More bionic birds.

[Furseeker]

Well the bionic Starling saga continues. This morning I noticed a few Starlings on some of the suet feeders around the yard. The males are really starting to get glossy and shine up for the ladies. The were 3 or 4 fighting each other for the best place a suet feeders so they didn’t see me lining up for a shot. I picked out a big aggressive male and fired. Again the pellet thumped, feathers flew and so did the bird, but at least this time he was loosing altitude the whole time and couldn’t muster enough strength to even get his feet tucked in. I watched him fly out across the open field and crash land into the tall grass.

Then just about an hour ago I stopped by the diary. Birds everywhere as usual so I picked out another glossy male and gave the new B25 a chance this time, an easy 30 yard shot I’ve made several times before. I squeezed the trigger, head the pellet strike and watched this bird attempt to take flight but he powered into the ground at a steep angle. I quickly reloaded and headed over to claim this guns first bird. As I got to where he went in I saw him jump up and head across the gravel parking area dragging a badly broken wing. He made it into the tall cattails on the swamp edge before I could anchor him.  Just as I was about to leave and head for home 2 more landed in a tree 25 yards away, this time I reached into the truck and pulled out the freshly JB tuned 350 Pro Compact. Put the cross hairs one the highest bird in the tree and fired. This time it was a clean kill shot, stone cold dead before it even hit the ground. I’ll post a few pictures later, but so far today I have 1 confirmed kill and two wounded. By the way guys it's a sunny 55 degrees here in Utah.

[Mryan21]

nice shooting, can't wait to see the pic. keep after em'.

[airiscool]

Frustrating isn't it Dave ?

Shot four today with two that flew off.

With the ones that flew, I went out after the shot only to see pieces of feathers and lots of tiny blood spaters all around on the snow and  pellet holes in the snow bank beyond where they were standing,  so I'm certain the Jumbo heavies went right on through.  

One of the four dropped feet in the air, then after a minute, it's up and trying to  hop up out of the trench onto the snow banks with one wing out at an angle. Hit it again and it's still flipping around. I load again and as I aim, it finally stops moving.

Last of the four dropped where it was feeding between two Doves who didn't even flinch.

BTW, that's the second time I've seen the Doves not care about shots and Starlings dropping amoungst them. I'm convinced the spelling of "Dove" should be changed to "Duh-ove" !

Anyway, at least we're thinning out the mob, and as Jeff pointed out, something else is probably making a meal of the ones that get away.

Paul.

[only1harry]

Good shooting Dave!  Too bad the other 2 got away but they won't go far..

I think the Starlings are evolving with this rough weather we 've been having.  The tougher the weather, the stronger they get it seems.  Maybe we should stop feeding them? hehe

[atchman2]

He took a hit from the B25 and kept going?

Atchman imitates Darth Vader: "Impressive.....most impressive".

[Furseeker]

He did,he did indeed. I look at it like catch and release fishing. But every now and then I want to hold a dead bird in hand a get a nice photo of it.

[atchman2]

I just wish I didn't do that so much with bigger game.....

[jake]

good shooting! starlings sure are tough critters, why dont you send some warmth down my way? lol