Two more Starlings!

Thursday morning I heard some Starlings, and went out to hunt. The first Starling was close by, but when I took the first shot, the pellet hit a twig and veered off course. Amazingly, the bird only flew to the next tree, right in the open. My next shot was a perfect shot through his side! A little while later, I went out again, and found a bird in the same tree. I shot, and he fell, but the bullet only clipped his wing, and I had to chase him down and finish him off. The new results are on my list.


 

Besides this, we went sledding later on the same day. The hill was almost ice, and blazing fast! I took the ramp several times, and at that speed, you fly about 3 feet of the ground!! I'll put a photo Marjolaine got of me in the air on here soon!



Here are some winter birds.



 

What is this bird? (take a guess, don't refer to a field guide, and leave your comment)

A cute Carolina Wren at the log feeder





Starling Hunting for Girls?

Jessica shooting with my Dad and brother, Alexandre. (courtesy of "Mazzou")

    Although on a general scale, boys don't mind killing things as much as girls do, I totally encourage all, young and old, to participate in the great Starling hunt!
A few times my sister, Jessica, has come out with me to hunt with her BB gun, and although she hasn't gotten any yet, she hopes to in the future, and enjoys target practice in the meantime.
One thing: just make sure you get the bird for your sister if she does down one. No girl likes dealing with anything dead. ("Are you sure you washed your hands after you touched that dead Starling, Sam?")


A typical flock of Starlings















Macro results: Success!

Thanks to any one who prayed for me. Although I wasn't able to take this test on Friday as I had hoped, at least I was able to pass this relatively difficult one today with a score of 56! I'm almost one fourth of the way through my bachelors in General Management now!



Almost 1/4th of the way up this steep cliff, my degree! [photo by Mazzou (Marjolaine)]

 On Saturday we went sledding (the simple name does not do justice to the unpredictable hill) at Sioux Passage Park. Great fun. To see more, go to Mazzou's blog.

Not many Starlings right now, but they are coming back. Come all you want, I'll be ready, armed to the teeth! (emphasis with a Hans Zimmer triumphant tune!)

Saving is good, in a moderate amount: a Macro analogy




 The Starlings World, stage, 1 is in perfect equilibration, but as the population grows, and they don't save anything, and consume and waste way too much, there's almost nothing left, and what's left costs a fortune (stage 2).

In Macroeconomic terms, the European Starling has a 100% MPC (marginal propensity to consume), leaving 0% MPS! (S=save). Their analogy is a way to show what happens when no one saves in an economy. GDP would be huge at first (if they payed for what thay ate and destroyed!), the Starlings eat all available food, the economy is fine in the Short Run, but soon the Demand curve has moved way off the graph, though positively, and the supply curve diminishes. When demand is over supply, because the Starlings don't store any of the food, the farmers can't keep up and there is a huge depression as farmers are forced to resign. All beings suffer.

Of course, my biggest flaw here is that Starlingds don't pay the farmers, so the outcome would come much faster if the Starlings were left to themselves!

I should be taking the Macro test Friday, but I want to be able to do it tomorrow.

Pray for my success, tomorrow, Lord willing.

Inspiration from a new source!

Today, (Saturday), after we went Ice Skating (we have a family pass for a place near us), we stopped at the library to pick up books. While waiting in the car, I counted about 100 Starlings in some trees close by, and while I watched them, exasperated, there was suddenly a disturbance, and the entire flock took off. Then I saw the cause. A female or immature Sharp-shinned Hawk had crashed their party! It managed to corner one of the birds, chasing it back the way it came, and as the Starling dived for the safety of a nearby stack of chairs, his pursuer quickly closed the gap, and struck. I was pounding my fist and cheering the hawk on all the way! (In the car. I would know not to do it out there, since hawks can be touchy). After two attempts at lifting its prize, the Sharpie gave up, and began the traditional plucking process so characteristic of its species. While I find it great to get 2 birds in one day, here's a creature that could eat more than that, and does it to keep alive! Let's all take inspiration from this guy's lesson! Here is a link to some amazing photos of how Starlings evade hawks! http://www.nickdunlop.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=18&p=1&a=0&at=0

Starling Kills List

Here is the list of the Starlings and H. Sparrows Iv'e nailed so far!

Old Airgun:  9 Starlings (2007)

Sticky Spider Glue trap: 1 Starling (2007)

Old Cage Trap: 2 Starlings (2009)

Birdhouse Trap: 11 Starlings (2009-2010)

Ordinary Birdhouse: 1 Starling (2010)

New Steel Storm: 1 House Sparrow (2010)

New Gamo Big Cat: 9 House Sparrows (2008-2010), 12 Starlings (2009-2011)

Total: 10 House Sparrows, 36 Starlings

Note: Iv'e also destroyed quite a few Starling  eggs

   P.S. Macroeconomic Crackdown!

This week I'll probably be taking the Macro test, so be praying for me

Usually, you can find more on what we did as a family during the week on Mazzou's Mellifluous Memories

Bitter Cold Hunting

This past Thursday at about 9 a.m., I saw a Starling land on a bird feeder out front, and fly off again. Soon, I was out there, in the cold, and spotted one singing in a tree about 20 yrds. away. I took a shot with my recently sighted Gamo, but just missed. After calling a few times, I heard another, out of range. Althuogh they are usually wary, I hadn't been shooting for a while, and consequently, was able to get pretty close. Leaning on a tree, I had him in the crosshairs about the same distance as the first try. After I shot, he starteed fying, but then went into a curve, and crashed about two houses down, and didn't move. I rejoiced! I began searching for H. Sparrowa , but only found E.T. Sparrows, then heard some more Starling calls. This time, two had landed in the tree I had been shooting from! I was able to creep close to these too, and was nearly under them when I took my shot. The hit bird took a quick curve, and smashed down about 20 yrds. away, while the other flew off. After retreiving my bird, I saw a Cooper's Hawk sitting in a tree a bove our house, watching for birds at the feeders. I thought I'd just offer him an easy meal, but when I tossed the dead Starling on the roof, the Hawk took it offencively, and flew to a "safer" perch, and while a few of my sisters looked on, I went for a ladder!

After retrieving my bird from the roof!