Jump to content
Whatbird Community

Dan

Members
  • Posts

    42
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Dan

  1. yes, yes,  I know it is an awful pic.  Had problems getting WIFI working on my camera yesterday so it is a photo of a photo.   If not good enough I can try to get technology to work again.   At my feeder yesterday (actually there were 3 of them) mixed in with the finches.   I live in mountains of western NC - at about 3k feet in elevation.

    Any ideas?

     

     

    IMG_0717.jpg

  2. Seems like lot of birds in my area (western NC mountains at about 3,000 ft) are just finishing up their molt - cardinals, mockingbirds, bluebirds,...  Unless they are bald and shabby looking for other reasons.   I don't think my other common feeder birds - nuthatch, brown thrasher, house finch, goldfinch, sparrow, chickadee, starling, dove, ...  ever did it (or they hid when doing so). 

    • Like 2
  3. Wow.  I saw what looks like the same species (top 2 pics) for the first time at my feeders yesterday.  It stood out for me as I have never seen a bird with the 2 dark spots (1 under each side of the chin/malar area). and what seemed like a longer than usual tail.   But I live in Western NC.  Couldn't ID them. 

  4. I do much prefer the Mac UI over Windows - look/feel and actual productivity saver.   And the number of supported gestures on the trackpad makes a mouse nearly obsolete for me.   And so much "simpler", way too many options in WIndows to worry about.  But you are correct, brute force updates?   I had an update once take 17 hours and I had no choice as it triggered it while shutting the PC down in my office.   I had to carry it out of my office, set it down on the seat of my car so it would continue updating on my drive home, carry it into the house still updating, etc.  

    And AndreLamothe's comments are spot on. 

    I worked at Cisco Systems for about a dozen years, during which time I hired several people from Apple.   They tell me that in no way would today's problems at Apple have been tolerated under prior management. 

    So grudgingly back to WIndows I go.   Not because Windows is attracting me, but because Apple is chasing me away. 

  5. Not many.  I live in the Western NC mountains - not big raptor country.  Quite a few vultures but have to find some open areas to see most hawks, etc.   Probably seen 15 all year.  I do plan on visiting a few hawk watch sites this fall for the first time.

    • Like 1
  6. Awesome summary.  

    A few add-ons from my perspective - 

    I switched back to the Mac platform as Microsoft start losing its' way with Windows - usability issues, quality issues, an awful update process, etc. and, as Apple had the market cornered in these respects, I was willing to pay the extra to get it.   No more.  My current MacBook Pro will be my last Apple laptop product.   Back to PC land for me - Microsoft is going (albeit slowly) in the right direction in terms of usability and quality and price point, and Apple is going the wrong way.  The difference in cost (and lack of compatibility with the inevitable MS apps I have to use for work) no longer make it a good option.   On the apps side - Office products are getting more and more incompatible, SharePoint is no longer useable from a Mac, and now Apple is going away from the Intel chip set (and as a result I'm guessing will spur even further incompatibility on the Office apps side).   

    And the latest - my own Mac triggered a brute force attack against itself (the wonderful keychain tool).  It triggered so many login attempts in a short period of time our threat protection software locked all my accounts.  And since it was triggered by what was considered a friendly (i.e. not external internet based source) - threat protection didn't block it. 

    Granted much of this is because we try to use a Mac in a business environment - for which it was never intended, and is getting further away from.   Maybe a different story from the consumer view of things.  

  7. Ha!  Do I get a prize for authoring the first post?

    Just sharing an observation about hummingbirds at my feeders.   Bullying - not a new problem.   What I wanted to share was the "how", as it is new to me.   I have one hummer that watches one of my feeders from a perch about 30 yards away.  When he sees any other hummer at "his" feeder - he swoops down to chase off the invading marauder.   Here is the interesting part to me - after his act of bullying he returns to the EXACT SAME perch.  A tiny 12 inch long dead twig hanging off another larger branch in a 4 story tall pine tree.  He has been doing this for over a week. 

    And it is a positional thing, not that he likes that particular feeder.   When I move the original feeder about 6 feet away, and replace it with a different feeder in the same spot - he doesn't guard the old feeder (now in a new location a few feet away), he now guards the new feeder.  He just likes whatever feeder I put in that particular spot. 

    Maybe I just need to get a life ... 

×
×
  • Create New...