1:00 AM – A Brown-headed Nuthatch showed up on the hanging feeder yesterday. We haven’t seen one in many months. In fact, we haven’t seen its cousin, the White-breast Nuthatch for a while, and they used to be quite common.
Here’s a squirrel trying to get something out of the hanging feeder, and finding out why they call it the Squirrel Buster. It was possibly two different squirrels, or just one very persistent one.
1:00 AM – Mrs. Cardinal on the mealworm feeder. At the time the platform feeder was empty, but Cardinals are versatile, particularly if they’r hungry.
One of those Bluebird videos from a few days ago, when this solitary male was around. He seems to be gone now.
1:00 AM – Another Retro Sunday from one year ago today.
Saturday – 6.3.2017
3:21 AM – We’ve got a ravenous squirrel problem. Those rodents are in the platform feeder off and on, for about half the day. They pretty much eat everything that’s in there. It is not news, of course, that squirrels are a nuisance, but the amount of seed they’re consuming has drastically increased this summer, not to mention the amount of time they squat in the feeder, shutting out the other ravenous animals (birds). We’re not sure what to do about it, but we’re working on a few ideas. But not with optimism. Squirrels are tough. . Since about half the video we get is squirrel lately, I’ll share some here:
The juvenile bluebirds appear to be getting their adult coloring. Notice the orange patch on the flank of these two, and compare with the adult.
This short, not-too-good video is the first sight of an Eastern Towhee for several weeks. They were once all over the place, for a while anyway. We hope we see more of them.
1:00 AM – Cardinals sharing. Kind of hard to see, watch them on the rail on the far side of the feeder.
Chickadee on the mealworm feeder pecking out his dinner.
Cardinal and Sparrow peacefully feeding until a Dove comes along. We have too many Doves, but don’t know what to do about it. Like squirrels, we just put up with it.
1:00 AM – D gave all the feeders a good cleaning. Here’s a couple of birds wondering where all the seed went. A few minutes later, D refilled them, and things were back to normal.
Even better, when the feeders were taken away for cleaning, there was a lot of unhappy and confused birds out there.
The Bluebird is still around. In this one, he’s looking for scraps in the empty mealworm feeder.
1:00 AM – One more Bluebird video. There still hasn’t been any more return to the yard.
Medley of birds on the worm feeder – Cardinal, Eastern Phoebe and Carolina Wren.
1:00 AM – A couple of Chickadees on the mealworm feeder.
Another video of a Bluebird. We still haven’t seen any more than this one male.
1:00 AM – An unscheduled Retro Tuesday, due to continued negligence of content provider.
Monday – May 29, 2017
4:55 AM – The Red-bellied Woodpecker doesn’t usually feed at the platform feeder, but we’ve been seeing him everywhere this last month. He’s been at the mealworm feeder, the Squirrel Buster, the suet feeder, the platform feeder and even on trees, going right to the source for some live insects. What a bird.
From yesterdays videos, these two win the prize for vivid color:
Carolina Chickadees, fast and furious session on the mealworm feeder. You’d think the food was going to disappear any second.
1:00 AM – We’ve got a male Bluebird on the mealworm feeder. The Bluebirds disappeared for a few weeks. Maybe this means they’ll be coming back.
A couple of brief videos of colorful birds – a House Finch and a Cardinal.
1:00 AM – Retro Sunday, again, due to the sloth of the content provider. Here’s what life in the bird world looked like one year ago today.
Saturday – 5.27.2017
1:07 AM – Traffic at the platform feeder yesterday. The face off between Mrs. Cardinal and the White Breasted Nuthatch was interesting.
The black cat, one of several backyard lurkers, is thwarted by D. The natural selection process will have to happen on another day. We hope.
Last, some peaceful grazers on the platform feeder. Always glad to see the One-eared Squirrel is still alive and voraciously swilling bird seed.