4:02 AM – Brief video close-up of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
The birds are getting used to us. Here’s a White-breasted Nuthatch landing on the platform feeder, while I’m sitting a few feet away. It was cold and I had a poncho on.
One more, to make up for the brevity of the first two clips. Here’s a Cardinal and a Dark-eyed Junco feeding. Nothing exciting happens. It’s that way a lot of the time with the birds. They just eat, excrete and flap around, mostly. Every now and then they squabble. That’s life in the wild.
3:55 AM – Merry Christmas, my excellent and beloved wife. I wish I could have prepared a Christmas themed set of videos today, but the birds refused to wear their little holiday costumes. Except the Cardinals, of course. Here are some Retro-Videos of those red birds.
A drab, but entertaining Mockingbird, shown from an unusual angle.
The One-eared Squirrel. I think. Actually, this might be a different squirrel, with damage to both ears. Or the same one, with another lost ear, making him the No-eared Squirrel. In this video, it’s not clear but he was not successful in his attempt to reach the suet feeder.
12:01 AM – The Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are still with us. Not sure how many, but at least one male and one female. Here’s one making a good sized dent in the compressed seed cylinder.
This Mockingbird finds a prize in the seed cylinder.
4:16 AM – More platform feeder activity. Yesterday’s videos showed some scuffling and squabbling. In today’s clip the birds seem to be a little more tolerant, though there are a few moments. Maybe more than a few, but in general, they’re all grazing peacefully next to each other. Like cattle.
Bluebird and Pine Warbler on the cylinder feeder. Nice colorful birds on a gray afternoon.
4:02 AM – Typical day on the platform feeder, with various birds showing up – all regulars. In order of appearance we have a Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Sparrow (of some variety) and Cardinal. The peanuts seem to be particularly popular.
Sometimes Cardinals don’t like to share. Here’s Mr. C with a couple of Sparrows. It doesn’t take him long to decide he wants to dine alone.
3:54 AM – Several Bluebirds, and a full mealworm feeder, so we have some squabbling.
One of the local cats picking the peanuts out of the bird seed, like the raccoon did a few days ago. Always feel sorry for the ‘wild’ cats, though for all I know he/she lives in a nice house down the street, with plenty of food to eat etc.
12:10 AM – Catching up with the Bluebirds, we find them doing what they usually do – eating. In the first part of the video there’s one on the platform feeder. This is not their usual hangout lately, but I think there were a few mealworms in the mix. That will attract them. In the second part, they’re at their usual feeding station.
More about the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Here we can see the pale yellow belly, and the bold white stripe down the wing. The stripe, along with the red patch on top of the head – not behind the head, like the Downy – are good ways to identify him. In addition, the male has a red throat patch.
4:09 AM – We’re seeing a nice variety of birds on the cylinder feeder. In this brief montage we have a Pine Warbler, a Carolina Chickadee and a Mockingbird.
We’re also seeing the occasional raccoon. They don’t usually feed at the platform feeder, as we put ‘pepper’ seed there, but we’ve been distributing peanuts all over the place. This guy looks like he’s picking out the peanuts and leaving the rest behind.
2:59 AM – Our first video of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. It’s not a great clip, but it does show the red patches on the neck and top-of-head that marks the male Sapsucker. Obviously they’re related to the woodpeckers we already have in the yard. By the way – his belly isn’t yellow.
We don’t see the Cardinals on the mealworm feeder too much, but every now and then one will stop by for a snack, often when the platform feeder is empty.
We moved a camera over to the cylinder feeder, hoping to get a video of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker we saw the other day – the first one ever. (And we did – see above). We did get this one of a Downy Woodpecker.