like the catbirds your a good man i bet your shed feels different

[airiscool]

Nice shot Dave.  Too bad about the shed, but it was for a good cause !

Yeah, I like having the Cat birds around too.  I've got two Cat birds showing up at the feeder here, but no idea if they are nesting on the property. No Grackles to harrass them, and the Starlings have learned to stay away from my back yard, so song  birds are coming in to the feeder daily.  

Got a pair of Cardnals that stayed through the Winter.

Got two pairs of Blue Jays, one of which has a nest in a bush next to the house.

And for the first time, a male and female Cowbird coming to the feeder every day also.  

And putting dead Starlings out for my pair of Clean-up Crows seems to have paid off. They brought their baby over into a tree at the back of my property and started caw-ing up a storm.   Whata ya know - I'm an Uncle !!!

Paul.

[only1harry]

Nice shooting Dave.  As long as the shed belongs to you it is ok to use it as a backstop  I use my shed as backstop all the time when I shoot the G-hogs that keep moving under it.

I have had a .25cal Kodiak go through a raccoon's head, hit the steel bowl, richocet back towards me and hit the house with a very loud thud less than 2ft above my head and inches from the glass/window.  I never expected that from 22yds away.  I had put a couple of Kodiaks through that steel bowl before, but that night the Condor was only shooting in the 900fps instead of the usual 1,000-1060 and did not have enough energy to penetrate the galvanized steel after it went through the coon.  Stuff happens..  

Oh btw, I watched a dang Grackle knock down a house wren nest (same thing happened 2-3yrs ago) and knock down 3 helpless fledglings to the ground on the lawn in a wide open area.  It killed one of them before I got outside to help. It had put a hole in it with its beak.  The other 2 died last night.  I took the nest that the Grackle knocked down and put it in a box along with the remaining 2 babies in it and placed it way under the spruce where they fell from.  The Carolina wren parents found it and were flying in and out of the box for a day or two but I found them dead this morning.  It looks like the Grackle had injured one of them because it had like puss coming out of it.  

So death to the Grackles!!!

[dk1677]

Thanks guys! Cardinals and Jays here too Paul and Juncos,Chickadees  a few Nuthatches, Robins come in  late in the day, Gold and Purple finches  ( sparrows are around much now) And I am sure I saw a  Yellow Warbler once. Starlings seem to be all over the city but not around my area but a small flock was around last week and I waited till one came on my property but missed the shot :-(   I don't mind hitting the shed if its for a good cause LOL , In fact besides the hits I have made its got 2 from a kid that lived next door years ago ( gave him heck for that)

[TheKnot]

no disrespect aircool but bluejays and cowbirds where there protected are a enemy to songbirds and a crows sole pourpose is to kill them so maybe they don't need help JMO chris

[jake]

Lol, you got a grackle and a shed lol

[shadow]

Protect the bird's drop the Grackles and thank the Lord for the shed being there hehe. Ed