Well, my wife went to the doctor today to get the official word that she is pregnant with our 3rd youngin due on St Pattys Day!! My mother in law was supposed to watch the kids but my father in law ended up in the hospital very early this morning. So, daddy had to take the day off and stay home with the kids. I took a look outside and saw a few starlings in the side yard. Looked outback and they were everywhere. I ran to the safe and grabbed my 53fpe .25 marauder packing a magazine full of JSB Kings. The main flock was right in front of my 75 yard range. I found 2 nearly on top of each other and tried for a double but only got one at 65 yards. Though the gun is nearly silent, my property and surrounding area is a known "Kill Zone" that all pests try to avoid and are rather skittish of!! So, the flock flew off. Awhile later, the flock was back and right between the kids playset and my 30 yard range. a short 20 yard poke and dropped another. Both birds were juvenile starlings and after #2 the starlings decided to find a safe place to dine. Wish I could have killed more as I hate starlings, but since they left for the day, I did get to see the hummingbirds and songbirds come out to feed and hang out.
When people question why someone would shoot starlings and hosp, I wish I could show them the difference it makes just on my property. My wife, kids, and I love watching the song birds and hummingbirds. We take alot of pictures of them and just plain enjoy bird watching. We plant a large variety of things to attract and sustain a population of these birds. Since we live in the country surrounded by farm ground, we also get alot of pests. I never realized the impact that non native species has on the native birds until I really started to try and eradicate the starlings and hosp. After a couple of years, our native bird populations have grown tremendously. I will never be able to make starlings and hosp extinct, but population control is definitely helping at my house!!
Sorry, didn't take my gun out to get proper game with gun picks, but managing kids and starlings can get a bit tough. LOL!!
When people question why someone would shoot starlings and hosp, I wish I could show them the difference it makes just on my property. My wife, kids, and I love watching the song birds and hummingbirds. We take alot of pictures of them and just plain enjoy bird watching. We plant a large variety of things to attract and sustain a population of these birds. Since we live in the country surrounded by farm ground, we also get alot of pests. I never realized the impact that non native species has on the native birds until I really started to try and eradicate the starlings and hosp. After a couple of years, our native bird populations have grown tremendously. I will never be able to make starlings and hosp extinct, but population control is definitely helping at my house!!
Sorry, didn't take my gun out to get proper game with gun picks, but managing kids and starlings can get a bit tough. LOL!!
great job!