When birds think your targets are their perching place.

[Caliber 22]

Two birds each perch on a target and I had to wait form them to move on.

Fork-tailed Drongo and Burchell's Coucal

Photo taken with cellphone through scope.

 

[dizzums]

kudos for not assasinating them lol ... birds are weird about where i shoot also, im not sure what it is .. my chickens will tend to get in my line of fire every time when im sighting-in to ...

 

[Caliber 22]

kudos for not assasinating them lol

Those two are regulars there, especially the Drongo, I see him every day. He lives and hunt in a small area and that is one of his favorite perches. The Coucal I see about twice a week as he has a bigger area he lives and hunt in.

 

[M0ist0ne]

kudos for not assasinating them lol ... birds are weird about where i shoot also, im not sure what it is .. my chickens will tend to get in my line of fire every time when im sighting-in to ...

There's a few times my chickens almost inadvertently became dinner too......

 

[Ranchibi]

Beautiful birds! I have a black phoebe that sits on my trap wondering why it's making weird noises.......I too wait for it to leave before shooting again, beautiful and curious bird.

 

[maxtrouble]

I had SIX! Blue Birds perching on or around the gallery this weekend. They were very busy catching all the slow insects that are waking up. Made for some extended breaks with the binoculars watching them chow down.

 

[Caliber 22]

Somebody asked me why I did not shoot the target and chase the bird away like that.
Two things;
* I don't want to scare the birds otherwise they might not come back. I like birds. I have an album of about 430 bird photos on my list. If I don't have a photograph of a bird I took myself it don't go on my list. I know it is not much but it is about half of the more than 900 bird species in SA.
* The lead scattering in all directions might hurt the bird. I don't want to do that.

Yes I do like hunting but not at home or near somebody else's home who likes birds. And only birds like dove, pigeons, spurfowl or something I intend to eat. And of course invasive species like Indian Myna that does not belong here and is aggressive and do damage to the indigenous bird population.

 

[jetpopt]

No perching on targets, but “my” nuthatches show up like Pavlov’s dogs when they hear the pumping clacks. They sometimes sit in a tree right near where I shoot from. The clacks just signal that I am out there, and they are hoping I put some peanuts out for them.

In marked contrast, Euro doves hate the sound of pellets punching steel cans, especially nested steel cans. That’s a good thing. I want them to go away.

 

[JohanG]

Burchell's Coucal are scarce in our region and you only hear them calling for a mate in spring. VERY shy and never seen one.
You are lucky to see one so clearly.
Drongo's are aplenty where I live and I have a pair in my garden greeting me every morning.

 

[Caliber 22]

The Coucals are plenty here in Nelspruit but they move around a bigger area.

 

[Caliber 22]

Tonight I wanted to shoot with the .22LR but my plans were again cut short by some visitors, this time by some guineafowl and their young. They were not in line of fire but I did not want to scare them away.

 

[AmosBurton]

Thanks for posting the birds. I love seeing birds from other places and researching them. The Drongo has some cool calls.
I don't have pictures of each bird like you do, but I do have a list. After moving a couple of years ago, the list expanded quite a bit.

 

[superchikn]

I have a steel rimfire/ airgun trap sitting on a 4" cinder block on the ground at the top of the bank of the creek behind me. It is my 30 yd shooting lane.

I get such a kick out of all the clueless critters who wander directly in front of my target and watch me watching them through my scope, Groundhogs, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and some birds. They all get a pass in my yard unless they are starlings or hosps.

Its just funny.

 

[Spartan]

Occasionally I'll have a curious grey squirrel emerge from the wood line and come up to investigate the "thump...thump" sound they hear being produced from the big old log that is the backstop of my 60yd target when I'm shooting through paper. They'll climb right up on it to try and figure out what is going on. The sound seems to intrigue them for some reason. They do not fair as well as your birds.