What Unexpected Garden Guest Surprised You This Week? 🌿

[SPedigrees]

this morning there was a birdie outside that i was not familiar with, perhaps it was a juvenile catbird, but i really am not sure at all. the catbirds might be long gone for the winter by now anyways. i'll need to do some searching...

I had to look up catbirds to find that they are migratory.
Resident along the Atlantic Coast; otherwise migratory. Catbirds from across North America spend winters along the Gulf Coast from Florida through Texas and all the way down Central America and the Caribbean.

I love my catbirds. They hang out in summer by the brook and undoubtedly nest in the thicket of willow bushes there. Hope your visitor was not left behind.

 

[flowerbug]

I had to look up catbirds to find that they are migratory.
Resident along the Atlantic Coast; otherwise migratory. Catbirds from across North America spend winters along the Gulf Coast from Florida through Texas and all the way down Central America and the Caribbean.

I love my catbirds. They hang out in summer by the brook and undoubtedly nest in the thicket of willow bushes there. Hope your visitor was not left behind.

no, i don't think they are catbirds, but not sure yet what they might be. i've been looking through the following link to see if any look close to what i was seeing but not sure yet as i've been hauled away to other things... the good news is that there will be carrot cake tonight... :

35 Birds You Can See in WINTER in Michigan (2026)

Learn the types of WINTER BIRDS that live in Michigan and how to identify them. How many of these species have YOU seen before?

birdwatchinghq.com

of all of them the Dark-eyed Junco seems the most likely candidate.

 

[digitS']

These aren't mysterious or unexpected or surprises and they are hardly a feature of wildlife unless we consider an invasive species –– wildlife. I suppose they are and @flowerbug 's bird guide lists Starlings and dang I see on the map that they are all the way up to the Arctic Ocean ! I remember when Starlings were new to Oregon and we were told that they were slowly moving north from California after making it all the way across N America.

Eastern Grey Squirrels are native to N America but not to the West Coast. They came with European Americans, probably displacing the Western Grey and Pine Squirrels. Sure, they are all around in cities and towns and they show up in my yard every year. However, a pair has now shown up in the neighbor's tree with a nest in branches on my side of the fence. I can't tolerate a pair of Tree Rats actually living here now that my gardening is limited to this yard.

If there had been the right kind of trees near my distant garden, they would have been there in those distant gardens. As it was, I smashed rocks into Marmot and Ground Squirrel holes to discourage them from living there or nearby. After the neighbor's Dachshund attacked a Marmot and was injured so badly that she had to be taken to the Vet for stitches, the neighbor wanted the Marmots gone, gone gone. So did I and I shot a pair of them.

No gun shooting allowed here at home. How am I to rid the garden of these tree squirrels? I have hissed at them from the windows and I can throw things at them but the neighbor's house is too close to try to knock them off the fence, that is a common route on their travels.

Steve ~ The rodents and I have some time before many garden veggies are around for them to raid. I don't mind seeing them in the trees across the road and there are plenty of trees around the school and playground over there. I have always made efforts to avoid them while driving ...

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@digitS' I use the Squirrelinator traps to eliminate squirrels. Ground squirrels the Belding Squirrels have been the worst in the western part of the US by damaging crops in farmers fields in just a few weeks. They reproduce quickly and can out number mice in a few months. I have eliminated all types of squirrels in less than a year. You can catch several at a time with one trap . Size is 3’x3’ with spring doors to enter, once inside the cage they cannot escape. Baiting the trap with birdseed and unsalted peanuts always works.

Your next best thing my friend is to get a cat they are the best of the best squirrel hunters. I would also cut that branch back that overhangs onto your property with the nest and spray the tree with caster oil and surrounding areas. Also Planyskyyd pellets sprinkled down around the area in early spring also works especially well for all types of critters including mice ,moles , voles, gophers, rabbits, squirrels and deer. Important to keep weeds and lawn low and mow every few days to make Noise & ground Vibrations . Also eliminate places for ground pests to hide and find food . Keep a Clean Yard & Garden. A dog helps to discourage pests from entering your property. Also trim all the foliage nearby and clear thick branches on trees and shrubs. Open up all trees and shrubs clear out heavy foliage and let the light thru to see the lil buggers also discourages squirrels and pests. Important to be CONSISTANT.

NO POISONS NEEDED. Safety is an issues for pets and birds.

Using the above techniques not only have I eliminated squirrels of all types, also gophers, voles, moles, field mice deer and even Oregon’s native Pronghorn’s.

As long as you plant goodies insitsu in your garden they will come . Using hardware cloth (small metal squares) to surround the garden area will help keep them out as well as digging down 8-10” - bury the hardwire underground to help protect your garden from digging pests.

Pre-made garden planters designed for above ground use made of metal is another alternative for protecting veggie gardens from invaders . The only thing left is to us a cotton garden fabric to screen out pests over the top of the planters. Protecting the planters will make a solid garden area for planting next season and stop the invasion of garden pests from both above and below the garden planters.

Just sharing 35 years of experience from my many lessons learned over time to find solid solutions for specific problems in my garden and pastures.

 

[Alasgun]

Another pair of Moose showed up, not really a surprise unless you walk around the corner and find them!
After perusing the spent flower pot’s they sauntered over to the bird feeder and showed no alarm by all the “dead stuff”.

 

[heirloomgal]

This past week we have had truly disturbing visitors, not so much in the garden but behind it. A huge unkindness of ravens. I'm baffled as to why they've been here for so long and for what. I noticed today that my neighbour across the street had about 20 in his trees and there was also about 30 of them on the street between our driveways pecking around at slush apparently. My backyard is bush but my neighbour has a large park in behind. I know they hang around where bodies lay, but they don't seem to be especially drawn to any one spot. Just mysteriously chilling out.

I actually quite like the ravens, though the huge number of ticks and parasites that birds carry concern me. My dog had a very swollen tick in his face a month ago, and a week later I found one crawling across my hand. Very disturbing. I'm guessing birds are one of the places where the ticks will survive and remain active over winter.

 

[flowerbug]

it might be quiet enough that they think it is an ok roosting and resting up place. i don't know for sure though. i have no problem at all with crows being around here. i talk to them and they seem to find me ok even if they won't come near me. i also leave them mice or chipmunks if i've had to trap them (snap traps with peanut butter or raisins and use no poisons). when i was trapping more regularly the crows would come each day and see if i'd left them any.

 

[digitS']

I would also cut that branch back that overhangs onto your property with the nest and spray the tree with caster oil and surrounding areas.

The tree is right on the property line and the branch is quite a few feet higher than my house. Cutting the branch would require professional help.

No lower branches can be trusted for the extension ladder but I will see if I can reach the branch with the snowrake handle from the step ladder. It may be too high for that. If not too high, that squirrel couple will have a rude awakening. It's warm enough that they should have some time to build a nest beside the playground a half block away in those trees. I am not seeing any competition for them over there. VaMoose outta here, you pesky rodents!!!

 

[digitS']

crows being around here

Additionally, I learned something about crows from that map on that website in your post, FlowerBug. They aren't in a large area of the Southwest US.

It has never occurred to me that crows would not be in every city and town continent wide!

The ravens may limit their territory here. They don't quite have total freedom within human communities either. Nesting Sharpshinned Hawks have zero tolerance for them and, beyond the mayhem, it was interesting how the immediate neighborhood was devoid of crows while the hawks were nesting in a nearby evergreen .